Free Printable for your coupon Binder

Ever wonder when is the best time to stock up on certain items or when something is likely to go on sale?
Here is a printable list I found that shows what is likely to be on sale each month. A great addition to your coupon binder. Salecycle

♥Hailies clothes line♥

Yesterday I was out at the clothes line hanging a load up when Hailie came out and said "Oh mom I wish I nowed you was out here, I love to watch you hang the clothes."And then sat on the steps and watched. I thought I should run a line at her height and let her hang the socks.....what's funner than watching...helping of course. SO today I did. When I took her out to show it to her she was so excited and kept saying "Thank you mom, I love it" We always say "Many hands make light work" It's kinda our family motto and it is nice to see that even the little ones are willing to pitch in.

 Here we are hanging the laundry together!

 Hailie likes hanging up her clothes the most.

 A job well done!

Some how I still got stuck hanging all the socks.

Best bucket-less / spray mop

I was thinking about my floors and the fact that they need mopped everyday, at least once. The reason they need mopped so much is that I have 6 kids, 2 dogs, 4 cats and the occasional niece and nephew. I get a lot of traffic going through, not to mention that my yard is mostly dirt and I only have carpet in one room (my bedroom) so all the floors need mopped at least once daily. I used to go to bed at night with my back aching from bending and ringing the mop out over and over. 

Then I bought a swiffer wet jet, what a waist of money, you have to buy the cleaner, the pads, and batteries. If you are mopping as much as I do that adds up. Plus, I don't like having to pay for their cleaners, I like to make my own. You know what I did, I poked a hole in the cleaner bottle and refilled it with my cleaners, I tied an old t-shirt where the pads go so I wouldn't have to keep buying their pads. Big pain in the butt and totally not worth it, especially since no matter what you still had to keep batteries in it so that it would spray.  I did like the convenience of just pulling it out and mopping, no bucket to prepare and no wringing the mop out.
So back to my old mop and bucket. Then I found a mop that didn't need batteries or special cleaners and had washable pads. It was a Rubbermaid spray mop, I was really loving it until one of the little kids unscrewed the spray nosal and lost it. The mop wouldn't spray the cleaner on the floor without it.  So another $20.00 down the drain (I hate when that happens). I can't find that particular mop anymore so I think that they are not making it, they do have a new product out called the Rubbermaid  reveal, I have not tried it though.

I haven't tried it because I ♥♥♥LOVE♥♥♥ my new spray mop, the Libman Freedom. It has 2 washable floor pads, I can use my own homemade cleaners with it's re-fillable cleaner bottle, no batteries and no little parts that can be taken off and lost by small children. The best part is everyone likes using it so spills get cleaned up much faster and with no complaints. If you go here you can get a $5.00 rebate.

I was not compensated in any way, I am just sharing a great product that has made my life easier, we can all use things to make our lives easier.

My new routine

Last year was insane. For the first time ever we did not have a schedule. I still don't want the kids to have a schedule ( I want them to be free to play and explore, listen to their internal clock) but I do like to have some sort of routine in place. I need to feel like there is a flow to my day and that I am working towards a goal. I thought about our day and realized that it could be broken into 3 segments. We have our usual morning bench marks, our afternoon bench marks and our evening bench marks. There were just certain things that weren't getting done so I decided to write them down and hold myself accountable for the things I need to get done everyday. I don't know if you have ever heard of flylady but I used her routine as a model and then changed it to fit my needs. These are printed and in my Household notebook.
Here it is

Morning routine


Rise and shine:
1. Take shower and clean the bathroom while I am there.
2. Fix my hair and face
3. clean the toilet
4. Leave the bathroom with all the dirty laundry and head straight for the washing machine, start load.

Kitchen
1. If I did my bed time routine then the kitchen is nice and clean and all I need to do is empty the dish rack.
2. Make coffee
3. Feed the animals, water the garden, collect eggs.
4. Make Breakfast and take out dinner to thaw.
5. Feed everyone (including myself) and everyone takes vitamins.
6. Clean up kitchen and sweep and mop floors
7. Give the little ones their bath and dress them (clean their bathroom while they have a little tub play).
8. Hang the load in the washer and start another load
9. pick up kids bed and put it away
10. send kids to clean their rooms
11. Continue with laundry until done

Think about your Day
1. Check my calendar.
2. Check my to-do list
3. check e-mail


Afternoon Routine  (start after nap 1:30)
1. Make lunch and eat
2. Clean up kitchen
3. Clean my room and make my bed
4. Tidy family closet
5. free time everyone, outings, projects

Evening routine (start around 6:00)
1. start dinner and set table
2. feed the kids, set a plate aside for Israel and clean the dinner mess
3. Wash dishes, take out trash, sweep and mop floors.
4. Put the little ones in their pajamas and pull out their bed.
5. Feed Israel and wash his plate.
Get ready for bed!
1. Put on pajamas
2. Wash face
3. Brush teeth
4. Brush hair
5. Check smoke alarms

Weekly checklist
Kitchen:
   1. Scrub floors.
   2. Clean out refrigerator.
   3. Replace foil on drip pans.
   4. Sweep/spray off porches
Bathrooms:
   1. Polish mirrors.
   2. Empty trash.
   3. Mop floor.
   4. Change vacuum bag.
Bedrooms:
   1. Vacuum carpet.
   2. Dust.
   3. Change sheets.
Living room, Dining Room, and Family Room
   1. Dust furniture.
   2. Vacuum couch and wash cover.
   3. Clean walls and base boards.
   4. Cull/toss old magazines.
Paperwork and Misc. Duties
   1. Plan menu for next week.
   2.Clean out purse.
   3. Water and fertilize plants.
   4. Clean out Van.
   9. Deep clean laundry room/family closet.

New Section in my Household Notebook

Now that I am getting into canning and other methods of "putting food up" I decided I needed a way to keep track of what I have in the freezer, pantry , and fridge.

Here are the new additions to the  Food storage section of my Notebook
Food storage times
Pantry inventory and Freezer inventory

Unschool Record Keeping

 I am a keeper of records. I am a maker of lists. I am a compulsive scheduler. I keep records of what my kids are doing for my own sanity. With 6 kids I have to. So today I was re-vamping my household notebook and I came across a record keeper for Unschoolers......YAY, I don't have to keep making my own.
unschool record keeper You can print them out as you need them. Just thought I would share

Homemade vegetable wash

Ideally I would buy only organic foods, but lets face it, sometimes its just a matter of keeping food in the cupboards and non-organic fruits and veggies are better than no fruits and veggies. Hopefully soon the garden will be big enough that we can depend on it for most of our vegetable and fruit needs, until then I try to wash as much gunk of our produce as possible (even organic produce needs a good washing).  Being the cheap..uh frugal person I am, I would never buy produce wash in the store. So here is my recipe for produce wash.

1. Put the plug in you clean sink and fill about 1/4 full with water.
2. Add 3/4 cups baking soda
3. Add 1/2 cup vinegar
4. Add produce
5. Add more water as needed to cover produce 
6. Swish around and let soak for a few minutes.
7. Rinse 

Pomegranate Update

Just an update on the Pom's

First picture of the poms. 6-14-11

Same 2 poms 7-4-11

looking good.

Culling Chickens

I started my chicken adventure in 2007 with big dreams of hatching and raising my own meat..It was suppose to go something like this.........I grow a garden and eat from it..I feed the chickens from it too (and with purchased chicken food) they lay eggs for about a year and make poo for compost, then I cull them and freeze them..........We eat our own veggies and meat....well it didn't really work that way. I have hatched eggs and every other part of the plan worked out except the eating our own chickens part. I just haven't been able to do it......I want to, I want to so bad. I have watched how to videos, talked to my Dad about it, My sisters, actually I am the only person in my whole family who isn't or hasn't grown chickens for food.  I keep telling myself  "You can do it, what kind of Urban farmer am I if I can't even process a chicken?" It is just the act of taking the life. The rest is no problem. I can pluck it, gut it, it is just the initial act of making that jugular cut. I am not against it, as a matter of fact I think if your gonna eat it you should be willing to kill it.....right/wrong, Heck I don't even know. I keep giving myself the pep talk and watching the old hens peck at the food and not giving me anything in return..NOTHING..As a matter of fact I gave away a rooster yesterday..that's right I GAVE AWAY a rooster...someone else will be eating the fruits of my labor. How's that for urban farming..I ask you is this good flock management..I think not. Help me out here. I need a class, or to watch someone else do it in person first...Something.

Fall Garden seed list

Here is the desert we do our spring planting in the fall and our summer planting in the spring...we're crazy like that. We drool over garden catalogs and websites while sitting in front of the air conditioner and sipping ice tea instead of by the fire with hot cocoa. It is 107 here today and what little I have planted this year is hoping and praying for Monsoon as much as I am. I can't go outside without suffering acute heat exhaustion so instead I sit her and plan our next major growing season...Fall.
I am buying my seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom and Native Seed Search because I want GMO free seeds.
If you live in the desert and want to know what to plant and when here is a list for you.


FALL GARDEN 2011:
Artichoke
Broccoli
Cabbage (both red and green)
Cilantro
Carrots
Celery (have my doubts but I am going to give it a go)
Garlic
Leeks
Lettuce mix
Mint
potato (also not sure about this)
Onions (both red and brown)
Peas (2 kinds)
Spinach


We also plan to put in at least 10 mesquite and possibly a few fruit trees. I thought I would get all the fruit trees put in  in the fall, but now I think it is best to wait until the wind break trees have had a chance to grow in a bit.........I might tuck a few in around the yard here and there is protected spots...we will see how it unfolds. I also need to run the drip irrigation to the vegetable garden and along the fence for the mesquite trees.