Organizing Our Life: THE PANTRY.......

I do the majority of the shopping, but here lately since I now stay at home hubby faithfully brings home items we run short on or run out of. The groceries come in the house and usually I begin dinner right away and hubby and children put away the groceries. I have organized the pantry numerous times and I do believe this will be the last time!

My sweet Emily was trying to help me turn chaos into art!

This has been driving me crazy because nothing is in its place! everything is just sort of shoved EVERYWHERE there was a hole or anywhere it would fit. I CANT LIVE MY LIFE LIKE THIS!

We pulled it all down to start fresh!

When things get "messy" you have no idea what you have and when that happens....

You end up with this much peanut butter.....

and this much Macaroni and Cheese......

Here is my masterpiece.....

Yes I have a TV on top of my pantry.....my office/craft room is the only room big enough to hold the pantry!

Now that this part of my life is organized onto the next project......

Until next time.....Jenn

Hoarding can be a good thing, if hoarded responsibly!

I never realised the problems that hoarding brings until the TV series Hoarders came out. I am a hoarder but not the TV type of hoarder. I can throw something away if its broken and cant be fixed, I give things away to people who need them or donate things to Goodwill etc.....Hoarding is an addiction. I have an addiction.....

A Hoarding Addiction......

I do get it honestly though, my dads a hoarder, it drives my mom crazy (he has piles of scrap wood and don't get me going on the newspapers he turns into fire logs), funny thing is she is a hoarder too and so is her dad. 

We hoard things because we might need it someday and the minute we throw it away that's when we need it.

My husband is not a hoarder and he goes around throwing things away all the time! He went from a family of 6 to a family of 5 after a divorce to a family of 10 plus a dog. We have been living together since about May of 2011. With 8 kids life is expensive so when I find a deal LOOK OUT! and of course help me unload the car.....

We have warehouse shelving in our house for a pantry, 2 refrigerators and a massive chest freezer....

One closet is designated for bathroom items.....

This is a nook in another closet for paper towels and I have another hideout for toilet paper....

I found these gift bags and packages of tissue paper for 10 cents each....

I even hoard craft items, I will not go through everything I have, but this photo is all just 12x12 scrapbook paper every color and every style in these accordion files......

It is not efficient to have to go to the grocery store, the nearest grocery store is a minimum 30 minutes away, we are out in the boon docks....just us, our dog and our chickens surrounded by trees, and the occasional hunter whose dog wondered up in the yard to say hello.

My husband hates to shop but he is a manager at one of our grocery stores. Since I am so far away doesn't it make sense for him to pick things up? Sure it does.....So I send him a text message with the contents of what to bring home and what coupons to use. The stores have these new fancy coupon machines that spit out coupons when you scan your card or enter your phone number. The store card also gives discounts based on whats on sale that week. So here is the text I sent him:

"Only 1 hour left, I miss you, here is your shopping list:

-week 4 turkey ticket...be sure to spend $40

-lays chips with coupon 2/$5

-Orville popcorn with coupon 2/$5 x4

-Nilla wafers

-BOGO rice krispies treats x4

-Honey comb cereal

-Cool whip

-Bread

-Granola Bars

-Pepsi 2 litre

I think that's it if there is nice red seedless grapes get that too"

I was trying to refill the "school snacks section" of the pantry for today....

So hubby comes up the driveway honking the horn, my first impression is "oh hell no" I am not going to carry in 4 measly bags of groceries, besides I am busy doing laundry......IN THE CARPORT!

He backs up and gets out of the car and scratches his head and says "why is the washer out?" I said "oh this washer? The one you wanted me to get rid of cause we had a new washer?" he says "yes" I said "well I am doing laundry cause the new one is broken."

I also have a good stock of Laundry soap, fabric softener....liquid and sheets (They are in the house though)

The drain hose needs to be elevated!

Of course I rubbed in that it's a good thing we kept the old set because with 8 kids we would be up a creek without a paddle in laundry....

This is where the hoarding works out to being a good thing! 

THEN he lifts the hatch on his little Prius and says the store had good coupons..... Believe it or not the trunk on a Prius is huge, don't plan on much backseat space but the trunk space is awesome! 

His trunk was full....I said OMG (I mean I was in shock this man NEVER strays from a list) he said oh whatever, have you ever paid any attention to what you bring home from the store? The coupons were good and the machine kept asking me for my phone number so I kept entering a phone number. I said well it only prints 1 set of coupons per phone number he said yep I know so I used your number, my moms, my dads and on and on. He said you would be proud too I saved $80.......I said "you're a hoarder" and I grabbed handfuls of bags and began lugging them into the house! I of course really have no room to talk......

Until next time.....Jenn

The great outdoors.....well our backyard!

Things are different now. When I was growing up I was constantly going camping, playing outside with my friends, fishing and I even went hunting. I love it when I got to do all of these things. Now one of your children asks if they can have a friend over and you say sure......you walk in their room and your child and their friend are playing video games. I am at a loss for my step children and even 3 of my own children because TV, tablets and video games are a babysitter, but I plan on saving our son Logan because both of us can control what he does and make it stick!

The kid loves to be outside, this is a bonus! A great start so to speak. He spent all day outside yesterday and was filthy.......that means he played hard!

Here is Logan and Annie, it is rare one is without the other....

we pulled out the BB guns to target practice....This is Avery he is next to the best shot......I of course am the best for now.....this kid is good!

Annie is an ok shot.....She actually missed the targets but hit the trees.....

This is Tyler, he can not shoot!

Makayla can not shoot either......the only thing these 2 kids can shoot is air!

Logan hung out in the leaves with his mommas itty bitty short legs....

Logan decided it was time to go for a tractor ride......"come on people how long are you gonna make me wait?"

He is being so patient!

Like I said never far apart!

I felt like it was getting late so I put the tractor back to bed and told the kids we would go have lunch and put someone down for a nap.

"no ma, I can nap right here!"

Until next time....Jenn

More and more wood

We ventured out into the woods yesterday to cut and split and try to fill up our wood shed for the winter. Our efforts yesterday did not pay off as well as when we were cutting without children, but we did make a little progress!

My manly man cutting down these horrible black gum trees! He might not be able to back up his car but he sure can operate a chainsaw!

Supervisor Logan in his stroller on the wood trailer watching us work and Curious George from mommy's cell phone propped up in the tractor tires!

Tyler perched on top of a wood pile heading back to the shed

So for......

Hubby is getting dressed to head out into the woods I better get dressed.....Until next time......Jenn

This one is for the ladies

Yesterday my husband had a rough day so it's my job to pick up the slack and make him feel good. You have to be very careful when doing this because you don't want to take away all of ones man cards.

My husbands first wife "Tickled Pink" was sorta lazy and never did any man work, in fact she did very little housework. We both seem to think we have it great, because we are a team, there is no such thing as "his job or her job" in our marriage......

I cook, he does dishes

he washes clothes, I fold them

he cuts the grass, I weed eat

he scrubs the toilets, I clean the shower

he sweeps and vacuums, I dust and remove cobwebs......

and vice versa. It works for us. He also takes pride in bragging to his friends and employees the wonderful food I cook and how I am not afraid to get dirty. I have heard him jokingly say many times "I see a twinkle in my dad's eye when you talk to him, your like the son he never had!" You have to understand, hubby doesn't mind getting down and dirty but his preference is not to get dirty and he has always been this way, he likes computers and reading and all the shows my dad likes. It took some time but I quickly realized I married someone just like my dad, they work hard and get dirty because they have to but they prefer a computer and air conditioning, and they don't mind their women getting a little dirt under their fingernails every now and then! 

I grew up in a family where there was no such thing as a female or a male with designated jobs for each. You were all treated the same and if the car needed an oil change any one of us got called to the job, and yes when it came time to slaughtering the chickens I was there too.

Since I grew up with that kind of equality, there is a lot I know, and yet a lot to learn but fact of the matter is I get by ok on more then just my looks ;0) 

I know how to do most household repairs; blow insulation, shingles, painting, swinging a hammer and laying down flooring, and boy do I love power tools and my husband is not at all afraid to admit the chainsaw runs better when I am using it.

Brian's daddy brought our trailer back yesterday so that meant his belly mower was ready to go back on his tractor. Brian picked up the kids from school, came home got changed and took them to grand momma and grand daddy's for a sleep over and he helped his daddy put the tractor back in working order.  

While he was off enjoying a little father son time I decided I would clean his chainsaw and replace the blade so we are all ready to roll tomorrow. I took some photos for you ladies so you can see step by step how to accomplish this. 

Believe me it's little things like this that make men feel proud, like on Duck Dynasty when Jep was eating the deer his wife killed with a bow and all the brothers were jealous their wives had not done that, and yes I shoot a bull's eye almost every time!

Step 1 loosen the nuts with the special chainsaw tool thingy pictured below

Take the plate off and set aside the nuts where you will be able to find them

Slide the bar back towards the wheel seen here

This will loosen the chain as seen below

Remove the chain

This is a freshly sharpened chain

Scrape out all the chainsaw crud from here and around the bar

My pile of crud

Notice the way the teeth are facing? this is how you put the chain on backwards and yes it matters! So take it off and turn it around and put the chain back on the right way.....

put it back together and tighten it up

I just gave hubby something else to brag about to his friends, plus lets face it ladies we are the best at tedious things.....He is happy he didn't have to do this and we can now get rolling earlier tomorrow.

Until next time....Jenn

First ever, never to be seen again..........

I really feel sorry for my poor husband, he tries so hard and works really hard and things seem to just keep happening! After everything I have been through I kind of just "expect" something to go wrong, so when it does I don't feel so bad and I find myself able to laugh at times.

Yesterday afternoon he picks the kids up from school and drives 45 minutes to get home, one kid is still mad that his brother got an Xbox for his birthday that is apparently better then his own and is still complaining about it a week later......OOPS how was I to know! Other kids are just loud and excited and more loud and more excited, which made for a long trip home.

As he is approaching our driveway he sees that a neighbors dog has gotten into the trash and spread it all the way up road. He sends one of the kids to the door for me to give him 2 trash bags so they can go clean up the road, I hand the bags off a little happy the baby is sleeping so I do not have to do this job as well.

As I walk back to our office to continue my paperwork I hear a bang in the front yard and I look out the window to see this.......

I put on my flip flops and am heading out the door to a very angry husband storming up to me. I look up to him cause lets face it he is jolly green giant tall and I am my mom short! I said "I forgot to tell you, your dad dropped off your trailer this morning" and I walked off to see the damage, leaving him standing there with his hands in the air not knowing what to say.

I reminded him as I took photos that Prius' do not come equipped with a trailer hitch and it was a perfect photo opportunity since nobody would ever again see a trailer on a Prius. I told him to walk on down to the road with the kids and I would figure it out since we already tried to drive away and we were towing the trailer and digging up the yard!

When he returned I told him to get the tractor and we would hook the other end of the trailer to the tractor and we would both drive in different directions. He sent the kids in the house and they were all 4 hanging out the window watching because this was something exciting!


I told him I would buy him a bumper sticker to cover to hole.....He was not impressed!

I really wish it were that easy, you see the tongue of the trailer went all the way through the bumper and the steel bar behind the fiberglass bumper. So it was on the phone with insurance.......The trailer is unharmed and fully functional for wood on Saturday and that is the good news!

Until next time.....Jenn