Families

I understand that all families are different. They are all made up differently,& parents raise their children differently etc. Something is really bugging me & making me really sad.

I left my oldest daughter's father 11 years ago. I left him in Sept. he came to visit her for Halloween that year, & we visited for Thanksgiving. He got married in December that year. He said something about wanting our daughter to come visit. I said that was fine except I had to meet his new wife first! Not an unheard of request. Well his new wife (who never wants children) thought it was too much to ask. I keep in touch with his mom, it's not her fault things between her son & I didn't work out. I'm not going to punish her because of it. 4 years pass & his mom gets into a car accident. She's scared to drive here by herself (they live in Kentucky), so he calls me & asks if he can come pick up my daughter & bring her back to Kentucky for a week. I asked him if he was smoking crack, or doing some other drugs, because he would have to be high to think I would agree to that. She has no clue who he is, and there's no why I'm letting her go anywhere with him. He comes to visit with his mother. I'm at that visit at all times. My daughter & I go to KY for a visit. She accidentally sees him. He hasn't contacted her, or had anything to do with her since! She doesn't even remember his first name or know anything about him unless her Grandmother or I have told her stories about him. Which both of us do! Her Granny comes to visit a couple of times a year (usually twice). She treats my other children just like they are her grand kids. Sends them birthday cards etc. I don't punish her because her son is a screw up and wants nothing to do with his daughter.

Here's a flipped story! My sister left her son I believe about 5 years ago, and up and moved to another state. Her & my nephews dad split up when he was 7 months old. They had been sharing custody. They each got him for a week or something like that. Anyway, so my sister ups & and moves her & her daughter to a different state to "start over". I understand the starting over. I don't understand the leaving a child behind. Lots of ugly, bitter words were thrown back and forth. My sister has since tried calling her child, in which the father hangs up on her and won't let her talk to the child, because she's not paying child support. She writes him letters and sends them to his grandmother's house because that's the only address she has for him. The letters aren't given to him. She's sent Christmas cards, letters, birthday cards etc. None given to him because she's not paying child support. I've seen my nephew a few times, and finally have gotten to talk to him. Yet, none of the other family members are allowed to see him. My grandmother and mother sent him birthday cards this year to my house. At first his dad wasn't going to even take the cards, finally decided to take the cards. They want my sisters address. Which I don't have. I don't talk to me sister, I don't write my sister. I emailed my sister and come to find out she's sent her son letters with her address and phone number in them. Either sitting at his Grandmothers or thrown in the trash I'm sure. They aren't giving my sister a chance to get to know her son or have anything to do with him, yet bad mouthing her for not wanting anything to do with him. Cause no child support is being paid. I bad mouth my ex, BUT here is the huge difference he really has had nothing to do with her. She doesn't try at all to contact her in any way shape or form. He has had our address the whole time I've lived here. I've moved three times and I've written him and given him our new address every time.

It's so sad that children have to be the victims of their parents splitting up. Having been a child of divorced parents, I said I wouldn't do that to my children. I hate that one of my children are going through this. It breaks my heart that her father hasn't even tried to have a relationship with her. I'm just heart broken and sad over all of this.

Why do you shop with coupons?

This question was posted on a couponing board that I'm on, so I figured I would write a blog post about it. The question is Why do you shop with coupons? How has it helped you?

Why do I shop with coupons? Well there's the reason that every couponer would tell you and the most obvious reason. To save money! Mine is more than that. I use coupons to not only save money, but so I can have the big family that I've dreamed of. Saving money makes it easier to have the big family that we have. Learning how to use coupons has not only allowed me to save on food, but I can save on health & beauty items,cleaning supplies,toys,diapers,craft supplies,clothes,oil changes,and even eating out. It's amazing what you can save money on. The biggest reason of course is to save money, and why not! I'm going to save money in any and every way I can. Why on earth would I pay full price for something when I can get it for free or pay change for it? Why would anyone want to do that?

How has it helped?

It's helped me have my dream of having a big family. It's helped us always have food in the house and never have to worry about where our next meal will come from. It's helped with always have shampoo/conditioner, toothpaste, laundry soap, etc. Having saved money on groceries means being able to put that money towards other things. Such as vacations, family fun, eating out etc.

What gets me is how others sometimes view coupon shoppers. They think that coupon shoppers are poor and have to use coupons. They think that we are somehow cheating the store. (The store gets back the money on coupons) We get dirty looks at the store.

I understand there are those people out there who make lots of money and feel like they don't need to use coupons to save money because they can afford groceries etc without coupons. Good for you and God bless you! I hear people out there that say they don't have time to use coupons. It really doesn't take me that much extra time. Actually I usually sort, cut and put away my coupons while watching TV. I mean your wasting time watch TV, why not do something while doing it. Or I take about 30 minutes during the kids nap times and do my coupons. People have time, they just chose to do other things with their time. To me an extra 30 minutes or so is going to save me at least 50% of my grocery money therefore it's worth the time to me. Plus I figure with the way the world is going today, you just never know. You never know when you might not have a job or income. You never know when something major might go wrong with a car, or house and you need the extra money to fix that.

Having used coupons and having a stockpile I know my family could live off my stockpile for a little while if we had to. I don't waste food just because I have a stockpile. Things expire and that's why you rotate your stockpile. I also don't just buy things because I have a coupon for them or get them free or cheaply. I buy what my family will use and stockpile those things. I don't like running out of things and pay full price for them. Things don't go to waste in my house! Things don't go unused in my house either. I buy and stockpile the things we need/use the most. Using coupons has completely changed my life. I think it's made it easier and better!

Grocery shopping, coupons, stockpiling, hoarding??

Here is my latest shopping trip. I got $220.95 worth of groceries for $108.39. I saved $112.56 or 51%. Although I have to go back to the store because something rang up wrong and the store's policy is that if something rings up wrong you get it for free, so that almost $8 I have coming back to me. Plus I bought some toothpaste for one of the kids, came home and there was a $1 off coupon in the mail. Of course I'm going to use the coupon. That means children's toothpaste for .49 cents. Not pictured 2 bags of chips and toothpaste. The kids took off with the chips as soon as I walked in.

Here is what I got on the trip today!

4 packs of chicken
4 gallons on milk
3 cans pasta sauce
1 box of pasta (FREE)
5 packs of razors (2 packs FREE)
2 toothbrushes (both FREE)
1 pack pads
2 boxes tampons
1 kids toothpaste
1/2 cake
3 packs of diapers
1 lip balm
12 bags of cheese (yes 12, they freeze)
1 fabric softner
2 dusting spray (one FREE)
1 soft scrub
1 bathroom cleaner
6 hand soaps
18 eggs
2 bags of chips
1 thing of TP

Not as good as those people on Extreme Couponing, but not bad either. My goal is to at least save half. I saved 51% so I'm happy with my shop. I also got $5 off my next pack of diapers. Which I'll be using when I go back to the store to get money back. You would also, diapers for $3.99 who can pass that up??

After watching Extreme Couponing last night I really got to thinking. I heard lots of people calling those people "food hoarders". I personally don't see it that way. Granted they go a little nuts on some things. I don't see a problem with stockpiling. But when you buy something like 150 mustards, then that's a problem. They expire and you will NEVER use that much mustard, not even if you put it on everything!

I stockpile! I stockpile things like diapers (I have 2 in diapers), laundry soap, TP, paper towels, dish soap, dishwasher tablets, razors, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, pads, tampons, can goods, clean supplies, and anything else my family uses a lot of. We are a family of 8 though, so things aren't going to last as long as they might for say a family of 4. Does that make me a "food hoarder"? I don't really care either way. I'm going to keep getting the best deals I can get on things that my family uses or eats. If I can save thousands of dollars a year, then I'm going to. All the haters can hate. Or be jealous, which is it are they really haters or just jealous of those who save money?

Blah

Sometimes I just really love being a woman! Today is one of those days! Something about lack of sleep, waking up flowing like a river (you ladies know what I'm talking about), cramping, headache trying to start, Hubby having the nerve to ask me if the baby slept through the night (what the hell do you think), and then Hubby complaining that the girls threw all the dirty clothes from their room into the hall (at least they freaking cleaned).Why the heck do you care, you won't be the one washing, drying, folding and putting it all away.

As you can tell today is a day I DON'T like being a woman. I'm beat (it's not even 9am yet), I'm feeling like crap, and I have so much housework to do that it's not even funny! My mom will be here in less than 2 weeks and it's been like 7 years since she's been to my house.

Where do I start. I feel overwhelmed and its pissing me off. Needing to get my house clean + PMS = one very unhappy Mommy! I think I'm going to have to do this in 15 minute time frames today. I've got a mountain of laundry (which I hate doing). Dishes cause if hubby has to work he doesn't do any chores what so ever. Like it would take so much time to do. Instead he watches TV and plays Ipod. Would it kill him to at least empty the dishwasher or start a load of laundry. Anything to make my day a little easier? I think he thanks it would. Will he help today on his day off from his full time job???? Probably not because he has to go into work tonight at the part time job.

The part time job that was suppose to be just until we had $1,000 in savings. Guess what? We had that in December. Then he decided that he just HAD to have a new car and so now guess what the part time job is being worked for. You got it that effing car that he had to have. Then he tells me the other day he wishes he hadn't gotten the new car because NOW he sees the stress it's putting on me. Hmmm, how long have you had that part time job dude?

Ever feel like your in one of those snow globe things and someone just keeps shaking it to see the pretty snow flakes. That's how I feel like my life is. I'm in a huge snow globe and someone has been shaking the crap out of it for the past oh 6 months or so. I really need it to stop! I'm tired of being shaken.

What a way to start the day!

What an awful night of sleep. The baby waking up and drinking 1/4 of a bottle and the falling back to sleep, only to wake again in an hour or less. Then my 18 month old waking up twice. What do my children have against me that is keeping them from sleeping through the night. Mommy would really like to be able to sleep at least a good 6 hours without waking up.
The baby wakes at 7:30, I get up change his diaper. He is happy and not crying. I get ready to hand him to hubby and he spits up. It doesn't just get on my shirt. It goes right down my shirt. It's all over my chest!
I have to go clean myself up before I can go back to bed and have a do over. Thankfully hubby let me sleep until almost 9am.
My sweet dear children, please start being nice to your Mommy and sleeping through the night. PLEASE!
Nights and mornings like these really makes me rethink the "maybe we will have more children".

Did it!

I've printed out my Intent to Homeschool form, filled it out, copied my diploma, and wrote up my curriculum. I've emailed my daughter's band teacher. Tomorrow morning I will go and hand over the paperwork, and will go to the school to withdraw my daughter. Although she will be still going and doing Jazz band concerts with the middle school the next two mornings. I will be picking her up as soon as the concerts are over though.
How do I feel? Scared shitless!!!! I know that we can totally do this, and I'm excited about it. She's excited about it. Just when you think of it, I'm going to be in charge of teaching my daughter everything she needs to know. Thank God for support.
I'm so thankful for friends that homeschool and have been so helpful. I don't know what I would have done without them.
It's going to take sometime to get use to having my oldest daughter at home at all times, and I'm sure there are days she will drive me nuts. I know it's the best thing for her though.
Here's to our adventure that starts tomorrow!

Homeschooling

I kept going back and forth on homeschooling my oldest daughter last year. We had a lot of issues with the school. I finally told her that we would give the school one more shot and see how 7th grade went. We've still been having lots of issues, but last week pushed me over the edge.

She went to the nurse to see if she could call me to come pick her up. She told the nurse she was dizzy, coughing, sore throat, and felt like she was burning up. The nurse took her temp and told her to go back to class. She asked once again if she could call me to be picked up. The nurse told her "No, you don't have a temp go back to class". WHAT!!! She went back to class and the teacher was shocked that she was sent back to class, yet when Bella asked if she could use the classroom phone to call me the answer was once again NO!

Why was my child not allowed to call me? It's not the nurses choice on if the child gets to go home or not. If my child says she's sick and needs to go home, then she needs to call me and let me decide if she can't "tough" it out or come home.

Then my daughter tells me her Math teacher (who we've had some issues with anyway) told the class "I don't care if you pass or fail, because I'll still get a check". Nice huh? Bella said he was having a bad day. I don't care what kind of a day you have that's not something you say to a classroom full of kids.

Needless to say that I've started the process of beginning to homeschool. Tomorrow all the paperwork will be sent in to make it offical. We are both excited about this adventure we are getting ready to begin. Her two worries...her friends (of course she's a teenage girl), and getting to play her clarinet. We just bought her clarinet and she's been playing for 1 1/2 years. She loves it! So we will be looking into clarinet. I told her she can still hang out with her friends and will be making more friends.

I'm going to start off with my oldest and go from there. I figure we will see how it goes with the oldest and go from there. Although we've not had any problems with our Elementary school. Although we do plan on moving at some point and time to another state in which I will most likely homeschool in that state.