Home Ec 101 is giving away a $25 gift card to Build a Bear Workshop~

Hope on over to http://www.home-ec101.com/new-giveaway-25-gift-card-to-build-a-bear-workshop/ and enter a comment for a chance to win this fantastic prize!  And while you’re there..check out her whole site…it’s really cool!

I’m a Stay at Home Mom–What do you do??

This question came up on my MOMPACK group…only the other way around…and let me tell you..questions that are phrased like this: “What do you do all day..staying home?” or “How can you stand being home all day with the kids?” or any others like that…these questions HURT!

As a stay at home mom of 13 yrs, I have heard them all…and they all stung…especially the ones from family. So when this came up on my group..I made this post..hope all you stay at homers enjoy and hold your heads up! What you do is really important…KEEP it UP!

***I used to hear those comments all the time…the worst was from someone in my own family..she made the comment that I was throwing away a perfectly good education and career to stay home and “play mommy” …her exact words.

At the time I got pregnant with our 1st (our daughter) I was headed for a bachelors in Accounting and planning on taking my CPA test. I had done my work in a CPA office and was ready for the commuting I needed to pick up the last year of classes…then found out I was pregnant..and our world changed in an instant.

We decided as a couple (DH and I) that it would be best to stay home until she was school age…(she’s 12 now and I’m still at home! LOL!)…then when she was 2 we decided we wanted to homeschool (did I mention the amount of public school teachers and workers I have in my family?)

Anyway, now we have 2 wonderful, bright, well adjusted kids…I am a stay at home, homeschooling, dual business running, Cadette leadering, Altar Server Training, chauffeuring, cooking, sewing, bargain hunting MOM! And very proud of it! Instead of an accountant in some firm…I own my own business! What’s wrong with that????

Long story short..when people ask what I do, I list the things I do in this order:
I do the bookkeeping/receptionist work for my DH’s construction business
I run my own Custom Sewing Website, including all office detail and website work
I homeschool my children
I train our Altar Servers at Church
I Co-Lead our Cadette Troop (Been with it since they were Brownies)
I take both kids to 4-H
We’ll be getting goats and chickens for 4-H
I cook a LOT!
I will be cooking select items for a local restaurant this fall and winter.
I also teach local girls 10-15 to sew
I’ll be starting a girls club locally to teach modesty, homemaking, how to build a hope chest, hospitality and basically how to be a girl/women..and be PROUD of it.
Do you want to know all the things we do as a family after hours???? Archery, travel, football, fishing, camping, hunting, and loads of other things!

So no, I probably didn’t brush my hair this morning, yes, the kids completed all their lessons before noon, Yes, we all brushed our teeth…makeup..what’s that? Laundry..help, I’m drowning in it! Yes, I can fit an order in next week..no, there is NOT an opening to fix your door tomorrow..how about Friday? Yes, I’ll train your kids, yes, I’ll teach them to sew, Yes, I’ll let you join Girl Scouts, Our 4-H meetings are the 2nd Sat of the month..

So when someone asks you what you do…tell them you are in upper management, specializing in the management of small, very active social groups that are going to make a change in this world… Yes, the pay is wonderful..you get hugs everyday and chocolate coated kisses!

Be Proud of being a Stay AT Home MOM! Be Proud of being a MOM! After all..the men couldn’t give birth to those little darlings! ROFLOL!***

Ok…hope everyone is staying safe and away from Ike’s harm!

Have you Read about T. Boone Pickens?

Have you read about T. Boone Pickens? If you haven’t, you should! Go here and read his plan to free us up from being dependent on foreign oil.

He brings up some very important and feasible ideas and I do believe that if enough of us join him, we can again gain independence and financial stability…that is unless you like paying $3.50 to $5+ for gas?

I know we have begun to make transitions to “Go Green” and will continue to make more changes.  I will be covering those in the coming weeks..individually, and will be offering new items as well, to correspond with my belief in going green.

For now, go, READ.  It doesn’t cost a thing to have an open mind and read…  :-)  So go…NOW!

Hillbilly’s are going Green….

Well, slowly anyway!  We are trying to do our part and I have to tell you..it’s not easy! 

You’d think it would be wouldn’t you?  Hmmm..I did too..but it’s actually not us that has the difficulty..it’s the carrying out of those attempts out in public!  Let me explain….

I started by shifting to cloth grocery bags…I made a few and still don’t have the design just like I want..but then I was lucky enough to get in on some reusable nylon shopping bags.  I have to tell you..I LOVE these bags..they are great!  Made from lightweight nylon..they fold up into a neat little pouch with a little clip..I keep them on a bigger clip on my purse strap…What are these bags?  Check them out here:  www.chicobags.com

Ok..on to my story!  LOL!  I take my bags to the grocery store..and get….*sigh* very negative reactions…especially from Wal-Mart!  (I really don’t like that store..but that’s a whole other story)..Wal-mart says that it wants to do it’s part for the community, environment..blah, blah, blah..they even sell their own cloth bags (which don’t hold much)..yet they forgot to train their cashiers on what these bags are for! 

Well..duh!  I’ve had them complain about the hassle the cloth ones are, try to charge me for them (yeah, right!) and just give me dirty looks…needless to say..I don’t go in there much..but yes, I do stick to my guns on this and MAKE them use my bags..I tell them I don’t want their plastic bags…the looks I get..LOL!

I take my bags to the local owned grocery store and they think it’s cool..and they have even switched their bags to some called HIPPO bags..made from natural gas instead of petroleum…not sure that they are really better for the environment..but at least they are trying..and they don’t give me any hassle for my bags…course, they know all of us by name..it’s a small store.  I shop there most of the time! 

But the change to Earth friendly doesn’t stop there!  :-)  We continued to do some changes and have done the following things:

We use cloth napkins instead of paper
We use cloth towels for the most part instead of paper towels (it takes us, a family of 4…2 kids, over a month to finish a roll of paper towels)
We use homemade laundry soap (see previous post)
We cut back on our driving..stay home more!
I use recycled sheets and such for bags, clothing, curtains, and more!
We don’t buy a lot of pre-packaged foods..to cut down on the amount of trash. We do some recycling..with the items that we can turn into here: plastic and paper and aluminum
I switched to handmade cloth maxi pads.

Ok..yes, there is more..but it’s a start…and if everyone made a start..wouldn’t it be great? So what can you do to make a start? It can be as simple as 1 thing at first..try cloth napkins..you might like them!

Homemade Laundry Soap

I decided after the last post, perhaps I should share my laundry soap recipe:

I found the basic recipe online somewhere, but found that it didn’t work as well as I wanted, so I adjusted to suit our needs! You can do the same!

2 bars Fels Naptha Soap (grated) –melt this slowly in about 1/2 gallon of water ( I use a double boiler to heat slowly..you don’t want to burn the soap)

You will also need about;

•  1/2 to 1 cup of Borax (21 Mule Team)
• 1 cup of Arm and Hammer Washing Soda
• 2 TBSP glycerin
• 1 cup of Baking Soda
• 4 gallons of HOT water (not boiling)..just as hot as the tap is usually works.
• 5 gallon plastic bucket with tight sealing lid

Once soap has melted, pour into the bucket, add the washing soda, baking soda, borax and glycerin and stir..then pour in the Hot water and stir.  This should set up into a thick gel fairly quickly.  It will be a watery gel and as you get to the bottom of the bucket, it does get a bit more watery, but still works fine. 

Once set use 1/2 cup to 1 cup per load of laundry, depending on how dirty the clothes are.  I’ve found that I have no static now..and don’t have to have any kind of dryer sheets or fabric softener.  It gets all our clothing clean and works really well with my oxyclean spray when we have stubborn stains! 

Recipe can be adjusted based on what you like..just play with it a bit.  A bucket lasts about 3 weeks or so here…depending on how much grunge my hubby brings in and how many towels the kids go through with swimming.  This last time it lasted over a month…

Essential oils could be added as well…I may try adding a bit of Tea Tree oil at some point. 

Now, I have to go make me a batch..as I’m down to my last 2-3 loads!  :-)  And yes, I just add the new in on whatever little bit is left…it mixes in when stirred and there’s no waste.

Enjoy!