Makin Money From The Scraps

 I've written about our journey to financial peace a few times and this is just one more step in our journey. We have really been taking a look at everything we have that we can get rid of. One benefit is a cleaner place, but if we can make a little cash too that is a good thing.



It doesn't even look that big does it?

 Glenn found a place that takes metal scraps that is actually close and so we began our morning going through his piles and piles and piles of horseshoes.



We even enlisted little helpers



And so we all jumped in to make it go faster because the more we dug the bigger the pile seemed to get.



This pile is still not all that impressive!

















It really didn't take us longer than an hour to get to the bottom of all those shoes, but by then we didn't think the truck was going to hold much more weight.







It ended up being a full load and we still have a bunch of pipe and other pieces of metal to haul off. For now though, it was a good start. 

I don't even know that we will get that much money for the pile, we probably won't. It is just smarter if you have to haul it off any way to get a little bit of change while we are at it.

My Little Monkeys

 

How can you resist such a face?



And that hair?



This summer is going so fast. School is going to be starting up so soon and I am trying to get myself back in school mode. It will be here before I know it. In the mean time I am enjoying summer and some of the sweet moments I catch!

Brooklyn is growing so much. It is hard for me to believe that she is already six months old. She is figuring out what food is and she likes to eat!

Bodie has really matured over the summer. I have seen some changes for the better in him. He has relaxed and settled down a lot and I have

really been able to enjoy him! He is such a funny boy and cracks me up sometimes.



And my great warrior!













My other monkey!

Thank God Bodie has settled down for the moment because Brylee has amped it up! She has really worked me over time and keeping up with her right now is a full time job. She is like a whirlwind. Beautiful, but up close she can be down right ugly at times.


They are all blessings in my life and I wouldn't trade a thing. It will be a joy to watch them continue to grow and see all the changes they go through on their journey.

Weekly Wrap Up

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Sweat drips, flies buzz, time seems to stand still. The chicken egg I accidentally dropped on the sidewalk is literally cooking in the sun. Here in Florence texas it is not unusual to have hot summers. Triple digit days are common for mid summer, except we have already had a month of triple digit weather. With no rain in sight, we have no relief in view for a while.

So what do you do with yourself, your sanity, and your kid's energy when it is 104 outside still at seven o clock at night?

Splash pads, waterparks, pools, or sprinkler parks are the way to go. Thankfully people around here got smart and started adding water features to a lot of the local parks. Most of the sprinkler parks are free or at least low cost so we can afford to go. In fact there is a new one that we are going to try to hit this week. It costs a dollar to get in.

 It is not realistic for us to get out every day. We live too far outside of town to make it affordable for one thing. Also, I have a three year old and a six month old that really have to stick to nap schedules. We might be able to skip nap time one day, but the next day would be impossible without naps.

On the days we are stuck here and it is too hot to play outside we have to get more creative. Here are a few ideas: We play ball in the hall with brooms. Of course we have certain rules applied so we don't kill anyone or break anything, but it is pretty fun! Sometimes we play basketball with socks and a small trashcan. (or you can play fold and throw in laundry basket and get two things done at once) Bubbles in the bath tub. I am out of bubbles and need to get more. This is a great time filler. You only need a few things for the times when the fighting starts or they start to get restless. In our house there are naptimes (or rest time for those that don't nap any more) plus meals and snacks and maybe a movie in the heat of the day.

I am finding if I have a few fun things to do that are different then we can make it through the rest of the day. If you have one day a week where you go to a sprinkler park or a bounce house, and one day you run and do shopping, then you only have a few days where you need to come up with extra projects. Don't forget you can enlist your kids help with your daily chores too and most of the time they enjoy it.

A few more fun ideas for days you can't get outside: make indoor tents, have a tea party and let them help you make cookies for the party, hide and seek indoors, and even make up a treasure hunt. You can google and find more great ideas. The trick is to have your list of options available ( I now have a list on Cozi, which is a free app for Iphones ) so when the summer time blues hit you can whip out your list and come up with something fun!

mommys struggles and snuggles: Summer Time Squabbles

mommys struggles and snuggles: Summer Time Squabbles: "Summer time arrives and regardless of whether you homeschool or not you are ready for a change. Those who don't homeschool look forward to h..."

Summer Time Squabbles

Summer time arrives and regardless of whether you homeschool or not you are ready for a change. Those who don't homeschool look forward to having some time to spend with their kids.  Those who do homeschool are looking forward to some time away from their kids.

So summer starts off  with a bang! There are camps, VBS, swimming lessons, trips to the grandparents, and maybe even vacation. Suddenly the whirlwind  of activity slows down a bit and we are left with half the summer trying to figure out what to do.

 Then summertime squabbles begin and you find yourself wishing they were back in school. I realized the other day the big difference in summertime and school. We are still at home either way, but school time is much more structured. I don't know why it takes me so long to realize that me getting a break should not mean no schedule. No schedule equals chaos and more fighting. Once you have more than one child it gets harder and harder to let the day just happen. When I let the day "happen" it is not pretty.

So, I am pulling myself up by the bootstraps and reeling them in again.

Today every time I had fighting I gave them a job to do. The funny thing is I never had whining about the jobs I handed out. They were happy to have something to besides making their own fun. Bonus for me: no fighting and getting more things accomplished around the house.

I have moved through my day with purpose. After we got some things around here finished we went to the Florence pool.(who knew they had a pool) The kids had a great time and they were tired when they finished.

I know that if I keep them busy I have much better days, but I have a tendency to wait until I am having problems to try to come up with things,and I am not good with spur of the moment plans. One of my favorite blogs Preschoolersandpeace says with young kids you must have a battle plan. This is so true because otherwise they make you the battle and at the end of the day you feel like you've been in battle.

So write out your battle plan.......your list of things that you can use to entertain your kids. Keep it handy, write as many ideas as you can. When the battles around your house begins you don't have to think, you have your ideas all on paper. Better yet look at your list at the beginning of the day and steer your kids through the day that way. I promise it will be so much better, less whining, claims of being bored, and less fighting. Now if I can just remember that summer is a time to relax, but routines can still help with that I'll have more days like today and less wild frontier days!

mommys struggles and snuggles: My list: How it ended up

mommys struggles and snuggles: My list: How it ended up: "So remember that list I mentioned? I think I might have put something about how you rarely get finished with what you plan to finish. Well, ..."

mommys struggles and snuggles: My List

mommys struggles and snuggles: My List: "For the next few days I have only Brooklyn to keep up with as Bodie and Brylee are staying with Papa and Nana. What do I do with myself? I h..."

My List

For the next few days I have only Brooklyn to keep up with as Bodie and Brylee are staying with Papa and Nana. What do I do with myself? I have so many things I want to do and I know I won't come close to getting them all finished.

It is inevitable for things to come up such as the pr valve going bad on our water meter. Anyone know what that is? Yea I didn't either until today. Last week our washing machine started leaking. After having the guy out twice and Glenn working on it between we were told our water pressure was too low and that is making the washing machine leak. Our water pressure has been low for a while now. Upon calling the water company, I discovered that we have what is called a pr valve that is attached the meter, but the water company is not responsible for it. The lady kindly told me I needed to locate the valve and adjust it. If that didn't help to call her back. Do I look like I know anything about water meters? So now I am out there looking in this box that has webs and spiders. I did figure out how to adjust the thing finally with no results so they told us we have to replace the valve. (they don't do that, you have to call a plumber) Well, Glenn is not call a plumber if he thinks he can do it himself, so guess what he'll be doing this afternoon? In the mean time the clothes I was gonna wash are gonna have to wait.

Next on my list: Tommorow I am going to my moms to sew the curtains for our bedroom. Yea! That alone will make a big difference in our room. And I am taking our last female cat to get fixed! Yea again! And maybe I'll get the books done this week while there are fewer interruptions. Or maybe throw some things away while there is no one here to protest. Aghhhh the possibilities are endless. I might even get to use my Kohls giftcard this week. Shopping with a baby is a lot easier than shopping with three kids. But, I'll never get any of it finished if I don't get off here so Hasta la vista baby.