Happy New Year!

2010... What will this new year bring us?

I really don't know but it is starting out a little tougher than years past. I hear in the news that the recession is coming to an end, and that a better tomorrow is just around the corner. I know that things will get better, its just a matter of when???

Right now we are trying to live on $850.00 dollars a month and its not working to well. Hubby is trying to find work, and not having to much luck in that area. He had found a few odd jobs here and there, enough to keep the "Wolves" away but its getting scary.

I said in a previous post that I had to come up with a plan. So far this is what I have came up with.

1. Keep the Faith! I will remember that " The will of God, will not take us anywhere that the Grace of God, can not keep us!"

2. Get organized! Going through "Junk Drawers" and cupboards and putting things back in there proper places will save us all time and money. If we know where the items are that we need we will not think we need to buy them.

3. Save where I can.

If anyone has any tips that will help feel free to post away.

Another Christmas done and gone...

The once glorious tree gleaming with twinkling lights, silver and gold ball, and carefully placed ornaments, is now looking a bit worse for ware. It is resembling a middle aged man who is thinning on top, a bit to round in the middle, and is grasping desperately to resemble his former glory.

My children, who only 48 hrs. ago where chaneling the arc angel himself, have now slipped back to there former selves who have gone deaf to my requests to dump the trash or take kitchen scraps out to the chickens.

The 3 yr old who was working so hard at staying on the "Nice List" has came down with a bug of some kind, and is making everyone in ear shot suffer right along with her.... If Shannon isn't feeling good, aint no one feeling good!!!

25 days of "Peace on Earth, good will to man" and with little to no fan fair it is all placed neatly (or not so neatly) in the box under the bed to rest for 358 days, and we are launched back to the real world of a sluggish economy, bill's that must be paid, and to much month and not enough money.

The job market is not good, we are now trying to live on a fourth of what is needed to make bills. I am going to see if we can get back on WIC. That was a big help last year, I hope we can do it again.

I am working on a plan.... I will post it once I get it all figured out...stay tuned for more "Feeling the Pinch" tips and ideas I am working on.

Recaping 2009

Yes, it's that time of year again…Garlands on the mantel...Cookies in the oven...Voices raised in joyous song...Isn't Christmas wonderful? Granted I have yet to set foot in a department store, or fight to find a parking spot at the mall. All the same I am filled with a wonderful feeling of Christmas Cheer! Maybe it's because the house is filled with the excitement of the season that only a 3 year old trying so hard to stay on the Nice List can bring. Or it could be the "Christmas Cheer" that is making my eggnog so wonderfully delicious!

I thought it would be nice to recap the 2009 year and so we start out in January with a cruise to Mexico! They don't call it a "Fun Ship" because there is nothing to do, that's for sure! Everyone had a good time. It was on this ship that we came to realize it might be a good idea to put Shannon into Pre-School where she could play with kids her own age. She was very upset to find not everyone "Minds Her" the way her mom and dad do.

For the next few months we where totally occupied with Basketball season, 4-H Projects, the County Fair and Softball. Jessica had a good basketball season, no broken bones, twisted ankles, or jammed finger to report. However we had lots of bruises, and Jessica is sure that every referee in the county is out to get her.

Both girls took animals to the fair this year. Jessica took a hog and Becca took a lamb. I even entered a few items myself. We all did well bring home blue ribbons, and lots of dirty clothes. During the year I took a job with a local high school filling in for there cafeteria cook while she recovered from surgery. I had lots of fun and really enjoyed the work.

Soon enough summer came and we where knee deep in the hay season and my darling husband was super busy with everything he has to do to get the hay off the fields. What better time for the girls and I to go on a Road Trip! We packed up the Ol' 4 Runner and headed north!

We made our way up I-5 and found ourselves at the Forest Edge Bed and Breakfast, aka my sister in laws house. I highly recommend the Alexander Suite, it is wonderful! While we where up there Jessica had her 14th birthday. What better way to say “HAPPY BIRTHDAY” than a day trip to Forks, Washington to see if we could find any vampires or werewolves. Sadly we didn't run into Edward Cullen or Jacob Black, but we did see some beautiful sights in the Olympic Rain Forest.

In August summer vacation was coming to an end and I got a phone call asking if I would be interested in a permanent position at the school I was working at earlier in the year as the manager of the kitchens and cook for the high school. I said yes, and joined the ranks of working moms across the nation. I really enjoy the job, I get to cook for 100 hungry kids everyday!

In October, my darling hubby was able to go on a Deer & Elk hunt in Idaho. He had a successful hunt and filled both tags.

Which brings us here at the holidays once again, and the start of another basketball season. Both Jessica and Becca are playing this year. Our schedule is a bit crazy but we are enjoying ourselves all the same!

Well that about sums up our year. My eggnog is almost gone and I think I have occupied enough of your time.

We would like to wish you the very best for the New Year. May you be blessed with good health and lots of happy memories to share the next time we are together!

Back To The Real World.

It has been quite a while since our Washington Trip. We had a great time! I posted pictures on facebook and that is about as far as I got. The girls and I had a great time!

One of the best pictures was snapped on the first night. We stopped at my folks place and mom had made an awesome dinner for us. The cousins got to catch up. They hadn't seen each other all summer so there was lots to tell...

Now that Summer Vacation is over and the kids are back to school I thought life would slow back down and I would get caught up on some long neglected chores around the house that I had been putting off. Not going to happen......

Why you might ask???

Well the high school that I was subbing in the kitchen for called me shortly after we got back from Washington and asked me if I would like to apply for that job permanently. My hubby and I had talked about this, and what would I do if a position came up full time. We had decided that if it came with a family health insurance package and retirement program that would benefit the family and working outside the home would be worth it.

So long story short I took the job and started working the middle of August. The plus side of it is I am home by 3pm. I have all the same holidays off as the kids, I get summers off, we have an awesome health care package, Hubby and I will be able to retire and not depend on Social Security.

The bad side, (and its not really that bad) little miss Shannon is in preschool from 8 am - 2:00 pm, she is learning lots and has loads of fun. She gets to paint, write her name, learn all the wonderful things you need to know before you start kindergarten. I am lucky, I know her teacher at the center and everyone that works there. She is surrounded by people who truly care about her but I guess I have Mothers guilt, for not doing for her the same things I did for her sisters.

So now the Stay at Home Mom, has ventured out into the working world. So far its going ok. I have yet to learn time management skills when it comes to household chores. I am hoping that this Labor Day holiday I can get the house in order and WE as a family can keep it running smooth.

I will let you know how that works out.....

P.S. I tryed adding the pics to this post but it didn't work to well, sorry.

I linked some pics. from Facebook.

VACATION!!!

Port Orchard Wa.

Once upon a time a long long time ago, before the Great Recession of 2008- AKA Tough Econimic Times, AKA Sorry girls mom and dad have no money for fun stuff. You get the point. Back to my story....

The girls and I would take a road trip up to Port Orchard Washington to visit Aunt Suzanne, Uncle Monte, Christopher and Alex ( we fondly call them The Barbarians of The North) We have not done this trip for 2 year. But that all ends today!!!! We are off on our grand adventure in 6 hours! We have lots to do to get ready, but the one I am most excited about is we are getting a NEW CAMERA!!!! That means I will be able to let you all get a better glimps of the goings on here on the farm.

So off I go, I will be back in a few weeks with lots of stories and pictures to share.

You thought I was kidding....

I have been working on my dresser.... This is how it has looked for the past 7 months... Scary, I am not proud, but it is what it is.... 

It took me little less than an hour but what a difference!!! 

The Lazy Days Of Summer, Yeah Right!!!

Hello my adoring followers! LOL I am back from the land of "The Job That Didn't End!" 

I took a temporary job in October at a school cafeteria that was only to last six weeks and I ended up staying for the whole school year! I loved it, but I think my kids missed out on having mom at home. We managed to get to all the games, 4-H meetings, and lodes of other events we had going on, but it was hectic to say the least!  

Now school is out for summer, my temporary job has ended and I am slowly putting the house back together!

Who knew that a house could get so cluttered? 

                                                   

For the last 7 month the best I can say about the house is . "It's tidy enough not to kill someone." It is possible that it could seriously injure or perhaps maim an individual from a falling stack of half folded laundry, or blind an unsuspecting someone by a falling ceiling fan dust glob. 

Now I need to get the girls to rally and help me tidy up, I think bribery and blackmail are in order. I also am not afraid of resorting to the occasional threat of great bodily injury, or severe butt trauma if they do not help out!!!  

I am desperate! and desperate times call for desperate measures!!!!

Did I mention I am desperate???