Holy stockpile batman!!!!

Before I start, I apologize for no pictures, I have not bought a new camera yet, I have $44 register rewards saved up for the camera I want, I will have enough by next sunday to get my camera for about $10, Kodak 10.2 megapixel ($99). I promise the minute I get it, Pictures pictures pictures.
My love of stockpiling runs deep. I love love love it. I love it for many reasons.

#1 by shopping only sales and using coupons and getting things free or close to it, I shop for my storeroom not necessarily what I need.

#2 Having a store at home saves money, by not having to run out for one thing and coming home with 10 things.

#3 I am rarely out of anything.

#4 If anything happens, job loss, sickness, natural disasters We have enough food to get through about 3 months, 6 months if rationed slightly.

#5 The security feels wonderful.

I do not have a pantry big enough for my stockpile, We plan on building one, But have not decided where. I had it at the end of the hallway upstairs for awhile, But little mice (children who all have rooms upstairs and ours is downstairs) would help themselves and mess it up. Before that I kinda had it everywhere and that made me crazy. We have the biggest room in the house downstairs, It is the coolest room temperature wise, And we only had our bed and a dresser in there, So made perfect sense to take a corner and put it there. This worked out perfect because it is just across from the kitchen, and noone goes in there. This is good for me now. Of course if we have any more children, Who I always keep in our room until they leave the crib, It will have to go then. But we are rebuilding our laundry room in the spring and are going to put a small bathroom out there. Right now our second bathroom is in the under the stairs closet, We will take that out and make that the pantry which is the perfect size.
My stockpile/store in the bedroom consists of all food items, and paper products and home fix it items. I also have a bathroom stockpile/store in the super large upstairs bathroom, That is all personal items. Then there is a 10x4 closet behind the bathroom that is used for any other items, Gifts, after holiday sales, end of season sales, clothing storage.
Yesterday we took some extra money I had set aside and we took advantage of some of the New Year sales, The local hardware store put out an advertisement with some great deals, So we added 3 heat bulbs, 2 jars plumbers putty, various pipe and pipe insulation, hand warmers, spackling, etc. This kind of stuff we use often while fixing up this old house and some at 1/2 normal price are nice to have on hand. I also got my coupon order in the mail yesterday, I went and got several of the items that were on sale with these coupons and spent very little.
There are a ton of websites out there on building a stockpile, The LDS sites are the best, I am not LDS but they have the best info. I started this about 2 years ago, And would never go back. Happy stockpiling!!!!

GRrrrr, snarl, curse, curse, SMILE

OHHHHH what a week in the 110 year old drafty ol house!!!! We had temperatures around -25 with wind chills, snow almost everyday for 2 weeks, This is not the kind of weather we get around here. Yes it does get cold, But not this kind and we just have little bursts then back to 35-40 during the day. Well this cold has done a real number on us and the house. We froze last year when it would get around 15, So this past summer we insulated here and there, blocked up cold spots, sealed floors, windows, doors etc. As we have no heat except for one kerosene heater and some small electric heaters, We had to get things sealed up tight. I also have doorways everywhere and huge high ceilings, So at each doorway, We put up closet rods, and I purchased 2 sheets for each doorway, cut the top open and hung those up, So they look pretty decent and Each room is a much smaller area to keep warm and the warm stays in that room. We have already decided that we are going to purchase with the income tax refund one more kerosene heater for at nights upstairs, These cost less then electric and we have stockpiled plenty of kerosene and they heat far larger areas, and are hotter. Now to the parts we did know to get to as we are still learning. We have been without running water for approx. 9 of the last 14 days. Pipes froze up, We insulated as they froze, and had to purchase heat tape for 3 areas that the insulation was not working. My washer has been froze up for the last week, It is in the laundry room which is just a covered porch. We are going to work on that tomorrow as I have so much laundry piled up and we are running out of clothes!!! The water heater froze up a week ago, We knew we needed the water heater blanket and just plain forgot, So purchased one of those and insulated those pipes and no problems since. Now tonight we were eating dinner and with 8 of us it gets kinda loud, I told my oldest son to go into the kitchen and get a spoon for me, and he starts yelling, OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH. We go running in there and darn itttttttttt, The pipes in between the first and second floor right under the upstairs bathroom, Which also runs directly above my pantry. The water is 1/8 inch deep in the kitchen and everything in the pantry is floating, I saved almost everything in the pantry so that is good, Anyway we shut off the water, And went to walmart to fill up all three 5 gallon water bottles, To flush toilets and have water to drink and do dishes with , Until tomorrow. Thank god hubby started vacation today, Because he will be busy tomorrow, He will have to replace that pipe and then we will insulate it to be prepared for next year. With all this water and freezing, I had to have a small hissy fit, Just everything was getting to me. I said some things I did not mean, Like I hate this house, Which I don't. This house has afforded us alot, with no house payment and the ability to do whatever we want to it, I love this house, I really do. Just have to work out all the kinks. Well after my hissy fit, When I went to walmart, I overheard a couple talking about how last night there were 2 house fires here in our little town, Neither homeowner had insurance, So they lost everything and now have nowhere to live. My little water issues did not seem so worth having a hissy fit over anymore. That is another add to my list of to do's this year, No matter how bad things seem...It could always be worse or.........Someone somewhere has it so much worse then me... I need to be thankful for what I have even when it is not perfect. Life is never perfect, And is was sheer luck that we found this house for $5000. We have heaters to worry about, We can afford our water bill and have water even if problematic. We have a roof over heads, We have lots of good food, Hubby has a great great job he loves. All my kids and the two of are healthy. Sure puts things in perspective. So as I stood in front of the pantry after I got home, I laughed a little and said.... I really did need to dust those shelves off and put in new shelf paper anyway!!!!!!! Keep warm and SMILE.

19 today.

My oldest is 19 today. Where in the world did 19 years go, And how in the world did she grow up so fast. I have to admit, I really never thought about her being 19 when she was born, Probably because she was my first I was so focused on that, But I sure think about that with the other 5.
When she was born, I tell people that she walked right out, And she did!!! The nurses were in amazement that she keep trying to stand up when we were holding her. I remember one nurse saying that she would go go go her entire life, and would want to do everything. Boy was she right! This kid has never ceased to amaze me. You can throw anything at her, she deals and deals quite well. She in all accounts is completely different from me. She has turned into a very respected worker at her job, She is friendly to everyone she meets, A very good listener, But is careful not to get to involved or get in on the gossip part. She is honest, brutally at times, Calls a spade a spade. She is never afraid to go toe to toe with me, But comes to any debate fully loaded with info, Just how I like it!!!! hahaha. She hit the road on her own, Practically days after she turned 18, Just like I always knew she would, And she has done perfectly just as I always knew she would. We have had troubles establishing our relationship out of this new status, She instantly wanted to be an adult, And I was no where emotionally ready to let completely go. But we have been working on that, And it is going much smoother, We are becoming great friends. I always told her she could tell me anything or talk to me about anything, ANYTHING. And she does, We have no secrets, And without going into detail I mean none. I love that, and at times am mortified at what she tells me, But I act like I am not, lol. She is extremely happy in her own skin, Which was big one I wanted my kids to have, Since I was taught to never be happy with myself. I bask today in the fact that I helped raise a great kid and member of our community, But I mostly bask in the fact, That she did so much herself. She wanted to be let go at 14 with homeschooling to do her own thing. I was hesitant but she had learned almost all of what was necessary, She chose great things to pursue, Some just for her, But she went with the alpha omega curriculum and made the right choices. She has continued to make good choices since then, Even when mistakes were made, She eventually knew how to correct them and she did. She did eventually have a "rebellious period" right after she moved out, With a boy. We had many arguments over this boy, I see now that my ultimatums lead to her staying with him longer just to irritate me, Although if I had it to all over again, I would do everything exactly the same. She eventually knew I was right, pulled out of the rebellion, Realized I only did what I did because I cared so much, And said to me, Why did you not make me realize my mistake sooner, bahahahahah, kids. My favorite phrases are Hate me now love me thank me later and Everyone is just dumb until they hit around 30 and they have that epiphany of Holy cow I knew nothing and everyone older was right!!! The kids love me saying these too, Yeah Right!!!!
I did and raised her exactly the way I set out to . Unfortunately when I made my list of how I would raise my children, No one told me that one formula does not work with all children, In fact they each need their own formula. I have had to learn that the hard way over the years. She is good, She will be okay, She will make it. Today I let another little piece of her go, And move on to the next kid, Who will be 18 this year, A boy, totally different then her, completely different then her. But It still feels good that I have one that I did not do too bad on raising, And still lets me raise her a little now and then to make me feel good. She will always be my baby, always. I will always fiercely protect her like she is still a child. I will never forget the feeling I had when she was born and they handed her to me, never. I won't ever forget how she loved the camera and would sing for hours upon hours in front of it, Using up all our video tapes at 3 and 4 years old. I will never forget when she went to kindergarten, And she saw me peeking in the window of the classroom with tears streaming down my face, The teacher finally let her come outside, To which she told me go home, But make sure you come back 15 minutes before school is over so your not late!!!! I will never forget that at 11 years old after scary movies or during storms, she would still crawl in bed with me to be safe. I will never forget having to put her on a plane at 12 to go to meet her dad, and literally running through the airport crying to watch her plane until I could not see it anymore, And crying all the way home, And crying for 3 months while she was gone that summer. ( I am a crier). I will never forget the excitement of her packing up her stuff at 18 and moving out on her own, The same excitement we both shared. I will never forget to never forget the memories. Happy Birthday Kriztina, I love you. Mom

Library day!!!!

I don't go to the library that often, Maybe once every 3 months or so. My hubby takes the 3 little ones once a week, to read, play, check out books and movies. This is my time to clean or do anything I want without interruption. But I have a list of books I have heard about or wanted to look at, So today I went. I had a list of around 50 books that looked interesting to me. They only had 3 of them, But I ordered about 25 from other libraries, So should be here within a week or so. I do not like reading fiction, Have no interest whatsoever. I just enjoy learning things, gaining some knowledge. So I got the tightwad gazette, I love flipping through this book every so often reminding myself of frugality. I also got a square foot gardening book to take a look at, I want to do my garden different next year ( year 2) because I did not yield much this year, I need to learn alot about soils and planting. I also checked out 1,628 country shortcuts, Because it looked interesting, And so far it has not disappointed. I actually flipped through this at dinner and everyone got a kick out of hearing some of the ideas, and some we even wrote down to use, Some we already used and the 5 year olds were just amazed that this book knew what we did.
I hopped on the computer a bit ago and the top story on yahoo was about a couple that just won the lottery for 128 million. I don't play the lottery, But it got me thinking......What would I do if I won the lottery, or came into money, Would I change how I live, Would I spend like crazy. I am going to ponder this overnight, Although I know the answer. Think about this seriously, What if anything would you change or do differently if you came into money, serious money???
Until tomorrow, Michelle

Moments like these....

Last night was especially cold, Bitterly cold at 2 degrees with -9 wind chill. This old house is drafty despite our best efforts. Our water froze yesterday, So I think we have heat tape on every pipe in the basement now!!! We put the 3 boys to bed last night, They have a gate up at their doorway, We took the door off for safety and installed the gate for safety reasons. I put up a blanket on the outside of the door to keep the heat in the room, And it was toaaaasty in there. I asked them if I could lay down with them for a few minutes, The baby had a hard time going to sleep last night so hubby took him downstairs to rock him to sleep. I had the best time with the twins, We talked and laughed and snuggled for about 2 hours before we all fell asleep. I don;t remember much while sleeping except I must have been warm snuggled between two warm boys, Because I woke up sweating this morning!!! I woke up to both of them looking at me, And Jacob of course Jacob said, Mom this is my room, You can't live in here forever!!! bahahahahaha told me didn't he. I love it. It was nice though, With them having severe adhd, emphasis on the H, Most days seem like boot camp, As I am constantly on them to settle down, constantly watching them and calming them. I don't get much time to just be and chat and snuggle with them. As I know with having teenagers, Moments like these become non existent in the far too soon future. So I am adding to my New Years Resolution list. I have added at least one night a week to snuggle with the boys and chit chat and laugh, While hubby takes the baby downstairs to rock to sleep. Just mom and the boys time!!! FUN TIME!!!! Cheers to never being without a little one to snuggle with!!!!! Michelle

Fun in the kitchen!!

I had fun in the kitchen today. Had lots of leftovers to get creative with and I love doing it. I have been getting my bananas really gross for banana bread and they were ready today, yummmmm , They came out perfectly wonderful.

I had left over turkey from New Years and wanted to do something different it this year. So I thought and thought and decided to create a turkey quesadilla. I took the turkey pieces and added a tiny bit of water and pureed them in the blender. I put the puree in a bowl added a can of green chili's 1 8oz block of cream cheese 1/2 of red pepper and 1/2 of green pepper ( I blended these in my mini chopper until shredded). I took this mixture and spread it on a tortilla then sprinkled with shredded cheddar cheese, topped with another tortilla then fried both sides in the frying pan. I cut them into wedges and served on a plate with salsa and sour cream. I could not BELIEVE how everyone gobbled these up, They were begging for more!!!! I can't wait to make more of these, I am betting they freeze pretty well!!!!

I also have been reading alot of comments on under1000permonth.blogspot.com about better meat for my family. I hate the taste of the meat we get (which is cheap) and I learned about the practices and the contents of the meat and am totally grossed out, Most sickened about that we are consuming it. So I found some local grass fed places around here, And have decided when the taxes refund comes in around the 15th of the month, We are taking enough money to stock up on meat for the next year and also to get about 20 dozen eggs. We will have to drive about 40 miles but this is worth it to me, And I can incorporate some other stuff into that trip, Like target shopping and aldi and others. ( we have to drive to tulsa, ok to get this stuff). So I will be blogging about my meat ventures after the 15th, I sure hope it tastes better then the junk we are eating now, Which quite honestly smells rotten to me. Wish me luck........Michelle

Happy New Year!!!!

My first New Year with resolutions. I am still working on them today, Yes procastination is on my list!!!! It was a busy time this last week with having Christmas 2 days late, So I am catching up. I am making a big turkey dinner tonight ( with the free turkey from my hubby's work). So I will work on this in between cooking. I have added some homeshooling ideas to my list, Some areas I want to delve into this year, that last year we did not. I also want to try the move again to herbal remedies for my 5 year old twins' adhd. We tried this early last year with poor results, But they are maturing more each day so worth a try. Changing from traditional to herbal medications is not a money saving choice. With insurance we pay about $40 a month for their meds now, Where herbal will cost us $119 for a month. Quite a difference. My hatred for the drugs they are on is what drives me. So that is big on my list for this year. Another top of the list item is savings. We stink at this. We honestly have no savings, And this bugs me. So I have started small. We need to get the small laundry room addition off of our house, And rebuild it. This will cost us about $2500 doing it ourselves. So this is the goal $2500 saved by April 15th. I think this is extremely doable with the income we have.
So even though I have added some tough ones to the list, I still think I can achieve them with a good plan. Which is what I will be working on this week to get finalized. I have to have things visual to keep them in my mind. So I have had my daughter draw plans up of what I would like the new laundry room to look like and that will posted up to be a constant reminder. I am going to plaster reminders of my resolutions all over the house!!! I also will be decorating my binder to remind me of these. Every little thing that is visual will help me to see these ideas each and every day at any given moment. Wish me luck!!!
What tips of tricks do you have that helps you stay on track with resolutions or plans??