Am I Doing Too Much?

Been thinking lately about this one. I have a number of things I have to do in a day, week, month, etc. Currently on my plate:

• Reviews over here. (& posting. {& promoting})
• Crafts and shopping for cool vintage-ness anywhere I go for our shop.
• Raising four kittens. (& willing to foster if needed!)
• Being a weather spotter, though right now that's only heat related.
• Going to a Wiknic this weekend.
• Finding an awesome RV so we can start full-timing ASAP.
• Taking care of kids, but I don't think that counts in this list since it's a "have-to" sort of thing.

..I'm suddenly super glad I don't cook!

I think this has a lot to do with why I'm not moderating on websites any longer. I completely let people down over on Chicken Smoothie and I hate that I did that. (The admin made me cry more than once for failing to be around when I simply couldn't due to family {like having a child} or 'net going down.) I guess being away four times in four years because I've had children is just too much. I don't know, I really didn't get much respect over there anyway and it was highly stressful.

It never fails though, my daily life is always a long list of things I have to do day in and day out. Maybe I like it being hectic? Probably. It's all I've ever known and watched my grandmother do it her entire life.

Doesn't really seem like you're living if you're just sitting there, does it? I feel like I have to do something or I'm failing and not doing enough. Maybe that does set me up to fail and have high stress levels, but what doesn't?

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Lots of New Followers!

Current:

Facebook - 530
Twitter - 444

Facebook has come leaps and bounds in the past few weeks. Before then, I was afraid to promote the site any more than letting it automatically get posts from the RSS feed. Now, I've even *gasp* invited a few of my real life friends to check it out.

I'm always shy when it comes to showing real people what I do online. Of course, I know all of you are real people but I mean people that can talk to my face and tell me how much they think I suck. :/ I've always been afraid of rejection, but never when it came to asking guys out. Huh. Never thought about it until I typed that, really. Strange.?

Twitter is all kinds of filling up because I worked really hard last night to try to catch up to the number of fans I have on Facebook.

And these are just the numbers on the accounts for the website. I'm not counting my personal page or account that I also post on, just because I don't count them even though I know some places do.

In any case, if you're one of the many new fans or followers--thank you. Without you, we don't have the ability to get new products to test and offer you for free or discounted prices. Without you, I wouldn't bother posting great deals and coupons and other links so you can share in the awesome things that I get all the time for just searching on the web. (And, as a bonus, I'm saving you a lot of time by finding and explaining it to you in most cases.) So, enjoy!

PS - I attempted to put too many labels on this post and broke Blogger. Lol.

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$1 Customized Photo Tote!

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My Weekend Forecast

I think this means we're going to melt...

Seriously? Not cool, not cool at all. (Seriously.)

I've even heard something about a high of 108 nearby, and we're not talking heat indexes here. This is real high temperatures.

On top of that, I don't recall the last time it really rained. We're in a drought and it's getting pretty bad. The grass is dry and dead and the ground is starting to crack open. It's super dusty if there's any wind. Sound familiar?

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Pampers Most Valuable Dad Celebration Giveaway!

Days with your little athlete are nothing short of fastballs, curveballs and changeups. That’s why we’re taking the next 10 days to honor all the wonderful coaches out there with our “Most Valuable Dad” Celebration! For the active roles they play in parenting and for all the ways they enrich the lives of babies, this celebration is all about DAD!

 

• A $300 gift card which can be used for tickets to watch your favorite team and/or to purchase your favorite team’s merchandise
• Little Tot T-Ball set valued at $19.99 plus tax

PLUS 90 First Prizes:

• 2,150 Gifts to Grow Reward points to redeem for Dad-themed prizes such as the Brinkman 3-PC BBQ Tool Set.

Click the image at the top or here to enter now!

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Kitten Glop Recipe

Since Rose passed away, we've been pretty busy taking care of her four kittens. There were a lot of problems and all weekend we thought only one may pull through.

Now though, they are all eating on their own and doing wonderfully! It was a learning experience though, as everything from freezing to overheating and dehydration and low blood sugar were all issues we faced.

Because of this, I spent a lot of time online researching and figuring out what they needed to eat to get them healthy. I tried a lot of different things and recipes, but this is what I came up with that worked.

• 1 cup whole goats milk
• 1 cup of unflavored pedialyte
• 1 packet of Knox unflavored gelatine
• 1 Beechnut stage 1 homestyle meat (beef, chicken, or turkey) baby food
• 1 egg yolk (no whites!)
• 2 teaspoons of light Kyro syrup
• 2 teaspoons of real mayonnaise
• 2 teaspoons of plain yogurt (not nonfat)

Mix everything together in a bowl. If you don't want to spend the time heating the pedialyte and milk for the gelatin, I've never had an issue with it solidifying.

Do be sure it's mixed incredibly well otherwise the heavier parts will sink to the bottom. I'd use a quality or blender!

It will need to set for a couple of hours before it's a good gel consistency. At that point, you can just scoop out however much you need and microwave it for about 30 seconds. If it didn't melt, stir it up and trying again in increments of 5 to 10 seconds.

Be sure that it isn't too hot before serving! If you can put a drop on the inside of your wrist and it hurts, it's too warm so allow it to cool before letting them eat.

Since our kittens have gotten better, I've started adding high quality kitten food to this mixture. You can do the same by adding enough, before putting it in the refrigerator, to cover the top of the container. This will make a crust when you scoop it out, but once warmed it's pretty mushy and easy to eat.

You can use other baby food, but be sure that it has only natural ingredients and absolutely no onions! Beechnut's that I mentioned only has the meat and broth.

Even though this smells horrible, it certainly got our kittens to eat! And speaking of, I need to go feed them!

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RIP Rosey...

She was out hunting today (she has been quite a lot since her kittens are older and about to be weaned) and was hit and killed by a car.

Stop the ticker at 2 years, 3 weeks, & four days.

Izy keeps talking about how much Rosey loves her babies. And she does still, of that I am certain. It's just, we have to take care of them for her now. :*(

Let me note that the person who hit her did not stop, has had the police called on him on several occasions, and almost hit my husband a number of times while he was attempting to back out of the driveway. That little bastard is going to pay for this, believe me.

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"Let Your Geek Flag Fly"

...Is what my husband said when it came to naming the lovely dog we were given a few days ago. ;)

His name is Skeets*.

He's part Jack/Parson Russel Terrier and Beagle. Loves the kids, terrified of cats. Doesn't really play. Skittish as all hell. (The lady that was taking care of him before rescued him from a shelter, but wherever he was before he was abused and beaten--his ribs were broken.)


*Hint: Booster Gold**.


**Look it up.

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I'm A SAHM... That Can't Cook

So, I've never been too keen on fire. I've always steered clear of oils on a stove top. I do know how to bake because I'm good at mixing things up that have very specific directions and then enclosing them in a hot place where I don't have to touch them or be near them except for removing them from said place.

My mother and grandmother were wonderful cooks. I know how my grandmother made most things from scratch and know the recipes that her mother taught her. Does this mean I go out of my way to do it? No.

I have four small children at home. Three of which are starving to death 24/7. There's nothing that will make them stop. Perfect example: Izy ate four plates of pasta yesterday for dinner. Four! Why? Because she liked it. She actually requested a fifth plate, but we cut her off at four. Five may have just tipped her over the scales of "full" to "vomiting."

I'm fine with making stuff from the store. I will not touch raw meat. It's icky. If I didn't become a complete and utter crazy bitch when I don't eat red meat, I'd cut it out of our diets altogether. Unfortunately for us, and our pocketbooks, that is not the case. Though, luckily, we all love chicken with a passion. (And I've always hated birds anyway.)

Well, I made spaghetti today. The boiling of water makes me want to rip my ears off though, because I can hear those little bubbles of water vapor, well, bubbling but not enough to put the damn noodles in. It's annoying, not to mention my husband got more water to put in and threw ice cold water in it... Why? Because that stupid Wives Tale that says you shouldn't. Pft, use hot water damn it, we don't have lead pipes here!

In any case, it wasn't good, but it wasn't bad either. I managed to spill noodles all over the floor before putting them in the water--and no, not the same ones!--and then really pissed off Hubby when he got frustrated for not listening and just letting me do it myself. It wasn't bad spaghetti, but it could have used more sauce and meat but I wasn't going to run out to the store to get either, so I don't think it was too terribly bad.

The kids ate a little bit of it at least... Okay, well, most of it is still on the floor and has to be scraped off the table, but still.

Maybe I'll just leave the cooking to my husband...

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Excuse Me?

I don't care how nice someone is trying to be, but randomly asking "You're getting you're tubes tied now, right?" is still rude.

Why do other people make these things their business?

I understand that they are simply being friendly and attempting small-talk since four kids tends to be a rather large topic starter. But what really gets me... It's always other moms that say these things to me!

I've only had issues with one pregnancy and it didn't even make me high-risk or anything like that. Sure, we've had our kids in rapid succession but that's because we tried for years before the first and were worried about having the same issues again.

No matter how much our families ignore this: Our children were planned.

We love our kids. We take care of our kids. I stay at home and raise them, unless Hubby isn't working and then he spends even more time with them. I've already signed up to start homeschooling. We teach our children without books or things like that right now because they're more "hands on" and we're fine with that!

Why can't everyone else be fine with our family and how we do things?

Yes, we're younger and have four kids but we wanted them. We love them.

I know several girls that have four kids with different guys or aren't married, etc. It sucks because I get "Do they have the same father?" questions a lot. Yes! "Are you married?" Yes! Why in the world is it so hard for people to comprehend?

My aunt laughs when I tell her these things. She says if any of these people actually knew us at all they'd know the kids were all ours and that we are happily in love. Maybe she sees us differently than everyone else, because questions like those even pop up in our own families.

It's discouraging. It's hard to answer these kinds of questions when they actually bother you. They bother me. While it's nice to be able to start up a conversation with a stranger, having them tell me that and then go on about giving one of their kids up and having another that was raised as an only child--being an only child, it makes me cringe to think about--doesn't make me feel too good about myself.

Honestly, with the ease at which I've had children I've thought about being a surrogate. I think it would be wonderful to help others like that! But I'm sure my doctor would hear nothing of it. Of course, she also doesn't want me to get "fixed" because I'm so young.

In any case, if you have kids or not, if you happen to be attempting to strike up a random conversation with another person and they are, perhaps, the mother or father of multiple children, please please please please please hold your tongue. Small talk doesn't have to involve invasive questions about sex and anatomy, it could just be as simple as asking how old the kids are or their names!

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Parenting Confession

One day when we were low on diapers and I didn't have enough time to run to the store before my husband had to go to work, he called his parents and asked if they'd be willing to come over and watch the kids for just little bit while I went to the store down the road.

Well, there were a lot of other things that I had to get besides diapers and I was in such a rush to get back home because I thought it was rude to just spring this up on my in-law's that I completely forgot to buy diapers until I unlocked the front door.

I was way too embarrassed to say that, so I quickly dug through the bags as though I was searching for them and then told a little white lie about how I must have forgotten them at the store (oh no!) to make myself look a little better.

I felt like I couldn't get back to the store and home fast enough. I felt like a moron and have never told anyone, including my husband, how scatter-brained I went that day.

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Memorial Day

Please remember those that have served our country and those that have fallen in battle.

There is no mail today due to holiday!

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Princess Prize Pack!

I can't very well wish for this--though that dress is immensely adorable!--because we have two little princesses that have no problem beating one another for things, along with their brother who likes to be a princess too!

And since all these lovelies are for one princess, I'll have to pass... But that doesn't mean you have to! Hurry over there and win!

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Bugs!

With all the fuss that Izy's been going on about with ants lately, when we were outside earlier working on the tent, I spotted a tiny Praying Mantis!

It's just a nymph, so it's so so so tiny! I thought it may have been a stick bug at first!

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Father's Day Giveaway, Plus a Free Gift for You?

Claim a free surprise gift & enter for a chance to win a Motorola XOOM 32GB Tablet!

No idea what the free prize is. (Probably something lame like a desktop background or something. Or free spam emails!) Still, we don't possibly have the money to buy this normally so it's worth signing up for a chance!

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"Copy-Kids Eat Fruits & Vegetables" Review & Giveaway!

Ever had your child not want to eat something essential, like fruits or vegetables? Then this might just be the right DVD for your home too!

For one, it's basic. Kids watching other kids tend to mimic. If you have children happily playing and eating fruits and veggies, then more likely than not yours are going to want to join in. (Hey, sometimes doing what everyone else does is good for your kids! So, you can stop asking if they're going to jump off a bridge too--at least this time!)

Secondly, well, just look at this adorable mascot:

Blue parrot. I know my kids love it. Even I do! It's colorful and certainly grabs your attention, in a good way.

There are several chapters on the DVD (like bananas, carrots, broccoli) that target certain fruits or vegetables so if you're kids are only having issues with certain ones, you can target those.

I'll even admit that some of the stuff on here I don't like! Raspberries and avocados? Ew. This might make me want to give them another shot, but I still tend to lean towards the "those are icky" kind of thing, but I'm rather stubborn and set in my ways at this point! Good thing kids minds are more easy to mold.

My kids are good with fruits and veggies. (I guess that's the good thing about them being more like me on eating than their father, who is a bit picker.) Still, we all have bad days and this is something fun to watch and get them eating!

I'll tell you a secret--if you want your kids to eat anything, get them to watch this DVD. Even if it isn't the targeted fruit or vegetable, you should be able to talk to them more about eating good/healthier foods and get them to try more. You know, the ol' "if you try it you might like it" routine.

Honestly, my kids loved it. (Banana eatin' right here.) Kids like to watch other people have fun and the kids in this are having fun.

Now if only I could get an adult version with foods I like to get my husband to try something new...

If you'd like to see the video quality and content, you can watch a trailer here.

It was rated by Dr. Toy in 2011 as one of the best children's products in creativity and music.

You can find them online at Copy-Kids.com and on Facebook or you can win a copy in our giveaway!

Read more...

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Wordless Wednesday: 6 - 2 = 4

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Everyday Family: Baby Coupons, Samples, & More!

Formula Samples, Baby Magazines, Daipers Coupons and more!

Click Here!

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Lately...

I'm not about to get into explaining everything that's happened to us over the past long while, but allow me to make one thing very clear--I'm a stay at home mom.

Sure, not everyone likes that thought.

My husband works because he wants to. I stay at home because I want to. It's good for us, but it's not going to work for everybody.

I've already took the step this year to sign up for home schooling for the kids, and that has a whole lot to do with why I've always planned on being a SAHM since before we started trying to have children.

Yes, we're in a spot right now and have been for a little bit. But, honestly, who isn't at some point in their life?

Currently, we're trying to figure out exactly what my husband wants to do for a career. He's more than allowed to try and figure out what kind of job he really enjoys because he's been working his ass off at jobs where no one appreciates him and his work ethic, not to mention they don't ever last. It's disappointing and disheartening and I'm sick of him suffering through it.

I have things I do to get by. It's not much, but it's usually enough. I coupon, I save, I make a bit selling online and I'm sure you've all noticed the ads and I'm working a hell of a lot harder on that than ever before.

We're still breastfeeding, so that saves some too. Don't have to worry about clothes at this point because there are actually way too many and we need to go through them again and take them off to the consignment shop.

No, we did not put ourselves in the position that we are in now. How many people honestly do? Bad things do happen to good people, whether anyone wants to believe it or not. I could bore you with the horrible set of circumstances that lead us to where we are, but I don't think anyone really cares anymore.

Just know that the next time you go about blaming someone for their situation or telling them that they shouldn't have had kids to begin with or to go get a job, life isn't always that easy or simple to judge.

How would you like it if someone said that to your family? It doesn't feel good, especially when you understand the truth behind what's going on.

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Free Puppy eBook & Cruise Giveaway!

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