Mouthwash!?! Who knew?

Fresh out of deodorant? Dab a little mouthwash under your arms. This will kill the the bacteria that cause odor.

Pour mouthwash over cuts and scrapes. It kills the germs on your skin the same as your mouth.

Tis the season for mosquito bites. Dab some mouthwash and hold on bite for 15 seconds to kill the itch.

Do you have dandruff? Wash your hair with mouthwash every two weeks or so to keep it at bay.

Disinfect your washer by adding 1/2 cup of mouthwash in the wash cycle.

Don't use Clorox on your babies things. Use mouthwash to wipe down toys and highchairs.

Need something to clean out that fridge? Yup mouthwash will clean it up and disinfect it.

What do you use mouthwash for?

Who doesn't like apples?

Need a facial formula that will slough off dead skin cells, refine pores, and even out your skin tone?  In a small bowl, mix 2 teaspoons of apple juice, 2 teaspoons of red wine, and 2 tbs of ground oatmeal to make a paste.  Spread mixture on your face and throat, let dry for 20 to 30 minutes, and rinse with warm water.

How about an astringent safe enough even for sensitive skin?  Pour the following in a bottle with; 1/2 c apple juice, 4tbsp vodka, 1tbsp of honey, and 1sp of sea salt and shake well.  Apply the solution to your face and neck twice a day with a cotton pad.

Just an added tip, if you have a discolored pan you can boil water and apple peels to remove the discoloration.

How do you save money?

Being a mother of 3 kids and a very slim income is rough.  I am also a college student, but no I refuse to eat Top Roman!  I never wanted to be an employed woman HA! My ultimate goal all through life was to get married and have babies.  I wanted to be Mrs. Clever's mom and have a cool kid like Beaver.  I never though that it couldn't happen or that it wouldn't.  I remember my first serious boyfriend's parents telling me that it was unrealistic and that I needed to be willing to work to until we got to the point that one day we maybe able for me to quit.  This came from a couple that his mom never worked a day in her life!  So yea needless to say I didn't end up with him.  Down the road I did find a man while I was already employed and we got married.  I worked for about 2 weeks into our marriage and we decided it would be best for me to become a house wife.  So I did and then started having my babies.  Life was good, we had money, a home, couple cars, and life was good.  I did end up going to Cosmetology school after my last child was about 8 months old.  However I ended up getting a divorce for several different reasons and I found getting back into the work force was a lot harder than I though.  I was straight out of high school when I got married and only had a couple piddle jobs during that time.  So at this point it was sink or swim; I picked swim hard!  My family had to make choices on what we could do with out.  Many times people look at their life and come into a rough spot when money is tight but they cannot overcome the shadow that life has put on us about what we "need".  So here is a list of the biggest cuts we made ...

• We cut off TV all together.  At this point we don't even have basic channels because we never want to spend the extra money on an antenna. I had a huge DVD stock before my divorce so that we what we watch.  Once in awhile we will have a treat of a Redbox rental for something we really want to see.  Also when my dad buys a new DVD he gets the combo pack and gives me the blue-ray disk out of it.

• I coupon!  I am no coupon hoarder though.  We only buy what we NEED and will USE.  I collect my coupons (ask friends and neighbors to give you theirs too if they are not using them) and I use the site A Full Cup to see what kind of deals are going on at area stores.

• I buy my meats when they are on clearance or on sale and divide it into family servings and freeze it.  I set a food budget, generally no more than $50 a week.  With that money I may buy all meat one week if it is a good deal, next week it maybe veggies.  That way I always have a variation of foods and only have to buy a few things each week at retail.  Also always check for local farmers, many will sell you fresh produce cheap during growing seasons.

• Now for clothes, thrift shop central!  We love hand me downs and thrift stores.  With three kids that love the outdoors our clothes get worn out quick.  Why spend so much money on new clothes when you can get them cheaper and most still look new at a thrift store.

• Now gas is a big one.  I live out in the middle of no where and going to the store is a trip.  I always make sure I need several things and that I can do several errands on my way so that I do not waste gas for simple small trips.  Living out in the middle of no where has its perks though, as my rent is super cheap.  

• There are always small things you can do as well to help along the way.  I am a member of Buzz Agent and get to try things out for free.  This helps me get a perk once in awhile.  I also LOVE SWAG BUCKS as I take a few minutes a day to ear points and I in turn use them for Amazon gift cards.  This helps buy my home school books or gifts for holidays.  I could spend more time on the site and make even more points but the little I do really helps.  You should really check it out if you haven't already.  It is free to sign up and you do not get spammed with mail like survey sites do.

• One more thing I do is make my own products.  It is far cheaper for me to make things like my laundry soap, dish soap, fabric softener, kitchen cleaner, deodorant, and etc.  It is not for everyone, but I think the things work excellent and it does give me extra money saved in my pocket.

• Internet!  I have to have internet because of my school.  I save this buy ditching my home phone and got a cell phone.  I tether my internet off of my phone with no issues.  I have done this for about 4 years now and love it.  It did not cost me more and I am able to have my unlimited internet and at a good speed as well.  This also allows me and the kiddos watch some movies and such on Hulu and Netflix when we want a lazy day.

This is not all of the things I do by far but it gives you an idea.  Hopefully it may give you some ideas to change in areas of your life.

What do you do to save money?

How to treat bad behavior?

It seems as though every year after Christmas my kids go into war. 

They are naughty and fight with each other, mostly over each others new things.  They decide they no longer want to mind mom and do not want to respect anyone. 

After a horrible trip to the grocery store yesterday (took 2 hours in the store) I figured something had to change. 

I was trying bribing them with candy, threatening punishment when we got home, and anything else that came to mind.  They were running off from me and being loud. 

My 4 year old son has SPD and was already having an overload day which means tantrum city and lots of crying. 

Being a single mother you do not have everyone else to rely on to punish the kids from the store either.  Plus I live about 30 minutes from the grocery store so it is not like I can just walk out and leave my cart to punish them for bad behavior, that punishes me. 

So I came home and I sifted through Pinterest trying to find something that would fit our family.  I wanted a punishment warning system and also a chore chart, as Christmas left our house a mess.  So today we added these two things: Chore Chart and Behavior Chart.

I don't have a laminater so I used clear packing tape over the dots so that we could use dry erase markers and save printing.

This one I am going to work on if it works and make a better version.  I didn't have clothes pins so I used paper to make a pocket and then used mini popsicle sticks with their name.  I didn't know I didn't have clothes pins around until after I made it so the random papers are a bit silly but they will work for now to see if they system will fit us.

What types of things do you do in your home to promote good behavior and cleaning skills?  What age are your children and what is expected of them?

The Critical Thinking Co.™ Review

Vendor: The Critical Thinking Co.™
Product: Language Smarts™ Level E
Price: $42.99
Age: 4th grade

About: The Critical Thinking Co.™ was amazing enough to let me try out their Language Smarts™ Level E curriculum. I have worked with The Critical Thinking Co.™ before and have always enjoyed the things they offer. The  Language Smarts™ Level E is a full Language Arts curriculum geared for fourth grade students. The book comes in at 400 pages long. A great thing is that it is fully colored, which I think helps keep kids eyes on the work. The book teaches reading, writing, grammar, and punctuation skills. It also then emerges into 5th grade critical thinking and vocabulary skills. The lessons are easy to follow with no pre-prep from the parents. They also include fun activities after each lesson.

We did two pages a day during the review period. There are 258 assignments so that means we did two of those in a day.  This was just the right amount of work without overwhelming my child. Each one of the assignments are in a red box that are easy to read in a larger font and also have the directions highlighted to draw the eyes to what needs to be done. I really loved this because it helps you focus and also makes what is important to stand out. The lessons are fun as they have activities to do after them. like it he beginning we went over suffixes and prefixes as well as syllables. we had activities like word searches and unscramble of words. I think those things helped keep her wanting to continue on and get to do the fun part of the lessons. The book also covers word relationships, editing, parts of speech, using reference books, and much more. This really does teach everything that is needed to make it through 4th grade and get a good jump start on 5th grade.

I do think unless your child is firmly in 4th grade you may want to wait on the book as it does progress pretty deep but it also gives a great jump into 5th grade. I think by the end the child will be able to jump ahead in some 5th grade curriculums. Having short 1 page assignments really is good for those children that may not be easy to keep their attention. My daughter is one of those children and we didn't have to fuss daily to get a couple pages done. There is plenty to do two a day and make it through the whole year with just this book. however of you wished it could also be used along side another curriculum and be additional practice.


Be sure to check them out on Social Media:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Critical-Thinking-Co/46128092293
Google+: https://plus.google.com/114500823774999703181
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/source/criticalthinking.com/

Also check out what my fellow crew members had to say about this book as well as others. They also have some great programs for pre kindergarten ages.

"Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic Before Kindergarten!™" program described here: http://www.criticalthinking.com/preschool-academics and/or our "Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic Before Kindergarten!™" described here: http://www.criticalthinking.com/reading-writing-arithmetic-before-kindergarten-bundle.html "  

CrossTimber Review

Vendor: CrossTimber
Product: Personalized Framed Plaque with Name Meaning and Bible Verse
Price: $25 and up

About: CrossTimber is ran by The Dehnart Family. This is a Christian company providing some amazing name meanings to products. I recieved the Personalized Framed Plaque with Name Meaning and Bible Verse. This was a 5x7 framed picture that I chose to use the name Zilah. The Dehnart family is really great about talking with you personally about what each name means and how they come up with it. Or if you are like me, I enjoyed the surprise when I recieved my finished product. They have many background choices to choose from as well as a few options on frames. They also offer a a few other products thst you can personalize as well.

Ordering is super easy. I went to their page and chose the size, frame, and back ground. you then enter the name you will want the meaning for. I did not choose to talk with them about the meaning of Zilah prior to getting my frame. Zilah was a baby that was born to soon into the hands of the Lord. I have not been able to find anything that I liked enough to remember her by and when I was offered this review I instantly knew this was meant for her. So I wanted to be surprised when I opened it up and seen it.  I will just say I was in tears when I opened the package and seen her name right there in all the beauty. Also the personally pick bible verse they added was just perfect. God usually knows what you need and I think he made sure they knew what I needed as well.

This is a wonderful company to work with. It was truly a blessing to get such a wonderful frame and picture. They have many other things you can get the name and meaning on as well. 

Through Dec 4th, CrossTimber are sponsoring a Name Gift Giveaway.

You can enter the giveaway for a chance to win another free Name Gift or $10 gift certificate!

Grand Prize: The winner may choose between a: Personalized Mug OR a Name Plaque or 8x10 Plaque! --> Plus 9 more prizes: $10 Gift Certificates

Giveaway ends on Dec 4th, at this url: www.Meaning.Name/giveaway.html

Be sure to check them out on Social media as well as see what my fellow crew members had to say about the company and their personalized items.

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/meaning.name/

Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/crosstimber 

No Rinse All Purpose Cleaner

Cleans floors, woodwork, greasy countertops, and appliances, and even kills mildew.

1 cup of clear ammonia
1/2 cup of white vinegar
1/4 cup of baking soda
1 gal. Of hot water

Mix all of the ingredientsbin a bucket. Then pour the solution into a hand held spray bottle, or sponge it on straight from the pail.