Children of Two Homes

It is with great pleasure that I introduce you to my new or not so new children's picture book Children of Two Homes.

I usually do not post much about me or my journey that has brought me to where I am today.  But in light of me introducing you to my book Children of Two Homes which is the story of my own children and their journey of living in two homes.  I thought it was time for you to get to know the authentic me.

If you knew me, you would probably not guess that my family is a blended family or that there is a divorce behind me. I will say that is has taken me years to get where I am today and that it has been a journey of ups and downs for me and our children along the way.

 Finding the new ME

After crying for days or longer I cannot remember, I finally picked myself up and put away the wine (not the kind found in a glass).  It was time to dust myself off.

I had to reflect back on the younger version of me.  The younger me that had hopes, dreams, strength and vision that anything was possible.    

I had to learn to succeed for myself and that of my children.

But how? was the big question I kept asking myself

The light at the end of the tunnel came when I faced up to all the hurt, humiliation, anger, tension, disappointment, feeling of failure and lose of relationships and let it all go.

I had to let go of all the memories and all the hopes and dreams of the past.

I had to mourn the old life, old house, old memories and the old me to give light to the new me.  I had to put it all to rest once and for all.

I stood strong and looked myself in the mirror and told myself that this hurt was not going to define me or my children.  It was going to make a better version of me one that I could be proud of and one my children could be proud of.

It took time to become the new me  

The truth is it took me a year or longer before I looked in the mirror and found the new me the stronger me that was filled with hopes and new dreams.

So why talk about it now?

I finally feel that now I have something positive to offer by talking about our story. 

Top Five Tips to become the new you after divorce

*   Let yourself mourn your old life

*   Let it all go

*   Rediscover your younger self

*   Don't waste time with regret

*   Discover the new side of yourself by exploring new interests

Next week I will reveal how to cope with two separate homes 

Household Tips and Tricks

Keeping it clean one house at a time

Tip #6

Use fresh squeezed lemon juice as a cleaner for some of your kitchen surfaces. It is a great way to go green and it is a great way to make your wallet a little bit greener as well.

Here are some of the ways to use it in your kitchen.

Stove top

It works great as a degrease and the acid from the lemons will break down stains on the stove top in just a few minutes. Squeeze the juice right where you need it and then wipe off with a rag. Stain gone.

Microwave

Heat a microwaveable cup with water and lemon slices in your microwave for 2 to 3 minute this will loosen up all the grime. Then all you have to do is wipe clean. Stains and grease will be easier to remove and all odors neutralized.

Kitchen Sink

Squeeze juice from one to two lemons. Mix lemon juice with backing soda to form a paste. Use a damp rag to rub the paste in the sink. Let sit for several minutes to allow the lemon acid to break down stains. Rub with rag just like you would with Ajax. Rinse clean.

Refrigerator

Cut a lemon in half and stored it in your refrigerator to help control and eliminate all those unpleasant smells.

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Show off at Oopsey Daisy

Linen Closet Freshener

Coupons keeping it all together

Using coupons is helping our family stretch the budget during this rough financial patch that we are all going through at this time. One of the most frugal, money-saving things that I can do is utilize as many of the coupons that are at my disposal as possible for the products that we use.

In order for me to utilize these coupons to the best of my ability I had to come up with a way to organize them so that I would be able to use as many as possible. The more I use the more I am able to save.

The first thing that I did was to organize the coupons into simple categories.

• Dairy

• Canned

• Frozen

• Baking

• Cereal/Crackers

• Boxed Meals/Sides

• Seasoning

• Snacks

• Cleaning

• Paper Products

• Beauty

The second thing I did was decide on if I wanted to put them into a binder or index box with dividers. I chose the binder, that way it fit nicely on my office shelf and was also easy for me to carry in the cart.

I used binder 5 tab dividers to divide all of the sections with. In each section I placed zipper pocket and baseball card holders to hold all the coupons in.

I like the zipper bags the best because it is easier to place the coupons inside. The draw back is that you can not see your coupons at a glance. So I have both in each section of my binder.

How to Make a Zip Pocket Holder for Binder

I cut down a gallon zip lock bag from the bottom end so that it will fit in the binder, next I cut a sheet of card stock so that it will slide into the zip lock bag leaving a little hanging out the end that you cut. Once that is done I use clear packing tape and tape the cut end closed. After the bag has been reinforced with the packing tape I punch holes in the zip bag with a three hole punch.

Using the coupons at the Grocery Story or other Stores

When I make out our shopping list for each store, I put the coupons I’ll be using in each store envelope. I then write my list for that store on the outside of each envelop and place a circled C next to the items that has a coupon. This way I make sure that I am getting the right item while at the store and it also insure that I will use all of them at check out.

 

Here is another cute coupon organizer from Glowgirl.

Glowgirl

Coupon Organizer

Pamper Your Feet

Our feet should not be left out of our beauty regiment. Our feet can benefit from some tender loving care. After all they get us from one point to the next. So let’s take some time and exfoliate those dry cracked overworked, tired feet.

Here is what you will need:

• Dish Pan

• Painters Sand Sponge

• Soft Towel

• Fresh squeezed lemon juice

• Extra Virgin Olive Oil

• Epson Salt

Make a massaging cream with olive oil and Epson salt.  Mix the two ingredients together until you have a oily paste.

Remove all of your dry calluses with the painter’s sponge before you soak your feet in warm water.   

Next rub lemon juice all over your feet with a cotton ball.  Allow the lemon juice to set on your feet for a few minutes to help exfoliate and remove all the dead skin cells.   

Place your feet a tub of warm water and allow them tootsies to soak and relax the days strain away.

After your feet have soaked for several minutes remove one foot at a time placing your foot on the dry towel and massage in the olive oil and Epson salt paste. This will buff away all of the remaining dead skin cell and leave you with smooth soft feet. Once your have massaged your foot well sit it back in the tub of warm water. Repeat with the other foot. Once both feet have been done towel them off and you will be left with some happy tootsies.

Homemade Apple Sauce with Crumb Topping

21 large apples I use Fuji and Gala Apples

2 cups water

½ cup brown sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Peel all the apples and core them. Once you have them all peeled and cored cut the apples up into small chunks. Place the apples in a large pot, add water, brown sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon. Cook on medium heat with a cover. Once apples are soft about 20 minutes use a potato masher and mash the apples in the pot. Uncover and cook down until most of the juice is gone. Let cool and place in mason jars or container with lid. Keep refrigerated.

Crumb Toping

½ stick soft butter

½ cup flour

½ cup oats

½ cup brown sugar

Smash in the flour, brown sugar and oats into the butter using a fork. Keep mixing until it become crumbly. You might have to add flour.

Household Tips and Tricks

Keeping it clean one house at a time

Tip #5


With a busy life style it is hard to take a whole day for cleaning the house from top to bottom. I have found that it is easer and less stressful if I break down all the household chores into a regular weekly and monthly rotation schedule. When I do it this way it insures that nothing goes undone for more than one week or one month depending on the chore.


Make two list of your cleaning chores that you do weekly and monthly. Once you have your list break it into days that each chore will get done.


Weekly List of Chores


• Showers and Tubs
• Toilets and sinks
• Mop
• Mirrors and Glass doors
• Dust
• Vacuum and Sweep (I do this twice a week)
• Microwave


Monthly List of Chores


• Ceiling Fans
• Refrigerator
• Baseboards
• Cobwebs
• High Selves and High Tops of Furniture
• Oven


My kitchen gets cleaned daily. (After every meal)


I do not do household chores on Saturday or Sunday. Saturdays are for yard work and Sundays are for Church and family gatherings.


Here is what my week looks like at a glance


Monday Sweep/Mop/Vacuum


Tuesday Shower/Tubs/Bathroom Sinks/Toilets


Wednesday Mirrors and Glass doors


Thursday Dust and Microwave


Friday Sweep and Vacuum


Monthly chores I combine my monthly chores on the days that I have the fewest chores for the week or the ones that take me the shortest amount of time.


1st Wednesday of every month Ceiling Fans


1st Thursday of every month Baseboards


2nd Wednesday of every month Cobwebs


2nd Thursday of every month High Shelves and Tops Furniture


3rd Wednesday of every month Oven


4th Wednesday of every month Clean out refrigerator (drawers and wipe down shelves) I do this right before my first of the month grocery shopping which is my biggest shopping trip of the month.

Dresser Drawer Organization

The New Year is here and with that always comes trying to get organized.  I have been trying to organize through out our home since we moved in 1 ½ years ago.  I’m getting there and one of the last things that need to be concurred is everyone’s dressers.  Come on we all have those drawers that we just toss the items in after the wash, here is a picture of mine before.  Yes I am embarrassed to say that this is my drawer and not one of my children’s.

I found the same size boxes that fit perfect in the drawers.  I lined each box with a dryer sheet to keep things fresh.  I should of contact paper them or something to make them look more Martha Stewart style and all but did not have any and thought who is going to be looking in my drawer besides me (and then I posted it and now all of you L).

Now I won’t go to work with miss match socks. I have my tights, knee highs, socks and scarves in each box. 

I also put the same size boxes in my shirt drawer.

My husband came and look at them and said “hey nice job, but how long to do think that is going to last?” I will have to prove him wrong and keep it this way. (I can do it)

Linen Closet Freshener

Keep your linens smelling clean and fresh with linen shelf fresheners.

What you will need:

• Dryer Sheets

• Ribbon 1 inch

• Rick Rack

• Buttons

• Push Pins

• Glue Gun

Cut ribbon to fit the length of the shelf in your linen cabinet. Fold the dryer sheet in half forming two triangles.

Glue the straight edge of dryer sheets to the back side of the 1 inch ribbon.

Turn over and embellish the front side with rick rack and buttons.  Hang on the edge of linen shelf with push pins.

New Year Goals

The New Year is here and it is going to come and go as fast as the last one did. So with that in mind I have to set some goals to keep me on track of the year to come. I feel that if I write them down for all to see it will keep me on track with what I want to accomplish for myself and family.



Goals for 2011

• Believe in Gods plan for me!
• Spend as much quality time with my children before they leave the nest. With two in college that does not give me much time.
• Spend quality time with my husband (he should come before work and I have to tell myself that)
• Lose 10 Ibs. We all have the weight lose one.
• Eat for a healthier life style.
• Do charitable acts in the community. Leave a mark to make a difference.
• Run a 10K with out walking.
• Get My Two Homes children’s book published.
• Finish the illustrations to Scarecrows Standing Tall children’s book.
• Take my children to the top of Mammoth Mountain