Mountains of Laundry

Day 20 of 365

It is a never ending task, one that takes forever to do and then the next day you are right back where you started, and feeling like you have accomplished nothing. The laundry fairy never seems to show up and make things easier either. If she did, the task wouldn't be so daunting and never ending. And it surely doesn't help with the amount of times my children feel the need to change their clothes either.

One day, I will miss all of this. My children will be grown and gone and I will not be washing little shirts and jeans anymore. Little socks, that always seem to never be matched when they come out of the dryer. Loads of towels and washcloths. Washing sheets every single week, because we all love the smell of fresh linens so much. But for now, as much as I loathe the task of washing clothes, I will relish in the memories that I am making for myself. I will smell the shirts as they come of the dryer, warm and cozy feeling, with a scent of Gain detergent and Bounce dryer bar mixed in. Mmmm.... the smell of my kids childhood. The smell of laundry that they will forever relate to, and call it their "mom's laundry scent."

You all know what I mean. As soon as I smell something my mom has washed, I go right back to my childhood and the wonderful smell of my parents home. The smell of fresh linens! For now... this is one weeks worth of laundry build up in my home... I sort each childs clothes into one basket and then fold from there. Makes things so much easier!

Winter Clothes

Day 21 of 365

It's something not everyone gets to enjoy. Something everyone doesn't get to experience. Something that takes forever to get you out the door during the winter months and something that my kids need quite a bit of help doing.

Getting on their winter clothes.

But there comes a time when they grow independant, and they want to do it all on their own. There comes a time when my help is no longer needed. No matter how long it takes them to do it, they do not want any help at all. Vanessa is now into that stage, and it makes me sad at how fast they grow, and how independent they become. And how she no longer wants my help getting her ready. I still try to help Lailah get dressed, because I want to cherish all these moments and I don't ever want them to grow up... but they remind me that they are big kids now and that they can do it all on their own.

Vanessa has been learning to button and zip at school, and I really wish she wouldn't have caught on. Deep down I wish my babies would be reliant on me, and ask for more help. As Vanessa got ready for school today I went to go help her zip up her snow pants and she brushed me away and said she was a big girl and could do it on her own. It broke my heart to hear that she is a 'big girl', but I told her to let me get the camera and let me get some pictures of her being a big girl.

Creating a Binder

Day 19 of 365

After yesterdays extravaganza of purchasing things for little to nothing, I decided that it would be best to follow some guidelines and create a binder for myself so that I can take it with in every shopping trip, so if I find something on sale, I can then flip right to whatever page I need to in my binder and pull out the corresponding coupon easily, instead of flipping through several coupons to try to match them up. That was today's task.

Extreme Couponing

Day 18 of 365

So, there is all this craze about couponing lately, and for quite some time now I have been using coupons to help save us some money. But not to this extent, I had no clue that there was such a thing as Extreme Couponing. I have been doing some research and it looks to be quite the way to make a little stock pile of things that you use and save TONS of money doing so.

So, I clipped my usual coupons from the newspaper insert, printed some online coupons and paired them up with some in store sales that were currently running and took off to the store to see how this 'Extreme Couponing' really worked. And I loved it, it was a rush, and it felt like Black Friday all over again! I didn't purchase anything that my family would not use, and didn't go overboard on anything either. The cereal, you may think that's a lot, but where there is 5 of use eating cereal 7 days a week... we go through a lot of cereal!

Total out of pocket on the first purchase was $16.47

Total out of pocket for the second purchase was $59.50 plus 9.50 register rewards at Walgreens to use on my next purchase.

I am loving this and I am sure there will be plenty more fun purchases to help create a stock pile in the future!

Raaaaawwwwrrrrrrr!

Day 17 of 365

I have been working on getting that knitted scarf done, and my yarn keeps slipping. Which makes me miss a loop and drop a stitch, and it looks ridiculous. I cannot for the life of me get my yarn to stay on the needles. It got so aggravating I gave up, rolled up the hideous scarf and threw it in the trash, stuffed my needles into my bag and called it quits, never to pick up knitting needles again. But... I had to accomplish something, so I tried out some crochet hooks.

It was Wonderful!

So easy to do and I actually made progress and didn't get aggravated over it. Every stitch went into place where it was supposed to go and none were dropped. The hook really helped me with the yarn and I am now back into making my own little things. And they actually look wonderful too. In one days time I created this monster of a hat for Elliott and he is in love with it. He put it on once, ran around the house for a while and pretended he was a monster.

Next, I will be working on a monkey hat for Vanessa. She is my little monkey - and I am pretty sure that is her favorite animal. She has a monkey blanket, monkey stuffed animal, monkey PJ's and loves coloring pictures of monkeys. Maybe she is a monkey?

Cleary Sage & Plug Ins

Day 16 of 365

As the big brown truck pulls up the driveway, and my favorite delivery man comes out of the truck with a white box, I throw on my jacket and shoes, and meet him at the end of my sidewalk. I always meet my delivery man at the end of the sidewalk, and he always thanks me for meeting him out there. Today was a cold day, so we just said hello, and goodbye. Usually we strike up a short conversation. But it was chilly.

The white box contains my most recent fun purchase. I absolutly cannot wait to get into the house and open it up, to touch and feel the contents, hold them in my hands and smell them. As they will smell wonderful. I always love it when my packages smell wonderful! Today's package contained some of my most recent Scentsy bars and two plug in warmers. I smell them all and quickly rip into the warmer packages, setting them up and plugging each of them into their outlet in the bathrooms. And plopping in a slice of the bar. Soon the house smells of Redwood & Cedar - and the smell is invigorating. Inviting. And most of all comforting. I love it when my house smells wonderful. I want to thank my scentsy consultant, Trista, for doing what she does. Thanks for making my home smell wonderful!

The Red Bag

Day 15 of 365

The girls run to the house as they get off the bus, knowing tonight is a special night. They rush through the door, rip their winter gear off and run to the bedroom to change their clothes. A double layer is put on, and we pack the red bag. Jackets and boots are put back on and we head out the door. Rushing to the car, we all get in, buckle up and we are off. With the red bag in tow.

"Are we there yet?" "How much longer?" comes from the backseat. They are surely excited, because of the contents that the red bag holds. They cannot contain themselves, it is something that they love. Something that they enjoy. And it teaches them values, teamwork, effort, commitment, and most of all self esteem.

We pull into the parking lot forty five minutes later, and they burst from the car, running to the door, as I carry in the red bag. As they run through the doors they find a seat and start to remove their jackets and boots. The red bag is set on the floor, unzipped and the contents are removed. The girls grab their helmets, and put them on, both asking me to snap them snugly on their heads. The skates are removed and placed on their feet, laced up and the blade guards removed. They walk on rubber mats to the door of the rink, and cannot wait to get on the ice. It is their first night of Ice Skating lessons. And they love every minute of it. Figure Skating. Every little girls dream. To be an Olympic figure skater one day!