Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Cutting Back

I know I've been gone for a few weeks, things have been very crazy hectic but I'm back now so hopefully I won't get blog-lazy now...lol

Randy and I are desperately needing for me to return home to be with our boys. Things have gone from bad to worse in the daycare situation, financially and the behavior and happiness of our children.  I know GOD is giving me all kinds of signals and hints and showing me why I need to a full time mom but I'm so hesitant because I don't want to have to struggle any more than we already are.

So in an effort to make things easier when I do finally quit this job and come home to my kids, I'm compiling a list of everything I could make from scratch and save money on. 

Here is what I have so far (let me know if you can think of anything else)

Home:
1. Laundry soap
2. Dish soap
3. Dishwasher soap
4. All-Purpose cleaner
5. other household cleaners

Kitchen:
1. baking mixes
2. breads
3. snacks, cookies & cakes (mostly for lunches)

Baby:
1. DIAPERS!-I'm switching Lil D to cloth diapers and I know I can make these myself to save even more money
2. wipes
3. wipe solution

I will also try my hand at making some clothes, towels, UNpaper towels and anything else I can think of along the way.

I'll be posting updates, recipes & pictures and would appreciate any help or advice!

Thanks for stopping by!

Jaymie

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Mama's Cooking

I heard something on the radio this morning that made me think about the kind of mother I want to be.

Now I usually am thinking about what kind of mother I want to be, the best mother possible to my little boys.  I'm sure all of us mothers think and feel this way. Always striving to be the best we can be.  Sometimes its hard, challenging, frustrating. Sometimes I get down on myself and start doubting that I am a good mother but then they smile and tell me they love me and I know that I'm doing my best.

This morning, my morning radio station was having people call in and say what they missed from when they were kids and someone said "my mom's cooking" the radio jockey laughed and said "yeah you remember when we were kids and our moms went all out on the meals, all my kids know as mom's cooking is hamburger helper."

This kind of made me sad to think about. I remember my mom's cooking, I still have my mom's cooking. I do believe my mom is one of the best cooks ever. She somehow manages to throw everything together and it taste wonderfully.  I believe I got this from my mom.  I grew up in a household of cooking and baking. Between my mom and my grandmother we were always eating good.

Homemade pierogies, galumpkies, struedels, cobblers, pies, cakes, everything...it was sooo good.

I'm glad that my kids still get to grow up in this kind of environment. I try to cook everything from scratch and I always make sure they have good home cooked meals.  Sometimes we eat out or get pizza but its not often.  My kids love almost everything I make.  I tried to make hamburger helper for them once and it was a disaster. I cooked it right but they did not like it at all. I make homemade cheeseburger macaroni that they love though. 

I'm not trying to brag about my cooking skills. I'm not the best but I do strive to make sure that my kids eat healthy and homemade.

I know some mom's struggle with cooking or just don't have time. I'm a busy mom of 2 and work full time, sometimes I'd like to take shortcuts...which is why I'm so enthusiastic about trying the Freezer Cooking. That way my family can still have my homecooked goodness all the time.

I believe if you struggle with cooking there are alot of good resources on the internet and on tv that could give you some good tips and techniques and recipes. I always thought it'd be fun to have "New Mommy/Wife Bootcamp" classes...that's an idea huh?

Check out my Button Mania page, all those blogs/sites have WONDERFUL recipes and cooking tips!

Ok going to go get packing!

Thanks for stopping by!

Jaymie

Camping Checklist

This weekend we are going on our annual camping trip to celebrate Randy's 25th birthday. I am busy busy trying to get things packed up and ready for our excursion.



We will sleep in a tent because we don't have the luxury of a camper and with 2 small kids in the middle of June it can be very trying at times, but well worth it.

Last year was Devyn's first year going camping and we were lucky to have the use of my dad's camper and a/c and tv.  *sigh* how I will miss that camper.

Here is the list I have compiled of things we will be packing for the trip:

1.sheets
2.blankets
3.pillows
4.the tent
5.air mattress
6.clothes
7.shoes
8.shower & bath necessities
9.shower shoes
10.Hayden's potty seat
11.toilet paper
12.cups for Devyn
13.extra pacifiers
14.bible
15.fan
16.extension cords
17.radio
18.phone chargers
19.bicycles
20.sunscreen
21.bug buttons
22.citronella candles
23.bug spray
24.hats
25.towels
26.diapers
27.wipes
28.pack & play
29.stroller
30.food & drinks

I'm sure that's all we will need, we are going with family so we shouldn't have to bring pots & pans etc. We'll be cooking on the grill most of the weekend anyway.  I'll be posting pictures and maybe some camp cookout recipes!

I will try to stay off of Twitter but I am kind of addicted. lol

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Jaymie

Monday, June 7, 2010

June Freezer Cooking



I've been reading LifeAsMOM and MoneySavingMom for over a year now and have always wanted to participate in their freezer cooking (OAMC) days but honestly it's never been in our budget to buy a lot of ingredients to cook a whole lot at one time. We're working on it but not quite there yet.

So this month it happened almost as an accident.  While I didn't spend one day cooking a bunch of freezer meals, I would like to contribute my freezer cooking success from the weekend.

In my freezer I have:

2 meals Hobo Beans (I had leftovers)
1 Chicken Pot Pie filling (I can make the crust in a jiffy or use canned biscuits)
3 bags of frozen cherries that will be made into a pie and some cherry jelly

I know that's not alot but there are 3 meals in there that will greatly help me out in the coming days.

Next month I'm definately doing freezer cooking, I've been putting money aside for one big shopping trip.

Thanks for checking in!

Jaymie

Sundays are for Learning

So I know that it is now Monday but circumstances made it impossible for me to write this yesterday. This will become a regular though, I'm sure as I find my way to GOD.

Yesterday I went to Sunday School at the church and also the Sunday service. 

It was great...GOD is soooo good!

I learned about "Living a Blameless Life" We studied 1Timothy Chapter 5 (not sure how that is technically supposed to be written out so I'll do it my way)

God wants believers to live a blameless life, not only for Jesus but because it's the right thing to do.  Our lives are about people.  The elderly men, younger men, elderly women, younger women.  We should treat the elderly men as a father, the younger men as our brother, the elder women as our mother and the younger women as our sister with all purity.

The point of the lesson, I think anyway, was to teach us that our home and family is our responsibility and we should show piety first at home.  That no matter what the circumstances, our children, husbands, significant others are our responsibility.

This struck a cord deep within me. I am currently a work out of the home mom and it kills me. It literally kills me. Every day I'm at work I feel a piece of me die inside. It kills me everytime I drop my boys off at daycare and they cry and cry and cry. All they want is to be with me and I pawn them off with strangers just so that I can go get a paycheck.  Can we live without my paycheck, I fear it would be quite impossible to live on just Randy's salary. It's so hard. I'm at work now and I just want to cry.

Finding my way to GOD is proving more of an emotional battle than I think I'm ready for. The more I read and learn confirms that every part of me that is wrong is also wrong with GOD and it makes me feel so ashamed. What do I do? I want to be saved but I almost feel like my soul is lost. Lost in the wrong turns and misguided information of others. Lost in other people's reactions and thoughts that shouldn't be in my way but are. This same goes for my decision to not work, in many eyes it is wrong for me to not want to work to want to stay home with my kids and be their MOTHER. I'm so ashamed, I'll never regret or be ashamed of my children but I am ashamed that I am an unmarried mother of 2. I feel like all eyes are judging me when I take my children to church.  Yes Randy and I are together and plan on getting married but it's just so wrong to have children and not be married first...right?

I'm rambling now but I needed to vent and get it off of my shoulders...I was really feeling weighed down today.

Thanks for checking in!

Jaymie

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

My 5-min Summer Face

As a busy working mom of two the last thing on my mind some mornings is putting makeup on. But I have some blemishes and honestly I don't like leaving the house with a bare face.

In the summer time, when it's hot and muggy, no one wants to feel like their face is melting and sometimes piling on product after product trying to get that perfect flawless face can be a challenge when you're sweating.

So when I'm running late for work or a bbq or a day at the beach I like to put these products on just to give me a more "polished" look then just letting my face go naked.

Tinted Moisturizer
 
I use Mark.'s Get A Tint in ivory/nude. Its a perfect shade for my skin and goes on like a moisturizer with a little coverage to cover those spots on my face. Added bonus it has SPF 15 which will protect your face from that hot sun.


Concealer
 
On not so good days when my face has some blemishes or redness that the tinted moisturizer won't cover, I put on Mark.'s Good Riddance concealer stick underneath the tinted moisturizer. Just a dab and then blend with your fingers and it will cover those spots or under eye circles.


Blush

I use Mark.'s Cheekblossom Cheek Color Tint. It's a gel that just a little bit on your cheeks gives you that little bit of natural looking blush.



Bronzer

I like Mark.'s Glowdacious Illuminating Powder. It gives me a little bronze and a little shimmer.


Powder/Compact

I like to finish my face with a little powder to set. I use Mark.'s Mattenificent powder with a fluffy brush, just a little all over my face and be sure the pat in the places you put your concealer.  I like the Mattenificent because my face tends to get oily and shiny. I also throw this in my bag for touchups and the mirror.

Eyes

I don't use anything heavy on my eye lids when I'm running around outside in the heat. I like a little shimmer but nothing heavy that might crease or run off of my eye lid.

Mark. just came out with a new eye primer that I love. I put this under a WinkStick and it stays all day.

My favorite WinkStick colors are Coy a shimmery purple and Demure a shimmery ivory color...just a little shimmer to perk up my eyes.


Mascara

I don't use eyeliner every day. I usually just like the little color and some waterproof mascara that's all I need to make my big eyes pop and I don't have to worry about eye liner smudging or running.  Mark. does carry a nice waterproof liquid eyeliner though, in hook-up form, called Get In Line.

My favorite waterproof mascara??? You guessed it...Mark.'s Lash Splash in Black.

I hook this up with my winkstick and throw it in my purse or diaper bag.


And last but not least...Lips

I'm not big on lipstick...I think it doesn't look very good on me and I've tried every shade in the book.  My favorite of all time is Mark.'s Glow Baby Glow hookup lip gloss in Pink Crush it just gives me a little color and gloss but not overpowering lipstick color you know?   

Mark. also has a tinted lip balm out that is really nice.  Totally Balmed that's another option if you are more of a "chapstick" kind of mommy...I often times grab for my Totally Balmed.
So there it is...the products I use for a 5-minute summer face. It really does only take me 5 minutes...lol Maybe one day I'll do a video on it.

****If you'd like more information on Mark. products you can check out my eboutique  www.mymarkstore.com/jhufnal*****

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Jaymie