New Adventure!!

Hello! Long time since I last shared anything.

I am so glad y'all are here! I wanted to share where we were just 9 little months ago. To give you a little background on how we ended up where we are today. In case you are just coming across this little par of the web.

We lived in this 2100 sq ft house

that was new when we bought it,

and pretty much perfect in every way, for 8 years. Even after adding our 4th kiddo there was plenty of room for all of us.

 After a few years we did some updating to the counters and back splash in the kitchen. I thought it was perfect, there wasn't anything else I would have changed.

 We finally got a good color on the wall in the living room and it felt like us more than it ever had!

 After years of searching for the just narrow and shallow enough table for the entry way we found it, not too long ago.

 This rug was a splurge and it was perfect in this room, my amazing Father in law built the built ins, there was a whole lot of time spent in this room with the kids. The books and games and record player.

 We had a master bathroom and honestly, the jetted tub was one of the first things I really really missed when we moved into our rental.

 I will never again doubt how important closet space is. Our Master bedroom was a great size, it fit the babies when we had them and there was still room to get around.

 With 4 bedrooms there was plenty of space and a number of room swaps and changes over the years.

 Laundry that wasn't in the garage?! I will never take that for granted again either.

 Kids bathroom, always the messiest room in the house, but we didn't have to share it with them.

The only problem was this>>>

See how close the neighbors are? 

Not that there was anything wrong with our neighbors! We just wanted SPACE and a safe place outside for the kids to play and grow and wander and learn. Chickens, sweet little chickens and other critters were another reason we needed to be somewhere else. Driving our kids to school and back everyday was killing our gas budget. We were able to get them into an amazing school district, the secrets out now and getting your transfer approved has been more and more difficult. We just need to be in the area of the schools so we aren't transfers anymore or driving so much.

After 7 months of waiting for there to be ANYTHING in the area, this place came on the market! Before it was even on the market there were offers, I really thought we had no chance of getting it!

 

But they chose our offer and after a long, realllllly long, closing we just started working. We plan on moving into the garage because we have a few weeks of work that have to be done.

I can't wait to share the ups and downs and probably more downs of our newest adventure. Come back tomorrow for the tour. It will be small, it's not a super big house.

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My top 3 Back to School Must Haves to Save Time and Money!

It's been busy around here, busy doing nothing. We still haven't closed on our new place but we have to be out of our rental. It's been an interesting ride and I am avoiding the stress of it for now.  Once we get settled I think it will be a mad rush for school. It's going by so fast!

The last 2 years have been so crazy for us. I hope we can get all settled and I can find everything before school starts!

1.

We have a set of these for each kid. Saves so much on school lunches and I love knowing what they are getting, and that they will eat it. There seem to be less to choose from the sooner it gets to school.

2.

These little plastic cups with lids! I know they are common for Jello shots. That is not what we use them for though ;) 

They are the perfect size for snacks. I can buy in bulk and save, then just package them into these and they are ready to go in our snack bucket!

3.

 Iron in Name Tags!
With 3 kids going to school the chances of someone losing a sweater, jacket, lunchbox every week is likely. These save me time from digging in the lost and found, and save us money because we aren't replacing items that go missing!

To go with these, I like these markers!

*May contain affiliated links* I participate in Amazon Associates Program occasionally. I won't recommend a product I wasn't myself interested in trying or have tried. I may receive monetary compensation for participating.

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Nourishing This Baby & A Giveaway

Hawkins is 8 months old and loves to eat! 

I want him to eat healthy foods that we can make work in our budget and that we feel good about giving him!

We love the ease of the baby food pouches, but the organic ones can get pretty spendy, even with a coupon.  So thankful we found these from Nourish with Style!

Reusable, easy on the budget, and a fun way to control what we give our little nugget. The lid is the same as commercial ones, so if you use those spoon attachments you are still good to go! Unlike some other pouches the entire bottom opens, making it easier to fill! Easy to close and a tight seal. You can fill and freeze them ahead of time, just leave a little expanding room. Free of BPA, BPH, Phthalate, PVC, Lead, Asbestos and Red Dye 40. A 10 pack of these is only $14.95! Such a deal!

Oregon has the best strawberries, they are ripe and inexpensive at the u-pick farms.
We have picked about 12 pounds this week, and the baby has eaten about 3 pounds while we were out picking.

I used a recipe that was just strawberries, chia seeds and a little honey.  The big kids have been using it as jam, I've been adding it to our pouches with other good stuff!
Today he is having homemade applesauce and strawberries with chia seed.
So easy to load these pouches and be ready for the morning adventures.

Let me tell you mamas and daddy's, these are the perfect pouch to nourish your sweet baby!
Or toddler, or big kid who still loves purees!

They are just the perfect thing for parents. I think the things I worry about when it comes to baby foods are cost, nutrition, ease. This hits the mark on all of them!

I have a 5 pack of these to give away too! Just enter below and start saving money, filling em up with goodness!

  a Rafflecopter giveaway



**Nourish with Style provided me with some pouches to try out, all opinions are my own :)

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Wool Dryer Balls~Saving Money, Naturally. *Giveaway*

I posted a picture of Woolzies a couple weeks ago on Facebook, glad to see I wasn't last to the party!

We have been using them for a little while now, and goodness do they help!

I had been trying to find ways to cut down on laundry expenses.

We already make our own laundry soap and hang drying is a lovely idea, except we have trees and a big empty field and SPIDERS like crazy. I just can't do it! I have tried hanging some in our laundry room but 2-3 loads of wash a day, there just isn't enough room for it all.

We have a h/e machine already, other than making sure I get every stray sock in the load I don't think there is another way I can save on the washing part, we just use soap, sometimes vinegar. I won't pay for or use fabric softener, it's not softening anything, it's coating the fabric with chemicals. ICK!

So I started checking out drying options, lots of DIY fabric sheets but same chemical coating, no thanks.

In my search I read about these wool dryer balls. Claimed to help drying time and soften clothes.

I had seen the plastic ones and was not convinced I would want heated plastic in with our clothes, I envisioned more holes and less help with the drying or making anything softer, and was pretty sure the noise would be crazy.

I read about Woolzies then tried them out, I new the first week I was hooked!

They work by helping separate the clothes in the dryer and allowing the air to circulate more efficiently. I barely notice a difference in noise.

 I didn't really have an issue with static before, and still don't. But I don't over dry stuff. As soon as it is dry stuff comes out, I think static is partially over drying.



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