Absence....

Hello Out There!!!
:)
To those of you who may have read, followed...whatever, In the past.. I am back!

Here is a little update for you, and then I will go straight into a little school day rant for you.

First of all just after my last post, our lease ended at our old house and we had to move. We decided to downsize for a while just so that we could get caught up on some things and not "struggle" quite so much. So from August 2012 until February 2013 we had No Tv, No Internet, No Car... Fast forward to now...
We have TV, Internet and a car and...we welcome a new little one to the Paine bunch..

We will call him Little I. He was born on a Tuesday after only 5 hours of  (induced) labor and 3 pushes. 8lbs 4oz and 21 1/2 inches long! He was a BIG boy and is now 4 weeks old.
Baby J isn't so much of a baby anymore. He turned 1 in November and just keeps getting bigger and bigger! He is adjusting well to being a big brother, but cant quite grasp that Little I cant play yet..

The Princess has gotten SO big! She is 5 years old going on 15..and started Kindergarten this year. She also lost her first tooth this year which was really exciting!\

I signed up to be an Independent Scentsy Consultant back in March and so far so good with that, at least I can say my house never stinks! :)
We extended the lease on our apartment for 6 more months just to give us some time to adjust to having a new baby and to save some money for a move. So by end of February 2014 we should be house hunting for a new place to live, I am hoping to find someplace with a decent sized kitchen and plenty of room for all my babies.

I plan on starting a pretty good lifestyle change here over the next few months so get ready to see lots of "look what I'm eating.." and "weigh in" posts because I want my weight loss journey to continue. I also plan on posting more things I cook in the kitchen and crafts around the house.
Now that we are all caught up, how about a school day rant...

Now the 2014 school year started here last week.. The Princess is in Kindergarten this year and so far she loves it. I haven't been complaining much about having to wake up at 6:30 am..even though I had been up all night (every 2 hours) with a colicky baby, and we have been doing pretty well about getting The Princess to school on time.. only once have I had to go back home and then all the way back to the school because she forgot her backpack. But today in the Pick-Up line after school I noticed something...something I had seen happen before but thought maybe it was just a one day deal.. This white car comes buzzing up past everyone and whips into a parking spot at the end of the lot. For the sake of this post and because I don't know nor have ever met this woman..we will call her Michigan - because that's where her plates were from. Mrs Michigan sits there in her little white car waiting and waiting..when 2:30 comes and we hear the bell ring.. the first day I saw her, she backed out of the parking space and whipped straight up and cut into the front of the line and got out of her car to retrieve her child. :/ "hmm...that's not very fair" I thought to myself.. Then today.. I was Michigan pull into the lot again and wait..and wait...and wait... Bell rings, Michigan backs out of her spot and whips back around to the front..this time instead of pulling in front of the line, she pulls into the middle of two..count them, TWO handicap parking spots. She has no sticker, or tag for a handicap and whips right in there. Gets out of her car in what looked like pajamas and a sweat shirt and walks up to get her child.. Now I understand its not right to judge and god looks down on us for it, But I can not for the life of me understand why this woman can't wait in the Pick Up line like every other mother!!. If its important to her to walk up to the pathway to get her child, then why does she not park in the lot and walk up to the doors like the, oh..idk 25-30 other parents I see standing up there? And if she doesn't want to park and walk then why can't she wait in line??!! ugh...
I really cant stand people who feel entitled to things that they most certainly aren't entitled to... :/

Anyhoo...

Thanks for catching up with me and listening to (er...reading) my rant.
Have a Great Day!!
Casey

and the verdict is.....

So its been a little while since my last post about the home made laundry detergent and fabric softener...

well first off I HATE the laundry detergent.. It may be great for some people but for me.. I dont know, I just dont feel like my clothes are clean..
Then the fabric softener.. I put in the conditioner to give it the good smell and I used it like it said..2 tbsp in the load...the first load I tried the clothes still werent that soft and they didnt smell good..they didnt smell like anything!.. so I added more..ended up about 5-6 tbsp and the clothes were softer but they still didnt smell like anything :/.

So I've decided that I will be switching back to what I like. Liquid Tide or Gain Detergent because it smells good.. and 1/2 cup of white vinegar in the fabric softener cup. Works wonders for me!

Next up on the agenda here is we will be moving within the next couple of weeks so I wont have time to post much but hopefully I will think of more things I can share.
I have a lot of little craft projects I want to do to decorate our new place... :)

Thanks for checking!!
Casey

The Frugal Domestic...

Today, I am starting something new.
I have been doing a LOT of research and have decided I would really like to start doing some more homemade methods in my home to help save some money.

I have scoured many pins on pinterest and many sites through google search and have pretty much just made my own decision on creating things by figuring out what the common variables were. :D

Today I made 1 batch of Fabric Softener.... for about the past month I have been using 1 scoop of All powder detergent and 1/4 cup of washing soda to wash my clothes, and would add 1/2 cup of white distilled vinegar as a fabric softener (it really works well folks!)
But I noticed I was missing the smell in my laundry...I love my laundry smelling really good..so I decided on this recipe for the Fabric Softener..

6 cups HOT water

3 cups white distilled vinegar

2 cups conditioner (lots of people use the cheap suave from the dollar store)

Mix together the 6 cups hot water and the 2 cups conditioner until the conditioner is "melted" or well mixed with the water... I used some tresseme condirtioner I had laying around because I started using new hair products and just never used this one anymore.... once the water and conditioner is mixed add in your 3 cups of vinegar and mix well... add 2 tablespoons per load or use in your downy ball. I have a downy ball i just dont care for using it..I use the fabric softener dispense in my washer.

Next I decided to make up a batch of home made laundry detergent... again I searched around to decide on the best recipe for my family and I, and the recipe I decided to use was the easiest as far as I could tell...time will tell how well it works..

1 cup Washing Soda (NOT baking soda!!)

1 cup Borax

1/2 cup Oxi Clean (or Oxi clean alternative- your choice)

1 bar Fels Naptha (found in the laundry aisle...some people use Zote, others use castille soap and some even use Ivory soap..I stuck with the Fels Naptha plus it smells pretty decent.)

Grate your bar of Fels Naptha (or whatever you chose..) I used the fine grate side of my grater. Some people also throw the grated soap into their food processor to break it up even more...If I had a food processor I would too but I dont have one :(. Once grated incorporate all of the other ingredients with your soap grate in a container (I used just a big plastic container I bought at walmart)

you can  use 1 tbsp per load, 2 for heavily soiled items..some people even use up to 3! I plan on using 2 tablespoons per load because i have this awesome scoop with a long handle that happens to be exactly 2 tablespoons..

Now I have read that it is important not to store your home made laundry detergent on top of your washer or dryer because all of the shaking action can cause it to "separate" which i see is apparently the case... when I added all the ingredients in the container I shook it up...what i wound up with was all the powder on the bottom and all the soap grates on top :S .. I basically just took my scoop and stirred it up really well...seems to be good for me!

Sorry I do not have any pictures in this post... maybe later on I will... We are about to begin the process of moving and once that happens I can get things more organized and then will have more pictures of stuff...

I do not have any opinions yet on either of the items I made today. I full intend on using them for at least a month before giving an honest opinion :).

Now before anyone decides to leave any nasty comments... (long shot since I think NO ONE reads my blog and NO ONE ever comments :-( ) I FULLY understand the debates out there regarding Borax... I honestly believe that people are confusing Borax (the natural cleaning ingredient) with Boric Acid (commonly used to Kill pests and rodents..) Yes Borax CAN be harmful for you IF INGESTED in LARGE QUANTITIES... well I DO NOT plan on ingesting it AT ALL... not so keen on the idea of eating my laundry soap so yeah...not seeing any worry here... I believe everyone should try to become fully educated on hot topics before they decide to bash anyone... again like i said I do completely understand what people are saying about it... IF you dont agree with me about the use of Borax for cleaning... I do not want a debate here, and while i beleive you are all entitled to your own opinions... please dont spill nasty ones all over my blog :)

Thanks for stoppin' by!!

Its Independence Day!!!!

Happy 4th Folks!!!!

Hoping you and your family are celebrating this day of American independence and are having a GREAT time!!

In our house we have more than one reason to celebrate today...

It is J's BIRTHDAY!!! woohoo!!

I LOVE holidays- and i love decorating and cooking with Holiday themes.... now though we are proud of our American heritage and love to celebrate as much as the next guy... J refuses to let me decorate his birthday in all Red, White and Blue...

I can understand- he wants his birthday to be special for him :) Thats fine by me.
Well this year came around and money is a bit tight so i didnt get to really plan ahead as to what to do.

I have nothing to make a cake, I have no gift...what do i do?!!
 Well the Princess and I woke up this morning and made home made birthday cards... then i dug through the pantry to see what i could possibly throw together :)..

I had 1 box (partially used for truffles) of Dark Chocolate cake mix. So i decide to make 3 chocolate coke cupcakes (cake mix + can of coke) ...i didnt use a whole can because well i didnt have a full mix..i just mixed it until i felt it looked like the right consistency....

Then i needed frosting.. so i looked up and easy recipe using peanut butter, powdered sugar, milk and vanilla.... i measure out the peanut butter and go to dig again to find...oops! I have no powdered sugar.... TIME TO IMPROVISE!!! I used about a cup of peanut butter (crunchy is all we had), a 1/4 cup of plain white sugar, 1/2 tsp vanilla and just poured in milk and mixed until i felt it was a nice consistency...It actually tastes pretty good!!..

And i actually found a lone candle stuck in the back of our "junk" drawer :) I am SO excited that i was actually able to throw this together and i can give him cake for his birthday!!

Here's some pics for ya'll!

 heres the frosting..its not the prettiest thing but it tastes pretty good :)

cakes in the oven on 350 for 15 minutes.....

and VOILA! here they are!!...

I will update later to let ya'll know how they taste all together!

**ETA** these tasted awesome!! the cupcakes themselves were super moist and the frosting was pretty great :) I will definitely have ingredients on hand for some buttercream next time though.

Thanks for stopping by~

ImPress Press-On Manicure and then some...

Today I decided to review the imPRESS press on manicure by Broadway nails that i got in my Mom Vox Box from Influenster.

     ~I received this product complimentary for testing purposes from Influenster

I recieved this product in the color -Velvet Rope. Sorry about the quality of the picture..i took about 20 pictures and this was the best one that came out. At first glance you can tell that they are very obviously fake nails. I was pretty disappointed in the size selection - the sizing was WAY off.. even though it said to use smaller sizes for best results..i just couldnt do that.if i used the smaller size the whole side of my nail woudl be left uncovered..so i would have to use the next size bigger..:/ so far they are sticking well..sometimes they feel a little bit loose as im typing, but then again, what do you expect from a stick on nail right?.. The package says its supposed to last up to a week... We will see if that happens and i will update this to let ya'll know how i feel once im done "testing" them out.

Another item i tried today was the Quaker Soft Baked Oatmeal Cookie with raisins. I dont have a picture because my daughter got ahold of the package and ripped it up..but I can still tell you about it :).
This cookie tasted like your average oatmeal raisin cookie. The slight cinnamon taste and the raisins and it was chewy..which i love soft chewy cookies.. However for a soft cookie i found it to be sort of dry. Now if i had to choose between hard cookies and this cookie, i would choose this cookie... but its not necessarily my favorite. And with 170 calories in that ONE cookie...didnt look so great in my tracker today..

These are just my opinions and i want them to in no way deter anyone from trying these products out for themselves.

Thanks for stopping by!!

Stash Superfruits Tea Sampler

Today i am here to review this Superfruits Tea Sampler by STASH. I am going to preface by saying I am NOT a tea drinker. I dont really care for tea...never have! I know, I know.. I grew up in the south..i should LOVE tea and drink it morning, noon and night like every other southerner on the planet right?!...Yeah...not happening :) at least not in this lifetime. So lets get this thing started shall we??

  ~I received this product complimentary for testing purposes from Influenster

STASH Superfruits Tea Sampler came with 3 packs each of 6 different flavors..

~Blueberry Superfruit Herbal Tea

~Goji Berry Green Tea

~Acai Berry Green Tea

~Mangosteen Green Tea

~Pomegranate Raspberry Green Tea

~Yumberry Blackcurrent Herbal Tea

I tried every single one of them and i wasn't at all impressed...but AGAIN I am NOT a tea drinker..

The Blueberry Superfruit one smelled the best. I loved the smell of it.. but the taste wasnt as good as it smelled (at least not in my opinion..). My 4 year old daughter (the princess) also tried them along with me.  For nearly every single one of them she said "they taste like crusty old socks!!" except the Mangosteen one. She actually requested that one in her sippy cup.

Now these teas may be for someone..they just aren't for me.. PLEASE do NOT let my review (opinion) deter you from trying them...

Thanks for stopping in today!!

Guess what's in my mail!!!

Back in March i signed up for a cool website i saw advertised on YouTube. It is called Influenster. You sign up and take all sorts of little "quizzes" to earn badges on their website, which then put you into demographic categories that qualify you for what they call a 'Vox Box'.... Well this month i finally qualified for the 'Mom Vox Box' and i just got it in the mail TODAY!!
Here is what my box looks like! 

And here is the inside (caution: android camera quality not so great :/)

And here is everything that came inside (again...crappy pic!)

Mom Vox Box Content includes:

~Dino Lingo Language Learning Demo for Kids~

~Stash Superfruits Tea Sampler~

~ImPress Press on Manicure in Velvet Rope~

~Nektar Honey Crystals~

~Ivory bar soap~

~Dentek Comfort Clean Floss Picks~

~Dentek Fun Flossers~

~Quaker Soft Baked Oatmeal Cookie with raisins~

   ~I received this product complimentary for testing purposes from Influenster

I plan to test out all of these products and let ya'll know how i feel about them and if they work for me :). Now im not saying that my opinion is the only opinion but i am just going to share my own personal experience. I know just by digging through the box the Nektar sweetener smells soooooo good and i cant wait to try it out. And i also know that I am not a fan of tea but i plan on trying each flavor of the tea in that sample box at least once so i can give ya'll an honest opinion.

Keep checking back for the review posts on these items.

Thanks for stopping by!!!

 

Lose It vs. MFP

So i posted a little bit back about starting my Weight Loss journey. I posted that i started using the Lose It! app on my phone. At that point I did not have a scale and i didnt know my true weight. I was just using my Lose It app and trying..but i wasn't REALLY trying.. i was "cheating" a lot. Then my friend Jenny introduced me to a different app called MyFitnessPal (MFP) she has lost 30lbs so far using this app and starting an exercise routine. So i gave it a shot- June 1st was pay day, so I bought a scale that night and stepped on it the minute i got home. BOY was I suprised! I had been saying that i was about 250lbs... which is A LOT... but when i stepped on the scale i saw 255lbs!!! That extra 5lbs scared the hell out of me! Then i was browsing pinterest and found THIS and it scared me even more!! So saturday the 2nd was my start day with MFP. I started working out doing the walk at home program with Leslie Sanson - its fairly easy but still works me out and makes me sweat and i can feel my muscles really going afterwards. I have been doing walk at home about 3 days a week and watching all of my calories with MFP. let me just say this... I LOVE MFP!!! it is SO EASY to use! ... I love it better than Lose It.. there are more food options, more exercise options and even options to add in your own calories if you dont find what you are looking for!. I decided Fridays were gonna be my "weight days".. so i stepped on the scale this last Friday the 8th and was pleasantly suprised! it said 252.6!! that is 2.4lbs in a WEEK!... If anything that is a major motivator for me. I can not wait to get more fit and to lose more weight. I plan on being around for a LONG time and to assure that is a fact...this is what i must do!

Thanks for following me on this journey :)

cleaning tip!!! :)

If ya'll are anything like me, you probably have a toddler who likes to color....all - over - everything!!
And not only does the Princess like to color on everything, she prefers to do so with my my BIC permanent markers!!

I was babysitting for my sister the other day and so the Princess and my 3 year old nephew went crazy coloring with red permanent marker on my laminate floors and my counter tops...
Here is my little method for getting it out!

Here is what one of the big red marks looks like

Now a fun little tip to know is that permanent markers really arent all that permanent :)...
They are alcohol based markers therefor they can be "removed" with ALCOHOL!!!

Here is what you need! - some rubbing alcohol (i used 50% because it was in the dollar store but a stronger one would work better) and a sponge with a scrubby abrasive side (dont worry it doesnt hurt the floors- at least it didnt mine)

you can either pour the alcohol directly to the floor or soak some in the sponge and just scrub scrub scrub on that pesky marker mark.......

And afterwards you have this! - a floor free of permanent marker and no evidence that it was ever there to begin with :)! - hope this helps someone out!

Have a Great Day Ya'll!!

Lose It!

So I have decided that its time to make some changes... I was introduced to an app called Lose It at the beginning of the year and i used it briefly then...but for about a week now i have been using it daily..I put everything that i eat in there every single day and ive realized that im starting to hold myself for accountable for what goes into my mouth... Its really hard around here because my husband isnt exactly a healthy eater and any time i try to buy anything thats healthy he has to "compete" by putting double the amount of unhealthy products in the cart.... I am also a dessert lover... Cakes, brownies, cookies...you name it, I love it! The other day i found myself really wanting some ice cream..so i was reading the side panel and a serving size said it was 1/2 cup. So i pulled out my 1/2 cup measuring cup and scooped the ice cream in and sat to eat it.. My husband looked at me like i was nuts and began digging straight into the carton like usual..... I sat there and slowly savored my 1/2 cup of chocolate reeses peanut butter cup ice cream and when i was done i realized i was satiated... I didnt feel the need to eat more like i would have usually...

I am trying really hard to keep up with this- but it is only the 1st step. I am hoping that i get a lot more comfortable with recording all my food soon because as soon as it becomes a "second nature" to me i will begin incorporating more regular exercise..

Most people set their big goals (ex: I want to lose about 80 lbs total)..but i decided that to begin with my goal would start out small.. I saw on Dr. Oz one day that losing just 10% of your body weight could dramatically improve your health and quality of life... So my first goal is 10%. That is 24 pounds. My lose it app says if i work hard i can achieve that goal by August 22nd of this year...We shall see!

Just wanted to put this little update in here since i really have nothing else to share at this point :)

Thanks for your interest!