I am still back just going to be spotty until next week. We can't get internet service so we thought up where we are. We have been using our phones but we only get so much per month and it is slow slow slow ( I could just never ever go back to dial up lol). Well someone told me about verizon and they have something called a wifi hot spot that works anywhere, So I am ordering that on Friday and it will be here Monday. See ya ll soon. Michelle
I am back back back and happy to be back. I have been busy busy busy. So much to tell. All are doing well. My biggest news is that I sold my house and purchased the homestead that I have always wanted. It was a little more than I had ever planned on spending, But the sale from the house made a nice down payment and I love love love love it. We are now Okies from Oklahoma. My biggest excitement about the place is the downsizing. Our old house was 2200 sqft and this house is .......1300 sqft. It is a 3 bedroom. So the baby is downstairs with us, The 3 boys are up in the big bedroom upstairs and my daughter is upstairs in the reg. size bedroom. My oldest son ( just turned 19 on the 12th) has a 5th wheel he is living in on the property. It is 2 1/2 acres, and beautiful. It is mostly treed with a wonderful open spot for a large garden. The little kids have been so happy since we moved in, lots and lots of room to run and play with no grouchy neighbors. It is so peaceful and quiet here. We live about 15 miles up in them there hills from a rather large city. I am closer to better shopping and that will help with saving money big time!!!! I am just very very very happy right now. I am going to post pics of our new place tomorrow. All the best to all of you and I missed this soo much, I have been keeping up on your blogs so no worries there. Can't wait to post again tomorrow. Michelle
Tipster Tuesday this week is for me. I really really really need it. Since Jeremiah has been here ( almost 6 months) I have let my household binder go to the wayside. I honestly have not looked at it much since his birth. This has really sent me into a tailspin, disarray and chaos. I am not a naturally organized person. I can get off track extremely easy.....This has happened. I am in extreme need of structure, a schedule and order. So my tip today for me and you is dust off yours and my binders of orderly home papers and get organized and in order. I don't know about you but 3 of my children have decided to take extra curricular activities this year. The twins are doing t-ball and the 15 year old is doing softball. Which I think will be great for them really great. But this is going to throw a wrench into my already disorganized life unless I get control. So tonight when all is quiet and calm (kids are at dad's house and I only have the baby) I am going to sit down with ol' trusty the binder of my life and organize it dust it off and get reacquainted with him. I am going to do my Wednesday good buys on my binder instead, since I did such huge shopping last week there is no need to shop at all this week. I look forward to showing you ol'trusty. Have a great night, Michelle
Jeremiah gardening in the great outdoors!!
Hard to tell but that is my oldest sone(18 almost 19) and Jeremiah the baby!!! Sniffle sniffle I still remember when the oldest was that small, it went by so darn fast. 
Jeremiah just havin fun in his new (used many many times) walker. 
The oldest child Kriztina (20) and the Baby Jeremiah 5 months, I love this picture!!! 
My three crazies and the crazy fun that now makes up my days, Matthew 3, Jacob 6, Joshua 6 !!! 
Jacob always smiling!!! 
Jacob and little brother Matthew at the park playground where they mostly live hahaha 
Jeremiah with his summer hat 
The raised bed garden made with old dressers, leftover pieces of weed and odds and ends!!! 
The potato hole that looks more like a gravesite. 
We had a ton of this stone in the corner of the yard just sitting there, it made perfect walkways so we don't step in mud. 
Today I am going to talk about my garden. I planted my seedling the beginning of March. And they took off. I planted Tomato, Green pepper, Cabbage, Cucumber, Summer squash, Carrots, Celery, Beans, Peas, Cauliflower, Beets, Jalapenos, Red potatoes, Garlic, Red onion, Green onion, Watermelon and a few others that are escaping my memory right now. Everything grew wonderfully. My daughter is helping this year. We have little money but did not do well last year with planting straight into the ground. So this year with little money we are doing raised beds. With the soil and manure taking up most of our funds we had to get creative with the raised beds. We have spent the last year collecting things that could be used to make them. We had several street finds of old dressers and some of our own that were going to be thrown away. We had some old pieces of wood here and there from fixing up the house. Some dog crate pieces and tomorrow she is heading to the Lumber yard to sift through the giveaway pile. She made 2 raised beds today so far. She is taking pictures tomorrow with her phone and that along with some pictures of the little ones will be my Manic Monday post. I was floored when I went out in the back and saw what she had done with so little. I darn near cried. And the plants she got planted looked so happy in their new home and a little more growing room. We are very excited about this year and getting some larger hauls, Fingers crossed. We know it is a learning process, best of all we are having fun and spending time together. One of the twins Joshua did not want to go to his Dad's today instead staying home with me. And he stayed in the backyard the whole day helping her, Just him and her, he loved it and was soo sooooo excited to show me what he had done. It was great. Have a special time with your kids, Plant something...Anything. Have a great week all, Michelle
I just got the mother lode of books in from the library here in town. My oh my do I love inter library loan, I can get darn near any book I come across on the Internet. Lots of times I just put a keyword in amazon and then save the books I want to a wish list, print that list off and search the library for them. That way I get to try the book first and see if it is something I need to put money out for and I want or if there are maybe just a few pages I want to copy and then turn it back in without having to purchase the whole book. This is kind of a funny survival Saturday post. My oldest son and I have been bonding lately. I learned long ago with my boys that if I want to spend time with them and bond I have to think boy hahaha. My oldest son loves Survival and end of the world movies. So I added all I could find on Netflix the other day and we had a late night fest on Friday night. I believe I added 11 movies. We only ended up watching 1 all the way through. Most we just watched the first 15 minutes and deemed it lame. Some just made us mad because from what we have already learned they were completely unrealistic. We ended up watching the Final Storm which was just vaguely apocalyptic, But it was a decent movie. I get a kick out of watching things like that with him. T.V. shows like survivor man etc. We feel like we could be ready for anything that we know alot. Although never put in that situation could be a whole lot different. My son wants to be on the T.V. show the Colony to see how it would feel to be in an apocalyptic situation. Not me ty. hahaha. Anyway we had fun and of course he taught many things I did not know about survival. Have a great weekend all Michelle
Today I wanted to talk about making your own baby food. This is great for several reasons. First it saves sooooo much money, 2nd it is so much better by 1000% for your baby. I made up Jeremiah's first foods this last weekend. Squash, sweet potatoes, bananas ( I do daily), pears, apples. All you need to purchase is 1 sweet potato, 1 squash ( I bought butternut), 2 pears, 2 apples and 2 bananas will last a week or so. Besides that you need a small food processor ( the small ones that are around $4.99, I bought mine free with register rewards from Walgreen's). And the last thing you need is either small baggies or some small little containers that hold approx 2 tablespoons. Apples or Pears Peel and core cut into pieces Boil in water just covering fruit, Boil just about 5 minutes until tender. Keep liquid in pot until you are done blending. Add your fruit to the processor and puree until all pieces are pureed. If it seems a little too thick add some of your reserved fruit water until right consistency for baby. Add 2 tblspoons to a baggie or small container and freeze until ready to eat. Sweet potato Peel potato, chop into pieces, boil in water just covering potatoes. When fork slides off easily ( Just like making mashed potatoes) add to processor. Keep potato water just like with the fruit, You will need it with the potatoes to thin them out a bit. Puree until all pieces are pureed adding potato water as needed. Package same as fruit. Squash Cut squash in half lengthwise. Pour 2 cups water into baking dish. Scoop out seeds and place squash halves cut side down in water. Place baking dish uncovered in oven at 350 until the skins is bubbly and wrinkly. Remove from oven and let cool enough to handle. When cooled scoop out meat and place in processor. Again reserve squash liquid from baking dishes to use to thin out squash. Same mixing as above and same packaging as above. Bananas Cut bananas up, Place in processor, puree and add water as needed to get right consistency. Use immediately as these will brown fast. I made all this in about 2 hours while holding the baby and taking care of the little ones. Quite easy. Now I have premade baby food, I just take out a baggie in the morning set in fridge to thaw and Waalaa. The best part about this baby food is it is nothing but the fruit or veggie and water. No complaints from Jeremiah or any of my other children. * Best containers to use are used baby food jars. So if you know a friend who feeds their baby only store bought and they have used clean baby food jars ask if you could have a few and use these to store homemade baby food in. * I would purchase a food processor to be used solely for baby food. So that it does not get contaminated with any foods you don't want baby to have and be vigilant about cleaning it really well. Don't want baby to get any bad bugs. Have a great weekend. Michelle *** I am so sorry I still don't have my camera fixed yet. My son is working on fixing it. As soon as it is fixed I am just going to do a post of pics lol.
This weeks recipe is Pancakes and syrup. If you are not making your own pancake mix then you really should. It is super simple and the pancakes taste just like Ihop or other restaurant pancakes. And syrup is also really simple to make. You could in 1 hour make up enough pancake mix and enough syrup to last months, depending on your family size. We eat pancakes for lunch and for dinner. I have them on my menu at least 7 times in a 2 week period for breakfasts and at least 2 times for a dinner. Pancake syrup 1 cup water 1cup sugar 1 cup brown sugar 1tsp. vanilla 1 tsp. maple flavoring Put all in a pan heat to boiling, turn heat to medium high and boil until you reach the consistency you like. Longer boiling means thicker syrup. Let syrup cool and store in a mason jar or an old syrup container. I always quadruple this recipe for our size family. Pancakes (Make ahead, big batch) 12 cups flour 4 cups dry milk 3/4 cup baking powder 3/4 cup sugar 2 tbl salt Mix thoroughly and store in airtight container for up to 6 months. I would advise that you freeze your flour for a few hours after you purchase it and you won't have to worry about bugs in your mix. To make pancakes ( This makes about 8 large pancakes) 1 1/2 cups dry pancake mix 1 cup water 1 egg 2 tbl veg. oil Mix all together, Cook pancakes and enjoy!!!! Have a great Friday, Michelle
I have quite a list for this week, There are some really good deals out there and I have not done any really large trips in awhile. So here goes for my local readers or any who have these stores. Save a lot Shank ham .99lb pork roast 1.29lb Maxwell house coffee 4.99 6 roll paper towels 3.99 hilshire farms kielbasa 1.99 dry onion soup mix .89 whipped topping .89 bleach .99 snak sak cookies 1.29 I regularly purchase sausage links, flour, sugar,brown sugar, powdered sugar, choc chips,and flats of veggies, beans and soups at save a lot and will this time too. I would compare save a lot with aldi's myself. Dollar tree is next I need my monthly items from here 10 packages of flour tortillas 10 packages of corn tortillas 10 boxes of ziploc baggies total $30 Marvin's Grocery Store Birds eye veggies and steamers .78 - all the coupons that are out there from Sunday inserts, I hope to purchase at least 20 of these with coupons. Kellogg's cereal $1.78 each plus my coupons Skippy peanut butter is .98 each limit 2 plus my coupons 10lb potatoes 2.99 act 11 popcorn 3 pk 5/5 plus my coupons post cereal 5/10 plus my coupons Betty crocker muffin mixes and pizza crust mixes 3/1 mc cormick vanilla 1.99 plus coupons mc cormick taco,burrito,enchilada,fajita seasoning 2/1 sargento cheese 2/4 plus coupons sunny d 2/3 5 lb ore ida potatoes 4.99 maruchan ramen noodles chicken 4 (6packs) $5 2 bars fels naptha soap Country Mart (Coffeyville, Kansas) libby's fruit 10/10 idahoan potatoes 10/10 mc cormick ranch or spinach mix 10/10 worcestire sauce 10/10 pie filling 10/10 del monte fruit cocktail 10/10 dole pineapple canned 10/10 mc cormick potato seasoning 10/10 kraft salad dressing 10/10 teddy grahams 10/10 armour peperoni 10/10 boneless skinless chicken breasts $1.59lb ( This is a great price for here, I will be buying 25lbs) Rice a roni 2/1 yogurt 20/10 green and red lettuce $1 Kretchmar ham off the bone 4.99lb xtra lean ground beef $2.59 lb (Good ground beef is scarce around here so when It goes on sale at Country Mart here I purchase large quantities, I will be getting 20lbs) Other then a few extras from Walmart that will be it for this week. Looks like our meals this next 2 weeks will consist of Ham dinner, Ham and potato soup,Ham sandwiches, Meatloaf, Spaghetti, Ghoulash,Chicken stir fry, Ranch chicken wraps, Chicken fajitas, Chicken noodle soup with dumplings, BBQ chicken, Pizza 2 times. I don't usually purchase lunch meat ham. But I found a great recipe for the kids to make and it calls for it. Layer in muffin tin One slice of the ham lunch meat, Sprinkle grated cheese and bake 10 minutes at 350. They love to make things themselves and this is easy and simple. Gotta run baby is stirring. Hope we are past the teething for a bit here until the next one comes in, I have missed blogging. Have a great rest of the week all. Michelle
And yes it is, Wow oh wow oh wow oh wow. My cute little quiet boy has gone nuts!!!!! He will not have anyone else hold him just screams and cries. And he will not sleep unless I am holding him. We are going through a phase here and it is very hard being by myself and having the other little ones running around. Anyway just wanted to touch base with you all and let you know I will be back regular blogging as soon as we get through this. I can't bear to hear him cry I am not a cry it out mother lol Have a great week all and I miss blogging already but can't leave little Miah to himself. Michelle
Well hello all I am still here, The baby has been battling his tooth all week and I am exhausted and he is grouchy. Well he is starting to pull out of it today I think....One tooth popped up and I think the other one is right there. Gripe water has been helping but he still seems fairly miserable. Anyway hopefully for tomorrow I wanted to post all my seedlings pics and my plan for planting, that is if it ever stays warm enough here, Just when I think after 4 days of 80 during the day and 50 at night cold hits again and it is 25 at night. I want to get my little plants in the ground, I am anxious this year, plus some seem to be outgrowing their little containers. I planted a bit of everything and I will talk about that tomorrow. Just wanted to update on where I have been this week. So now to my frugal tip of the week.......... I use so many rags, Sometimes I can't believe how many rags I use in one week. I was buying them but seemed not right to take brand new washcloths or whatever else was on sale and use for rags. So I started saving and cutting up everything. Tablecloths that were useless, Old t shirts, old bath towels just about everything. I just got done cleaning out the baby clothes and everything he had accidents on or I could not get the stain out of became rags. This saves money buy not buying new and re purposing. It saves from using paper towels which are expensive. It is environmentally friendly and it just feels good. I don't feel the least bit guilty cleaning up something terribly gross and throwing the rag away, it served it's purpose. Well gotta run baby is hungry and tired. Have a great weekend all. Michelle
My money saving tip this week is gardening. I know there are a ton and I mean a ton of websites that tout gardening as money saving for growing your own food to supplement the grocery store and this does save a TON of money and I don't deny that. But there are other benefits to gardening that save money. I am not in any sense of the word an outdoor girl, I tell people I am allergic hahaha. But gardening gets me outside and I don't have to supplement with Vitamin D3 I get it naturally and that saves money. It takes time to start your seeds and get them growing you can make this a fun time with your kids or like me I use this as "My Time". I go off by myself and have a few hours of planting my seeds. Free me time!!!! Getting your beds ready for planting is quite strenuous for an indoor girl like me, I use muscles I don't normally use so this is free exercise and takes a day so it is free entertainment ( This I do incorporate the kids and the hubby to help and get their free stuff too)!!! Planting your plants and taking care of them the whole season is an everyday activity. The kids love helping and getting the leaves or the weeds out. Some of the days they can do their swimming while I work in the garden, since I have little ones who have to be watched while they swim I would normally get bored and think of a thousand things I need to take care of in the house other then just sit and watch them. Now I can keep busy and watch them at the same time. Lastly, I get darn right giddy when I get even 1 bean to pick!!!! That is a free satisfaction that no shopping trip can compare to!!!!! Try it big or try it small I promise that if you turn your whole backyard into a growing wonderland or if you have a few small containers on your patio or porch you will love it !!!! Happy Free gardening stuff, Michelle
Today I wanted to finish up the bail out bag or 72 hour kit for my older kids and the adults. Adult ( older child) 1 pair jeans or heavy pants 1 t shirt 1 jacket 2 pair underwear 4 pairs socks bug spray 4 water bottles granola bars, protein bars, snacks first aid kit medicine kit hand warmers hat pocket knife matches solar charger for phones etc (homemade by son) small blanket ( wool army issue bought at supply store) fishing line and hooks We also have one backpack that is just homemade mre's. Also my children have put some extra things for them in each. I have sunscreen and baby sunscreen in mine also and a roll of quarters. I also have a bar of soap and toiletries in mine and a small bottle of homemade laundry soap. I also have steel wool for starting fires. Michelle
I loveeee sometimes I think just a bit more then some other people ( in general) saving money. And here it comes the "But" part, sometimes we end up spending money to save money. You have to be really careful with stockpiling, couponing and searching sales. I believe in in all of these things. I could not have some of the things I have without doing these things.
But if you are not careful like I wasn't when first starting out you will spend way more and I mean alot more then you intended and not really save money. I had to learn this the hard way. That leads me to today at Walmart. They had jackets on sale for $2. This is not abnormal for Walmart or other stores to have sales these deep after season. But for many many years I would have bought them, OMG $2 jackets!!!! Now I stop and think and ponder most purchases. Do my boys really need those jackets, How many jackets do they have at home, Do I want any more clothes to wash which will lead to more spending for laundry soap electricity etc. Well my answer today was no way. They have jackets, One for every type of weather. I have 4 boys I would have purchased these jackets for if I did not stop and think. That would have been $8 and tax. I get giddy when I find a coupon while shopping for something I need that someone left behind or is attached to a product I am buying, Giddy over saving $.25 on something I was gonna buy anyway. So I do not want to throw $8 away on something that is not needed.
I love to coupon and sometimes when I see that there are several coupons that will get me free or really cheap items that I would be buying anyway I will purchase 8 copies of that paper. I have to be able to justify that $8, I have to be able to get my money back for the newspapers and still save money or make money. Some weeks I do purchase 8 copies but some weeks I only purchase 1 or none. If you are truly trying to save money or to be frugal which I might add is not a fad, it is most definitely a mind set and a way of life, you have to think about everything you buy.
Michelle
Today's recipe is easy cheater chicken tetrazini
1 box macaroni noodles
1 jar Alfredo sauce
shredded or cubed chicken about 2-3 cups precooked ( cooked in a seasoning of choice I prefer fajita or rotisserie chicken spice)
2 cups of plain potato chips or bread crumbs
4 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese
Cook macaroni noodles drain add to baking dish
cook chicken in a bit of oil and add to macaroni noodles
add jar of Alfredo sauce mix well
In potato chip bag or small baggie crunch up chips and Parmesan and top casserole, Or do the same with the breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese.
Bake for 20 minutes at 350
I use this for those days of Oh darn I have been so busy I forgot about dinner, dinner!!! Everyone loves it.
Michelle
This Wednesday I don't have too much but a few things + a few things I need.
Country Mart ( Coffeyville, Kansas)
Rice a roni 2/1 ( This is a crazy unusual price although I don't have coupons I am going to purchase 18 boxes and that will probably last years)
Nabisco snak snacks 2/3-$2 in coupons = 2/1
Hiland yogurt 2/.89 x10
Philadelphia cooking cremes $1.99-$1.50 coupon x11=11/$5.50
pictsweet steam veggies .99 -.50 x4=4/$2.00
pilgrims pride whole chickens .79lb x10 lbs $7.90
Marvin's grocery (Independence, Kansas)
act 2 popcorn 2/3-$1 coupon x4=8/$8.00
farmland lunch meat 3/5 -$.75 coupon =3/$2.75 x 6=18/16.50
green giant veggies in sauce .99-.40 coupon=.59x10=$5.90
Navel oranges 6/$1x3=18/3
Golden delicious apples .69lbx10lbs=$6.90
tangelos 4/1x4=16/$4
I am still working on my Walgreen's list I will post that separately tomorrow Baby is having a rough night with teething so gotta run soon. Michelle
Today I wanted to talk about one of my favorite websites, www.stretcher.com. This is a huge huge community for frugalness and stretching a dollar. I have been a member here for a few years. I also recieve the newsletter which I love. The neat part about this website is that they have contests for writing. Quite a few to choose from. I have personally won 2 $25 contests and recieved my checks. I know I could win more if I posted more stories and tips. Another good thing about this website is that you can post any question you have about anything and in just a short amount of time you will get alot of advice and suggestions. Check it out I think you will really like it. Michelle
Lost my groove.....
The baby is 5 months old and I still have not got my groove back. He is amazingly more demanding then any of the other 6 were by a mile. He prefers to be held and adored and have your complete and total attention!!! Did I say prefer I mean demands hahaha. I really really miss my groove but I love actually love how much attention he wants and that it is my attention he wants and needs. My last one the 3 year old was overly independent, still is. I used to cry because he was not a snuggler. Well I got the snuggler and the I need my mommy one. I just need to find balance and not doing well with it. He won't be a baby for long as I have found out with all the others so I am just going to try and go with it and enjoy it. I will someday again have a clean house, not resort to cereal or oatmeal most mornings, make more elaborate dinner meals, and get out of my jammies before noon hahaha. Have any of you had a clingy or needy baby??? How did that work out for you??? What worked for you to get 10 or 15 minutes alone???
Have a great week all, Michelle
I see I am going to rename Sundays Saving Money Sunday. ( Which will also include stockpiling)
Money saving Ideas-Entertainment
Obviously we do not go out of the house for Entertainment much or rarely I should say. A Mc Donald's trip for my family going cheap is $25. We took a trip to Oklahoma 2 years ago to the Aquarium and it was $100 for us just to get in. We do alot of things that cost nothing or very very little which narrows our list quite a bit. We are very lucky to have in our small town a cute little zoo it is a great walk through it and it takes about an hour and half to walk through slowly. It also has a huge play area with lots of fun equipment for the kids. The little ones never seem to tire of it, so during the spring summer and early fall we take them about 3 or more days a week. We always pack our lunches. We have a swimming center which is huge but I did the math last year and if we went a few times a week it would cost as much as a large swimming pool bought for the backyard. So we bought that and will put it up on June 1st. There is also a huge huge park with lots of jungle gyms and park equipment, it also has a merry go round that they open up on the Weekends and weeknights during the summer and it only costs $.05 a ride. It also has a train that circles the park area which has the same hours and it only costs $.50 a ride. The park also has a huge area where they have several fun things a month that go on, and an amphitheater. We have a huge 4 state rodeo and fair that comes each August to the next town over but it is very very expensive so we have not gone in years. Our little town is famous for Neewollah each year, it lasts I think 7 days and has lots of free things in addition to rides that are quite expensive. We usually save up a small amount for the boys to play some games and for the teen to go with friends on the rides on night. Neewollah is Halloween spelled backwards. We use the public library allllllooootttt. With my oldest daughter working there we never miss any program that the boys would be interested in and their dad takes them at least 1x a week to check out books and a video and to play a bit. My teen in on the teen committee and spends quite a bit of time there. The teen also goes 3x a week to some sort of youth group. There are endless VBS each summer living here in the bible belt. Just goes to show with a little checking of your local city pages you can find tons of free or very cheap things to do for most every holiday too. We have decided to let the(Twins) boys join T-ball this year which is not cheap at all. But the benefits for them with their ADHD to get out and run and play on a team seems worth it.
For at home things we own every game known to man I think which we play alot. We also swear by Netflix. We have a Wii and my oldest son has an xbox. With the Wii hooked up to the main T.V. we can watch movies whenever my kids can watch YouTube videos ( supervised) or the teen can browse the Internet. The YouTube on the Wii works well when I need just a few minutes to do something I can put the 5 month old and the 3 year old to watch a quickie 10 minute show of Baby Einstein.
So there is our idea of entertainment. As far as eating out, We have ethnic nights at home. I have learned from the Top Secret Recipe websites to make favorites from restaurants right here at home that taste just like going out. We frequent Braum's Ice Cream store many times during the summer for a cold treat and we frequent Sonic Many times a week for 1/2 price happy hour where most drinks are half price, I can get all of us a drink for under $3. It pays to sign up for Sonic emails since during the summer they have specials that go on, like bogo malts and shakes. They will have little one day specials for .50 cent corn dogs all day or .50 cent sundaes etc.
Start checking your city pages today for fun things to do this summer it will be here before you know it. Happy Sunday to you all, Michelle
This Saturday I wanted to talk about Bug out bag or 72 hour kits for babies and small children. I personally find this to be the most important of my bags. These are the most important for my sanity. Just going to the grocery store unprepared with children can cause alot of stress I DO NOT want to be in an emergency situation and not be prepared with these little buggers lol
Babies Bug out bag
Diapers
Wet wipes
2 Binkies ( pacifiers) ( you know how you always lose the first one cause it bounces on the floor and lands in the next county over!!!!)
Baby snacks
2 heavy sleepers
2 summer outfits
4 onsies
1 bottle of infant Tylenol
1 bottle of gripe water ( The last thing you want in a shelter or evacuation center is to be packed into a building like sardines and have a colicky or teething baby and noway to settle them or calm them)
A snuggly stuffed animal
1 musical or brightly colored toy to get and keep their attention
A snuggly very warm blankie
A thin receiving blanket
1 bpa free glass bottle ( even though I breast feed, It is just in case of anything)
I have 2 regular water bottles and 1 jug of nursery water
I have an extra baby carrier so I put that in there. ( In case of having to walk long distances this will be invaluable for carrying baby and leaving my hands free for other little ones)
A baby jacket with hood
10 cloth diapers, and pins and covers ( if it were to turn long term you will want these when no diapers can be found anywhere)
1 bottle vitamin drops
10 trial size bottles of baby lotion, baby shampoo, baby powder, baby oil. ( I just think how comforting it could be to smell a fresh baby and snuggle him smelling so good)
I also have 2 baby spoons and two jars of stage 1 baby food
That is my baby's bail out bag. Can you think of anything I might have missed?? I would love to know??
My Toddler and 6 year olds bail out bags Consist of
1 pair of jeans and a T- Shirt for each one
1 pair of shorts, Socks, 2 pairs of undies each.
1 of those add water washcloths sold at $1 tree for each one
4 water bottles each
1 box of the sugar free add to water bottle juice tubes for each
1 bottle of children's Tylenol for each
several snack bags for each ( cookies, chips, crackers, high calorie high protein snack bars)
A blanket for each one
A small pillow for each one ( I plan this year to make quillow pillows for each one)
A small stuffed bear for each one to care for and give comfort
Each one has a small baggie of toys to share with each other ( One has blocks, One has small toys that were from happy meals etc, One has a puzzle)
A color book and crayons for each one
1 bottle children's vitamins + 1 small bottle of vitamin C and Vitamin D3
A hooded jacket for each one
I have some cording in each one so that if we are in a crowded environment or building or walking I can tie a cord to them and to tie them to me to keep them with me and not wandering or getting lost. If I happen to be by myself this will be extremely helpful with 4 of them and only 1 of me.
2 bottles of baby shampoo and baby lotion for each one ( just to keep them clean and smelling nice)
That is their bail out bags, Anything I missed??? Please let me know. I will try by next week to post pictures of the bags so you can see them. Have a Great Saturday all and Stay Safe!!! Michelle
