When things get rough

When you have certain things going on in your life how do you get through them?  I have a busy schedule already and then when something abnormal happens it really throws me off.  I have a hard time with wanting to have everything planned out and even if those planned this are a little off as long as it is on the general time line I do fine.  However when something out of the ordinary pops its head in I go nuts.  

My biggest thing is I always make a budget.  I sit down and write out when I get paid vs what bills are due and which need to be paid out of said pay day.  With life throwing me a curve ball I have really screwed this up and got behind.  Now I am struggling to get caught back up and get things paid in their place.  It does not help that I just recently moved and have to readjust due dates for things like electric and water. 

I used to use an excel worksheet on the computer and it worked great for years.  Now I find it harder to get on my computer unless it is to do work, school, or log a kid on.  So I am trying to get back to the old paper and pen method and calendars.

What do you use to do your budget?

Colorado Murder

Back in August 2018 there was a horrific murder. Husband and father, Chris Watts, murdered his pregnant wife and two daughters. This has been something that has hit the feelers for me. While wife, Shanann Watts, was very active on social media, we got the picture that life was perfect. If you think about it most of the time that is how anyone tries to paint life on social media. While we may never know if there was any type of domestic violence that occurred before this, we do know it ended this story. It is scary to think even the first time someone is violet that it could or would lead to death. I am so thankful that my story did not end that way. The horror continues as you think about him killing her because of differences they may have had, or afraid of that would happen after a seperation. He then proceeded to kill his children. His two beautiful little girls that held him as the light in their eyes. I watched video after video of him being such a great dad. I’m stumped on what could ever make him hurt them. Some still believe he didn’t kill them, and if he didn’t, he still stuffed them into oil tanks for their final resting place. 

While I am a member of several groups that are talking about this case, they bring many memories up. The other day it was mentioned about why Shanann didn’t fight back? There were no marks or evidence that she fought him back. This could go two ways. Maybe she seen he already killed the babies, she just gave up and didn’t care. However my reality when I was choked was I didn’t have the strength to fight back. When you can’t move otherwise they start squeezing harder, you stop in shock. All I ever could do was look him in the eye and mouth please stop. It didn’t take long before things would go blank and me limp. Luckily that is when my abuser would let go so I didn’t die. 

This post has no meaning, just rambling thoughts from me on a hot topic. Remember if anyone reading this need someone to talk to, I am here. Open ears and heart with no judgement. 

Hen in a Hurry Review

Hen in a Hurry is a Chef Prepared Meal Subscription service. All food is made with clean, sustainably sourced, responsibly raised ingredients from trusted farmers and purveyors. There is no waste, prep, or preservatives. Instructions are simple heat and serve.  You can either do microwave or oven. All subscriptions are no commitment, you can cancel at any time.

My opinion: My box arrived on schedule. I worried as it was pretty warm out and didn't anything to be thawing out.  The box it arrived in was a very sturdy Styrofoam box, which I re-purposed into a foot stool. Everything was packed in nice and neat with plenty of dry ice. All food was frozen solid still. I would have nothing to worry about even if it had to sit on my porch until I had gotten home that evening.

Each food item was labeled and had the cooking instructions as well as the ingredients listed. Which you can see that each item is very simple and no added junk. 

I tried to do both cooking methods so I could see how well they did. I am normally someone who doesn't use the microwave often, as I fear things won't come out as well.  I cooked the Taco Bake in the microwave and it was delish.  This was one of those meals I picked out that I normally wouldn't eat.  This is made with quinoa, which I had never tried before. The kids and I were both in love.  It actually makes us want to eat more things made with it, 



The enchilada bake was just as yummy. Once again cooked in the microwave.  I did find that maybe my microwave wasn't as strong as the directions were aimed for.  I had to cook it about a minute or so longer in order to get it cooked all the way to the center. 



The kids insisted that the Approved Mac and Cheese was actually eggs.  It did not taste like mac and cheese, however it did taste like eggs.  My kids insisted that it was eggs, however they all ate it and enjoyed it.  


Our favorite meal, by far, was the Bourbon Braised Pork Belly and Asparagus. This too was another meal we had never eaten before.  I did this one in the oven.  I put both the meat and the asparagus in a cast iron skillet and baked it all together.  There was not one drop left after dinner.  Everyone had full bellies and big smiles. 

Overall I think this is one of my favorite subscription food services. Not only does it have healthier foods, it is cost friendly.  There is no prep with this either so it is quicker to cook and go for a busy day. The foods are kid friendly as there wasn't anything my kids didn't eat!  That is a huge win at my house. I loved that they sent a list of ways to re-purpose the shipping box, that's how I came up with my foot stool idea. We also made smoke with the left over dry ice in the box too. You know since it was Halloween time :). I do believe if you or your family needs a quick meal to go this is right for you. Maybe even a great idea to get some of your elderly family as a Christmas gift! They would love the ease of cooking and still have some great tasting food.

Hen in a Hurry www.heninahurry.com Chef Prepared Meal Subscription up to 45% OFF - Hen in a Hurry does Prepared Meals Delivered to Your Home or Office Click the coupon for various deals.

https://www.usfamilycoupons.com/coupon.php?bid=13803&dealid=3721 @heninahurry @usfg

*I received these meals in exchange for my honest opinion.  These are my real feelings of the food*

Free Kindergarten Curriculum

If you are looking for some fun Kindergarten printables and curriculum, you have come to the right place. I hope you enjoy these and kind some that works for your needs. 

• Confessions of a Homeschooler–Kinder Printables
  
  
  
  
• 1+1+1=1- Kinder Printables
  
  
  
  
• Word Family Tracer Printables

• 123 Homeschool 4 Me – Lots of Kinder Printables

• Easy Peasy All in One Homeschool ~ Getting Ready 2/ Mcguffey Primer

• Jumpstart

• ABC teach

•  Little Ones~ PS-Kindergarten

•  Kindergarten-First Grade Curriculum

• FreeReadingProgram.com 

Hen in a Hurry

We pride ourselves in being responsible both, locally and globally, and proudly bring these offerings to you from our 10,000 square foot commissary kitchen located in Downtown Greensboro's Morehead Foundry.

All subscriptions are no commitment - pause or cancel any time. All orders placed by 12 Noon EST on Thursday will be shipped the following Monday afternoon. If ship date falls on a holiday then orders will be shipped the following day.


Use code "SHIP4FREE" to get free shipping on orders over $100. Details, call us at (888) 963-9856 or email us at info@heninahurry.com
Chef Prepared Meal Subscription up to 45% OFF - Hen in a Hurry does Prepared Meals Delivered to Your Home or Office

What You'll Get:
Select from One of our Offers:

* (30) Individual Meals - Subscription for a month - Regular Price: $315.00 - Deal: 45% off ($141.75 off) 1st months subscription **Code: 45offFamilyGuide

* (7) Individual Meals - Subscription for a week - Regular Price: $99.00 - Deal: $40 Off 1st week's subscription **Code: 40offFamilyGuide

* (4) 4 days a week- Family Meals - Includes a side and entree for a family of 4 (16 total meals) - Regular Price $96 - Deal: $25 Off 1st week's subscription **Code: 25offFamilyGuide

* (6) 6 days a week - Family Meals - Includes a side and entree for a family of 4 (24 total meals) - Regular Price $132 - Deal: $35 Off 1st week's subscription**Code: 35offFamilyGuide

How to Redeem:
Visit www.heninahurry.com and pick one of the advertised subscriptions. During checkout set up your account and then enter in the promo code associated with the deal you choose.

Hen in a Hurry
www.heninahurry.com
https://www.usfamilycoupons.com/coupon.php?regionid=75&bid=13803&dealid=3721 .@usfg

Free Pre-School Curriculum

Homeschooling a Pre-Schooler? Here are some great links with lots of freebies. 

• ABC Jesus Loves Me 3-5-year-olds
• Easy Peasy All in One Homeschool- Getting Ready 1/ Getting Ready 2
• Jumpstart
• Brightly Beaming Resources- Letter of the week curriculum
• God’s Little Explorers Free Version
• Our Preschool Homeschool Blog- 26 Week lessons
• Starfall-Learn to Read with Phonics
• First School-Preschool Themes and Lesson Plans
• Mud Hut Mama- 36 Weeks of Lesson Plans
• Montessori for Everyone- Free Montessori Downloads
• Free Bible Curriculum-Little Ones PS-Kindergarten
• The Reading Mama-Reading the Alphabet: a FREE PreK Reading Curriculum

Free Science Curriculum Links

Looking for some FREE Science? Here is a list of some neat lesson sites from Pre-School to 12th grade.

• Teaching Pre School Science - Pre-School 
• Learning A – Z – Kindergarten through 2nd grade
• Paso Partners – Kindergarten through 5th grade
• 4-2-Explore – Kindergarten through 6th grade
• MS Nucleus – Kindergarten through 6th grade
• Biology 4 Kids- Kindergarten through 6th grade 
• They also have Chem 4 Kids, Physics 4 Kids, Cosmos 4 Kids and Geography 4 Kids. (K-6)
• Classic Science Life – Kindergarten through 6th grade 
• Kids Biology – Kindergarten through 6th grade 
• Kids Geology – Kindergarten through 6th grade 
• Design Squad – 3rd grade through 6th grade 
• MS Nucleus (Secondary) – Secondary School
• Science Workbooks – 6th grade through 8th grade
• CK12 Flexbooks – Mostly Kindergarten through 5th grade
• Khan Academy – 9th grade through 12th grade 
• MIT Open Courseware – 9th grade through 12th grade
• Teach Engineering – Kindergarten through 12th grade
• National Wildlife Federation-Animal Science (K-6)
• Fossils-facts-and-Finds.com- Earth Science Archeology, Dinosaurs and Fossils (3-12)
• Astronomy (K-12)
• Quarks and Quirks- Biology (9-12)
• Inquiry in Action- Chemistry (3-6)
• Periodic Videos- Chemistry, Periodic Table (K-12):
• Home Science tools- Coloring Pages 
• KODU- Video Programming (K-12)
• Computer Science Unplugged- Without a computer (K-12)
• Discovery Education- Elementary Science (K-5)
• Teach Engineering (K-12)
• Science Buddies- Experiments (K-12)
• Jason Learning- Full science courses (grades 6-9)
• GeoSource- Geology (K-5)
• PBS Kids- Games (K-6)
• Gutenberg- Geography (K-6)
• MIT Open Courseware- MIT courses (9-12)
• I. Science MaTe- Multiple Subject Science, Math, Technology Curriculum (K-12)
• Science Net Links- Multiple Subjects (K-12)
• National Geographic Kids (K-6)
• National Geographic Learning (K-9)
• American Museum of Natural History- Physical Science- Choose an “OLOGY” (K-12)
• APS Physics (K-9)
• PBS Kids SciGirls Projects (K-6)
• Sci Jinks- Satellite Earth Science (K-12)
• The Happy Scientist-Free Stuff-Videos (K-12)
• Exploratorium- Virtual Museum (K-12)
• Study Guide to Systems of the Body

Lazarus Naturals CBD discount

Lazarus Naturals already has some of the lowest prices in the CBD oil industry. Their assistance program offers an additional 40% discount to military veterans, those on long-term disability and low income individuals.

To start getting the 40% discount from Lazarus Naturals, you need to create an account with them and upload proof of your qualification. To qualify as a military veteran, they need an image of your DD214, military ID or VA card. To qualify as someone on long-term disability, you need to send them a certification letter from a doctor or your Social Security Disability income acceptance letter. To qualify as low income, you need to send them a copy of your tax return for the previous year that shows your income is below the federal poverty level.

After they have approved you for the assistance program, the prices on their website will automatically show the 40% discount as long as you are signed into your account.

Easy Banana Bread

Brothers

Some things never get easier. One of those is losing someone close to you. On September 15th 2005 my world came crash down around me. 

My brother was my hero. When you are in elementary school and they have to do those hero drawings. Ya I always put my brother. He could be the meanest little turd to me, but he never let anyone else be. 

He would get my sister and I ready for school in the mornings. I have always hated waking up. So he would wake me up  and bring me to his room and let me lay in his bed and watch tv for awhile. He made sure we were dressed and had something to eat if we wanted it. 

When he got his first job he bought my sister and I gifts with his first paycheck. When my parents would fight he would bring us to his room and turn the tv up so we couldn’t hear what was going on. 

As we grew up he was still always there. Just a call away and his door was always open. It didn’t matter how stupid you might have thought it was.  He was always there even when I didn’t know. Years after I started dating I learned he always found and had secret little chats with my boyfriends. Lol. 

My brother was not perfect by any means, he had his demons like anyone else. Maybe more than others as well. He tried to always hide it from everyone else because he didn’t want anyone to worry. He was a fixer. He didn’t worry about himself first. 

I wish my kids could have known him. I wish I could have seen the man he would have grown to be. I could just imagine him as a grandpa. Yes 

Sometimes I ignore the fact that he is gone. I’ll talk to him like he is right there and let my days pass being ignorant to the fact he isn’t. 

I know it won’t hurt forever. For I believe one day we will have all of eternity together. Until then...

Fresh Peach Pie

Dandelion Jelly

WriteBonnieRose Review

Vendor:

WriteBonnieRose

Product:

Learning About Science Collection, Level 1

Price: $12.00 e-book

Age: Younger Elementary 

About:

WriteBonnieRose gave me the chance to read her Level 1 of Learning About Science Collection. This is an e-book which you can download and print. This is geared towards younger elementary kids. It contains life science, earth science, and physical science. There are seven books in this collection. The books study how plants grow, common fruits and vegetables, animal habitats, senses and body systems, life cycles, the earth’s layers, earthquakes, volcanoes, states of matter, and more. We started with common fruits and vegetables. The pages start with a snip about the vegetable as well as a picture that you can color and the name that you can trace. There are Review sheets at the end thst work well for 1st to 3rd grade. The collection is 172 pages long. I think the tracing the word and the coloring is good for the younger kids but they may or retain well the information about the vegetables. But the review pages are better for older kids, but they probably wouldn’t be interested in tracing the words. The earth science one does not talk about the creation of the earth so it can be used for Christian or secular learning. I ended up using the coloring and the tracing of the words for my 4 year old but my 3rd grader did the review sheets. I do think this are good for a guide to lead some learning. There isn’t a whole lot of depth to them and can be done quickly each day. However if you use them as a starting tool and add some activities in with it you could use it as your main science learning. Like the plants leason teaches about plants and all their parts and how they grow. So adding in an activity of growing your own plant would be fun. You could even bring in plants you find in your yard and identify the parts of them in real life. The possibilities are endless when you put some effort into it. Which really help with kiddos that are more hands on learners. It also helps teach a bit of a age range of kids at the same time. We really did enjoy this and we plan to continue on through the other subjects. 

Also, I have a special offer for my readers! You can save 50% on the bundled Learning About Science, Levels 1, 2, and 3 with coupon code REVIEWCREW50 through August 15, which means they can get each set of ebooks for $6 per set at https://writebonnierose.com/products-science/.

Be sure to check them out on social media. 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WriteBonnieRose/  @WriteBonnieRose
Twitter: https://twitter.com/WriteBonnieRose  @WriteBonnieRose
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/writebonnierose/  @WriteBonnieRose

Also check out what my other crew mates had to say about this level as well as the other levels offered. 

Homeschooling for Free

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HOMESCHOOL LANGUAGE ARTS 1-6TH GRADE FOR FREE

Many times we feel like homeschooling is going to be a huge expense.  Truth is it can be, but you can make it as expensive or as cheap as you wish. I tend to try to find free resources to get us through the year. It helps you not lose money when something doesn’t work well for you. Here is a list of some resources for free language for 1st to 6th grade  

Scott Foresman Reading 

Treasures workbooks 

KISS Grammar workbooks

Daily Grammar

Ambleside Online

Classical House of Learning Literature

Ebooks

McGuffey’s First Eclectic Reader
McGuffey’s Second Eclectic Reader
McGuffey’s Third Eclectic Reader
McGuffey’s Fourth Eclectic Reader
McGuffey’s Fifth Eclectic Reader
McGuffey’s Sixth Eclectic Reader
McGuffey’s Eclectic Spelling Book

Tax Free Weekend 2018

Items Included & Maximum Cost	2018 Tax Free Dates
Alabama	Clothing ($100), Computers ($750), School Supplies ($50), Books ($30)	July 20 - 22, 2018
Arkansas	Clothing ($100), School Supplies	August 4-5, 2018
Connecticut	Clothing and footwear (Less than $100)	August 19-25, 2018
Florida	School Supplies ($15), Clothing ($100), Computers ($750)	August 3-5, 2018
Georgia	School Supplies ($20), Clothing $100), Computers ($1000)	Cancelled for 2018
Iowa	Clothing ($100)	August 3-4, 2018
Louisiana	All Tangible Personal Property - $2,500	August 3-4, 2018
Maryland	Clothing & Footwear - Less than $100	August 12-18, 2018
Mississippi	Clothing & Footwear - $100 or less per item	July 29-31, 2017
Missouri	Clothing ($100), Computers ($1,500), School Supplies ($50)	August 3-5, 2018
New Mexico	Clothing ($100), Computers ($1,000), Computer Equipment ($500), School Supplies ($30)	August 3-5, 2018
Ohio	Clothing ($75 or less), School Supplies ($20 or less), Instructional Material ($20 or less)	August 3-5, 2018
Oklahoma	Clothing - $100	August 3-5, 2018
South Carolina	Clothing, School Supplies, Computers	August 3-5, 2018
Tennessee	Clothing ($100), School Supplies ($100), Computers ($1,500)	July 27-29, 2018
Texas	Cothing, Backpacks and School Supplies- $100	August 10-12, 2018
Virginia	Clothing ($100), School Supplies ($20)	August 4-6, 2017
Wisconsin	Cothing, Backpacks and School Supplies- $100	August 3-5, 2018

Showing 1 to 18 of 18 entries

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States Not Participating in Tax Free Weekend

• Arizona
• California
• Colorado
• Hawaii
• Idaho
• Illinois
• Indiana
• Kansas
• Kentucky
• Maine
• Massachusetts
• Michigan
• Minnesota
• Nebraska
• Nevada
• New Jersey
• New York
• North Carolina
• North Dakota
• Pennsylvania
• Rhode Island
• South Dakota
• Utah
• Vermont
• Washington
• West Virginia
• Wyoming