Restart Button

We all need a restart button somewhere in our homes.  We all have days, weeks, months and even years we wish we could restart.  Well, when I blogged last I was diving into a new journey.  A journey to finally take control of what food I eat and eat with a purpose, not just to enjoy food.....although I do love food.....

Anyway, all was going ok.  The first week I lived close to the house because my head hurt so bad from the caffeine detox.  Did realize how these years of caffeine consumption would be so hard to undo.  THEN, as soon as the headaches quit and I started feeling really good....BAM! STREP!!!  Yes! I got strep!  I was on my death bead and all that sounded good was a milkshake.  So I caved.  I had a milkshake.  Then I had a few crackers and some ginger ale. And just like that my journey hit a detour almost immediately.  UGH! 

So, I am creating a restart button and I am pressing it today!  Today, I jumped back on the horse.  Back on my journey to being the best me I can be.  Today I am thankful for my restart button.

Blog Revival

I am reviving this blog!! It has been a LONG time since I have blogged, but I have decided to start back....for several reasons....but here are the 2 most pressing reasons....

1. Tomorrow I start a huge journey.  I am once again striving to take control of my health through my diet. This will not be a diet to lose weight, but I will be changing my diet completely in effort to be healthy, feel better, and ultimately be the best me I can be.  Many of you know, but for those who don't, when I was 18 I was diagnosed with Epstein Barr.  You can click here to read more about it, but it is an autoimmune virus that lays dormant in your body.  Some people have it and never know because the virus never becomes active.  However, mine flairs up a good bit.  The best way to keep it dormant is through a healthy diet, exercise, and low stress.  Those that know me know that our family has been right in the middle of lots of changes.  Even though these changes are great, the stress, even good stress, is still there.  On top of that I am the worst about exercising and my diet....well, I just love food so much.  A few years ago, in an effort to lose some weight, Lee and I transitioned our diet to a Paleo diet.  We both felt so good, and honestly I felt the best I have ever felt.  However, like all plans, I eventually went back to my old habits because I met my goal, I lost weight. Then, we moved and I met someone who has used the Paleo diet to fight an autoimmune disease and it hit me! That is why I felt so good and I feel so bad now.  So, I bought a book...The Paleo Cure and have decided to start this journey.  Tomorrow I start a 30 day reset, removing foods that could potentially be harming my body and then one at a time reintroduce them to see what foods I can eat and which ones I need to continue to delete from my diet.  This will not be easy but I know I will feel so much better and I look forward to that!  That being said, I have revived this blog to have a place to journal my progress.

2. In a little over a month, I will send my kids to school (7th and 5th grade).  This might not be a big deal to most, but it is for our family.  See, I have been homeschooling our precious children since the oldest was in 1st grade.  He has vague memories of the classroom setting and she has none!  This blog is going to be a way for me to journal our experiences and adjustment as we begin this new adventure.

I am just another stay at home mom trying to figure this life thing out one day at a time.

Summer School

Growing up when someone said they were doing summer school I assumed they were dumb.  You know what I am talking about!  You thought the same thing!  Kids did summer school to make sure they passed to next grade!  Then, we moved to college and those who were super motivated did summer school.  You know the people I am talking about....I never fit into either of those categories.  However, for the second summer in a row I find myself doing school!  AND, for the first time I find myself, and my kids, in a position where they will be doing school too.  One of the things I love about homeschooling is the flexibility of your schedule.  I love that we can take family time when needed and focus on other things when needed.  However, this year we had lots of "family" things to tend to.  We have been out of town a lot, taken care of parents and grandparents, and had our fair share of sickness.  Needless to say, I find myself sitting her at the beginning of June hating myself for my kids needing to complete their books still. So, the Skinkle family, minus a few weeks of break time, will be schooling it this summer!  Hopefully this is the first and last time this will happen! 

My Part

Earlier I posted about my kids desire to help with the building fund.  If you missed that post you can read it here.

They really challenged me to look outside the box for ideas on ways I too can give.  As a SAHHM money is tight in the family budget and there is little "extra" that can go other places.  So creative had to be the key!  I have been praying for several weeks now that God would show me a way I could give.  This morning in my time with Him, He confirmed to me that He had already given me a way, I just needed to use it.

Last year I started Ribbon Head Bows.  I did this more as an outlet for myself than anything.  It allowed me to have a hobby and a little extra spending money.  Then I started back to school....and to be honest I haven't done much with it since.  So, this morning I made the decision to give Ribbon Head Bows to HIM.  That's right, it is His now!  All bows, headbands, crafts, etc, will go to HIM.  I am back with a purpose!  All profits from Ribbon Head Bows will be given away.  For now the money will go to the building fund at my church.  So, shop away and know that for everything you purchase and I make we work together to bring more families to the Lord, through a new building, more space for discipleship, at a my home church. 

The Kitchen

If we are all honest, we all have a favorite room in our house.  For some it's the living room.  Others might have an office or hobby room.  There is another group who love their kitchen.  I am NOT one of those!  HAHAHA!  To be honest, I very much dislike my kitchen.  Don't get me wrong, I love how my kitchen looks when it is clean.  The problem is, it's rarely clean!  Not, because I don't clean it, but because we are home all day, and that is the room most used, so it stays in this state of "needing to be cleaned".  That is the main reason I dislike my kitchen.  However, I have another reason....and it is somewhat tied to the cleaning part.....I do not enjoy cooking...most of the time.  If my kitchen is clean and I have the knowledge that someone else will clean when I am done, then I love to cook.  However, cooking just makes a mess, that I have to clean, and I hate cleaning the kitchen!  However, because I am a stay at home mom, I have to cook....so, one of my challenges this year was to search for some "easy" "low mess" recipes that would spice up my recipe box and hopefully aid in my love of cooking.  I have decided as I find family favorites, I will share them.  Here are the first two!

NEW FAMILY FAVORITE BBQ SANDWICH

I found this recipe here, but modified it a small amount. 

Put 2-3 lbs of pork tenderloin in your crockpot

Cover the pork with Root Beer (I use Diet A&W Root Beer)

Cook on LOW for 7-10 hours (I cook for about 8)

 Drain Root Beer 

Mix Meat with your favorite BBQ Sauce (I use Sweet Baby Rays BBQ Sauce)

 Serve on your favorite Bread or Buns (you could also put on a baked potato)

NEW FAVORITE FRUIT SMOOTHIE

I found this recipe on Pinterest

Blend the following together:

1 Cup Diet 7UP

1 Cup Ice

1 Cup Strawberries

1 Cup Bananas

Screamers!

I am not sure about all the moms of little girls (and big girls) who read my blog, my princess is a screamer, sometimes squealer! I have learned to how to read screams so that I know if something is really an emergency or not.  One thing I know is that my princess has this one scream, it is more like a squeal, that comes out of her mouth when she is scared or hurt.  It is my signal to drop what I am doing and run!

Today, I got both kids settled doing this and hopped in the shower (this is a wonderful thing I can do now that they are older).  I was finishing my shower when I heard "The Scream"!  I heard, "MOMMY!" and my heart began to pound!  I was in the shower!  What was wrong? Was someone in my house? Was she hurt?  I began to scream back, "I am coming! Are you okay? Tori!  Are you okay?".  As I am screaming back I am racing to get the soap off and rush out of my bathroom.  If there was some one in my house, I was going to scare them, because they were going to see me naked!  As I am racing, my heart about to come out of my chest, because I knew something serious was wrong, I hear this little voice scream back...and you will never believe what I heard....I heard this...

"Mommy I can't find any pants to wear!"

WHAT?!?!?!  She used her "I am dying" scream because she can't find pants!!!  My heart was still beating fast, but I was no longer scared, I was mad!  I couldn't believe it!  I rushed my shower for that!  UGH!!  This girl drama is going to kill me!

Of course I can laugh about it and share it.  I hope I am not the only one who has been fooled by their princess.  I would love to hear your stories.  Share them in the comments!

Drum Roll Please....

A few weeks ago I blogged about my kids going through their clothes and sending them to ThredUp!  Read about here! The money they earned from this project they decided to give to the church to help with the new building!  Last week we mailed the bag.....

On Tuesday of this week we were notified that ThredUp had received the bag!  And TODAY we found what items they bought from us and what our total was!

So, DRUMROLL PLEASE!!!

TORI - $23.50

JOHNATHAN - $11.50

TOTAL - $35!!!

I am so proud of my little givers!!  And thankful that God blessed their effort tremendously!

BTW - ThredUP is now beginning to take WOMEN'S clothing and we will definitely be sending another bag soon!