Highlights & Challenges of 2014: Pregnancy, Home and Family Life

Posted by Mama Bear on November 27, 2014 Comments Off on Highlights & Challenges of 2014: Pregnancy, Home and Family Life

Highs and lows of navigating life this year so far.

January – Got pregnant with #3 after making some health changes and seeing a holistic chiro.

February – Found out we were pregnant with # 3 due in Oct.
  Took the boys to Destin, FL and stopped to see family in Alabama on the way.
  Knocked the rock wall out of the dining room and pulled up the old wood tile.

March – Went to my first homeschooling convention.

April – Potty trained G.
   Got our first chicks.
   Went to Devils Den State Park in Arkansas. Walked the trails and took the boys to their first cave at War Eagle.

May – Lost one of our apple trees in a windstorm and planted several more fruit trees to replace it.
    Moved the chicks to their outdoor coop and run.
    Finally got the solar panels up and running and connected to the electric company.
    Bro in laws dog was hit and lost Mittens to an inoperable blockage.
     Built boxes for our garden and planted tomatoes, peppers, beets, carrots, cucumber, radishes, sunflowers, corn, green beans, sweet potatoes, blueberries, raspberries, rhubarb and several rows of pumpkins (the rows of pumpkins we planted all got eaten by squash bugs😔).
    Found out at our gender reveal party we would be welcoming sweet baby boy #3.

June – I finally ordered a Young Living starter kit so I had an arsenal of high quality oils to give our family an extra boost in the health arena.

Went Blueberry picking with my sis in law.
   Took the boys mini golfing at Paradise Park for the first time

July – Picked 15 tomato horn worms off our tomato plants and fed them to the chickens (they make great recyclers) 😅
   We hosted our annual 4th of July party.
   Went to Kauai just the two(I mean 3)of us. Took a catamaran around the coast, did lots of snorkeling, rented a mustang, saw and hung out with friends & family.

August – Started Kinder homeschooling with J.
   Went to Destin, FL with some of the fam. Stayed in a condo. Rented a boat and drove to Shell island and saw lots of dolphins on the way back.

September – Got out first eggs from our chickens.
   Bought the boys a bunk bed and got lots of things ready for the baby including needing to switch midwives in the last few weeks.
   Corey injured his leg/back/hip pretty bad at work.

October – Finally welcomed baby boy #3 after my water had been leaking for about 36hrs before going into active labor. Active labor lasted about 1-2hrs and pushing stage almost 2 hours because he had his hand above his head. https://therewegrow.com/home-sweet-homebirth/

Royals went to the World Series.
Hosted our annual hayride/bonfire

And that pretty much brings us up to date…

J Turns 3

Posted by Mama Bear on August 10, 2012 No comment

Can’t believe my firstborn is 3. It seems we’ve made it to the no more diapers, I wanna do it myself, I’m a big boy year…and yet he still wants me to play trains with him 24/7, calls me his best friend and wants me to lay down and read stories at bedtime. I love the no diapers and still all the hugs. I’m not ready for him to grow up so fast.

Weird Ways to Save Money

Posted by Mama Bear on August 7, 2012 No comment

I have to admit, some of the things we’ve done or do that has saved us money would definetly go down in the “weird” file for many americans. For example, we don’t have cable or a flat screen tv. We use cloth diapers, natural health remedies and cleaning methods. We’ve bought pallets of food and gluten free items at an auction(we’re talking 50lb bags of cereal, oats ect) and filled our living room with cardboard boxes full of seat covers to sell on ebay. We bought a popup trailer on craigslist so we didn’t have to rent one and then sold it when we got back in town for more money than we bought it for. The funniest thing my husband has probably done was pick up chunks of ice off the walmart parking lot to put it in our cooler(for items we didn’t have to worry about where the ice came from of course)but we still got a good laugh out of it…

I told you they’d be weird 😉


 Have ever done something “weird” to save money?

Living Debt Free

Posted by Mama Bear on August 6, 2012 1 comment

For those of you who don’t know, my husband and I, by the grace of God, live debt free. It’s not always easy and this year has definetly thrown some challenges our way. We now facilitate financial classes occasionally and LOVE being able to encourge others in the journey by “throwing out a rope” so to speak.

Now I know not everyone wants this or feels its what their family should do and some have decided to stop it temporarily for other things they need to take care of but for those working towards this goal the sacrifices you are making now will have a huge impact later. Success very rarely happens overnight. It’s making right or wrong decisions on a daily basis. Making bad choices over and over will cause death by 1000 cuts. Set goals and allow yourself small rewards to help keep your momentum going. Be intentional and very soon, little by little you will be seeing the rewards and results of all your hard work. You can do it!

Earache Be Gone

Posted by Mama Bear on August 1, 2012 Comments Off on Earache Be Gone

A few weeks back I had blogged about some of my favorite natural remedies but hadn’t remembered this one until yesterday, Oil of Oregano!
My ear had suddenly started acting up yesterday and I was in no mood to be dealing with an earache or infection. Actually I’m pretty sure I never am. I had put my usual tea tree oil and GSE mix in it but it wasn’t knocking it out fast enough. I remembered my oregano oil that I don’t just use for any occasion because its really strong and rolled it all around my ear. Sure enough it seems to have cleared right up. Sometimes you need western medicine but alot of times good ol natural remedies is all it takes! 

:)

Here’s a site with some other great uses for it. http://curingherbs.com/wild_oregano_oil.htm

Black Bean & Zucchini Quesadillas

Posted by Mama Bear on July 25, 2012 No comment

Made these quesadillas last night from a recipe on health.com to help eat up the zucchini from my sis in laws garden and daddy wasn’t home so we didn’t have to make a dish with meat in it 😉 They were better than I expected and both boys gobbled them down!

1/2 c canned black beans, rinsed and drained

2 tbs salsa

1/2 c finely chopped zucchini

4 (6-inch) corn tortillas

4 tablespoons shredded Cheddar cheese

*For my gluten and nightshade allergy adjustments, I ommited the salsa and used onion and cilantro with lime juice and salt instead.

Preparation

1. Combine beans and salsa in a small bowl; mash with a fork. Stir in zucchini. 2. Layer 1 tortilla with half the bean mixture, sprinkle with 2 tbs cheese, and top with another tortilla. Repeat with remaining tortillas, bean mixture, and cheese. 3. In broiler or toaster oven, cook quesadillas 1 minute on each side until cheese is melted and bubbly.

We’re Not Home Yet

Posted by Mama Bear on July 24, 2012 No comment



Being on the path we’ve found ourselves this year, traveling and even the Colorado shootings yesterday I’ve been reminded over and over the past few months, this is not our home…

We are on a journey, we are foreigners. Sometimes the road seems long, exhausting, even scary. We experience wonderful and exhilarating mountain points along the way but those days can also be met with equally dark valleys.

Our Father reminds us…Dont get too comfortable here. I have something better for you ahead. You are not home yet.

Why are you dragging that suitcase of regret, fear, resentment around? My child, I told you, I’ve got this. Its too much for you to carry. Leave it there. I have everything you need for this journey. Come to Me when you are weary and I will give you rest. I will turn your days of tears into days of joy and laughter… and when this journey is over, I will carry you safely home.

Happy Birthday Bubba!

Posted by Mama Bear on July 20, 2012 No comment

Happy First Birthday to our little wildfire! You’ve brought so much surprise and joy to our life. You are definitely your own unique little person with lots of love to give. We pray Gods protection and direction on your precious little life.

We love you so much!!

Momma, Da-da and BooBoo

Feelin the Blues

Posted by Mama Bear on July 20, 2012 1 comment

Since coming back from our trip I seem to have been hit with a case of the blues. Maybe the heat and drought are getting to me or maybe the uncertainty of irregular paychecks, not to mention coming off of the high of vacation; enjoying nature and taking a break from everyday life.

I got several things accomplished over the weekend but was feeling exhausted and unmotivated by Monday. I wanted to just lay around in bed, maybe even mope but I still have two littles to attend to. Ok so I did mope a little.

We have now been in the rental for four months, longer than I expected or planned to be. I look around at the still unpacked boxes stacked in the kitchen, on the porch and a couple in various rooms waiting for the day we can pick up and go wherever it was we are supposed to be going. Not anymore. They have now found residence in the basement, cabinets or trash can. I’m this close to hanging some decor while I’m at it.

When we sold our house back in March after calling it home for 6 1/2 years we had done a pretty good amount of fixing it up and decorating it to our liking. I had painted and decorated most of the rooms and my husband had installed a gorgeous master bath and completely landscaped the yard (surprise surprise 😉 and we had a wonderful deck and garden and enough room for friends and family to come visit. It was our first and only house and where we lived when our babies were born.

I’ll be honest, it’s hard to get motivated about being in the rental. Not because we’re not thankful for a house to live in for a decent price but we’re limited on what we can change or do. Plus who wants to spend much money on something they don’t own especially when the plan isn’t or wasn’t to stay here long anyway.

While in reality its not bad, it’s not what we envisioned either. I think I’m starting to find my groove and accept the fact that it is what is and make the best of it. I know my job is still to do what’s best with what I have no matter how big or small and maybe someday we’ll feel “home” again.

P.S. Did I mention it has also been extremely hot and dry this summer. It was 110 degrees the day I took this pic and my son was upset because I told him it was time to come in and cool off…..

Day 14 – Heading Home

Posted by Mama Bear on July 14, 2012 1 comment


Heading from Estes Park back to Kansas City today. Not looking forward to being cooped up in the van for that long but hey, theres always books, movies and internet ha! 🙂 At this point we have traveled approx 3,800 miles, stayed at 6 campsites, visited 3 national parks and been gone 14 days.

We’ve made some wonderful memories and crazy ones too… now we have to get back and get some work, ebay and car repair stuff taken care of and sell the pop-up and maybe the van before the end of summer.

I could use a little refreshing myself and then I’ll be ready to hit the road again!