Getting ready for Halloween

It's Halloween and my family has some crazy traditions for Halloween.  What ever kids want to go trick or treating would stay home with me and the ones who didn't went camping with their daddy.  Usually ended up being the older kids have gone w/their dad and the others would come with me. Every Year we also get pumpkins to carve and then I bake the seeds. My kids and husband love them. This year I tried some new recipes thanks to Pinterest.

Source: candcmarriagefactory.com via jonibirse on Pinterest

Source: ourbestbites.com via Janae on Pinterest

They were a hit. Thank you Pinterest. I of course burned the first batch but they still ate the ones out of it that were not dark brown. This year we are adding the fun of combining the two choices and going out of town to see some friends who own some acreage.  I am not a big fan of sleeping at other people's home ( I'm shy and it stresses me out) but this should be a lot of fun. The plan is to fish during the day and then get ready to trick or treat in their town ( supposed to be a big deal where they live) then we are going to come back and visit around a bon fire. They have kids around our kids ages so the kids will have a lot of fun too. Well I have already been putting together a Halloween post with pictures and I will post it after we get back with more pictures from our fun out there. It does add a little stress with having to pack clothes and costumes, making sure we have the gas etc etc.  Also the stress that I have work done and taken care of before I leave. Well Thanks for reading. Hope you have a safe and fun Halloween.

Mist of Pandaria Review

I got the new World of Warcraft expansion Mists of Pandaria for my birthday as well as a time card so I am paid up to Feb. Which of course is rockin in my humble opinion. With this expansion Blizzard introduced what is their version of Kung Fu Pandas. They are pretty cool. I of course had to make myself a panda to check it out. Pandaria is really pretty and set on the back of a turtle. You can chose to be a monk along with other character options with the new Panda race. You can set your fur color, hair and more just like before giving you a small ability to personalize your character. The Pandas are World of Warcrafts first neutral character. As you progress through your quest in Pandaria you are given quest by both Horde and Alliance. I have not made it off of Pandaria yet as I have been distracted with craft fair things this past month and with just regular playing with my 80+ hunter night elf. She is my fave toon. I learned with her that Blizzard revamped the abilities, mounts and more. Which in some areas is great and others just kind of sucked.Also with the new expansion you can now battle your vanity pets think Pokemon on crack. I have just begun delve into that part of it, but it seems like fun. I got a new collector's mount and pet which are both pretty cool and I received a book on some of the artwork. I like looking at the artwork it really shows how much thought, effort and work goes into the new expansions. We as WOW addicts complain about the glitches, bugs, lag and more but really the fact the there is even an MMORPG like World of Warcraft is fairly awesome. You can play with people all across the country and beyond and everyone is seeing the same thing at the same time. For instance when you are in a dungeon slaying a dragon you the Shaman ( let's say you live in California) can be healing a Paladin (in New York) all while a hunter ( in Texas) and Druid ( in Montana) and now also a monk (in Florida) are assisting in damage. You will also share in what is often times fun banter with you guild friends who can be from anywhere as well. I personally have some guildies in Arizona, Illinois, Texas,Oklahoma and California. Yes we geeks are everywhere. Some soon we will be taking over the world. Guilds are a great source for information and help as well. Especially if you're a 25 and stuck on a road where a 55 wants to keep killing you. A quick call to your guild and more than likely help is on the way. If have not played you can try it for free. Yes Blizzard is just like any drug dealer they give a free sampling to get you hooked,Haha. Just kidding, but seriously you can go here to try it for free and if you do and get on Darrowmere realm let me know on my twitter and I will be help you if you get stuck or need help leveling. After your free trial it does cost to play but really all in all it's not that much after the initial bump. Think of this if you are online playing you're not out spending money in other areas like on gas. So I hope you enjoyed this mini review and make the jump to the expansion if you already play and if you are new to it all well then I that you might come and join in on the fun.

Here are some fun things WoW related

Temptation's game

Been on a journey of self growth lately. You know what I have learned? Temptation is a B*TCH. Yep I said it. She wraps herself up like it's no big deal just one little time, you need to just to know for sure and then bang your smacked by the consequence of playing her game while she runs  off and laughs at you.  I see others play with her and her pals envy,greed and gossip and wonder do they ever get hit by the consequences like I do. Which is another on of the games temptation plays look they did it and nothing happened to them.  Sure they do. They pay for it just like anyone else but maybe not like I do or you would.  Payment for playing the game is as individual as the bill you get from your credit card company.  Just like that it always sucks when it's time to settle up. Digging your way back up out the mess you have buried yourself in is as much work and fun a trying to climb out from underneath a mountain of Bull Poo. It stinks, you can't wait to get out and away from it,  you get frustrated and sweaty and you wonder why in the heck you even got underneath the crap in the first place. So yep temptation sucks and so does playing her game because you usually end up playing with her big brother sin  and he's a jerk too. He likes to take you a lot further than temptation said it would go, keep you there a lot longer than you want to stay and make the payment a whole lot nastier than ever thought it would be. Funny things is the bible pretty much wrote that out in black in white. So back to the book for more lessons and more prayers for forgiveness, strength, his patience, distraction etc. Yeah I pray for distraction. My mind wonders a hundred miles an hour all the time. I will be doing one thing and thinking about 4 or 5 other things and yet hold on to a topic like a rabid dog going after it's prey, it can be very frustrating. This can lead into falling into temptation for me if I am not distracted by another thought.  Also I have learned that you have to look at yourself and admit hey I'm not perfect. I mess up. I have played with temptation and fallen into her brothers waiting arms and I am getting burned by it. That takes a lot of looking at your self. One more great little thing temptation  and sin do is keep calling after you as you try to walk away from them. With each step making their offer just a little more appealing until you finally are far enough away that you can barely hear their shouts to you. Of course they will travel up the road and later present you with a new offer so your war with them is not over forever but you can win the battle.  I have also been learning that sometimes you have to switch gears because the road you thought you were going down was not the right direction for you. This is usually hard work and frustrating. I have been looking into some new directions for somethings in my life and some of them look very promising. Hard work but promising. Well thanks for reading. Next time I promise to post something fun and light hearted.

Feeling The Blessings

My week so far has already been so very blessed.
Let's start with Yesterday
 FIRST My new computer was acting up and The GEEK squad at Best BUY nearly lost a customer. At first they were acting like they could not see or replicate the clearly pink screen and I should take it home.  I pulled up one screen and what do you know it was there. They then started that it was a color option and we could just turn it off but it wasn't Windows. One Geek literally yelled at my husband and I because we wanted to know how to fix the problem on my computer that he was saying was a selection I had made to make my computer look pink. He could not tell us which one so I could turn it off. Then it was FireFox causing it despite it being on non web pages. So I had them remove FireFox and it did not fix. Finally another GEEK admitted he had no idea what was going on and they were going to keep it yet another couple of days to wipe it and reset it. Which was fine because I had yet to load anything other than  Webroot.  They were also going to clean it because my computer was covered in some kind of white powder after being in their care.  I was completely frustrated with the fact that the GEEK squad was acting like I had no idea what I was talking about and should just take home my Pink screened computer and be happy.  My husband and I left the store disappointed in the attitudes we had to deal with. My husband called the store to talk to the manger and was put in contact with a guy who was very apologetic about the whole situation and fully agreed that we did not need to take home a computer that was still having the issue we brought it in over. He talked to his  GEEK squad and determined that the best route to solve the issue was to exchange the computer out for another one. So we went and picked up a new last night. So happy to have my new computer back and running. I am also so happy to have a husband like mine who helped me get the situation taken care of.

 SECOND We went by a local shop that I have some of my items in and after talking to the Owner. I will be doing some fun new things with her store. Also looks like my sister will be also doing somethings with her shop as well. I just love the shop I am in and the owner.

THIRD We went to pick up my husbands meds for the month. With his RA he is given pain meds, anti-inflammatory meds  and other meds that the doctor deems he needs. When we went to check out my husband didn't owe anything his insurance had covered the full cost. We were shocked and thrilled.

FOURTH  Money we were waiting to pay a bill came in and we were able to pay it a little earlier than expected. That is always nice. That feeling that you have your  bills all paid and caught up is always nice. Especially on a limited budget.


NOW ON TODAY

Today is a very hard day for my husband. He had another infusion today, but that is not what is causing the FLARE up. It is the weather change. Despite what people say every time the weather changes his RA flares up. Today it is his back. Which is one of the joints his RA has attacked strongly. His RA has attacked his large joints more that it has his smaller ones.  When the inflammation and pain become more than usual they call it a Flare up -his condition is amped up more than normal you could say. On days like this it's all I can do to watch him  as he tosses and turns in his seat ( because moving on days like this can be very painful) unable to get comfortable even in his own skin despite taking his pain meds.  Today is a blessing because hopefully soon the new infusion meds will start taking over and Flare Ups will be a rarity and because he now has pain meds to at least help with his Flare ups. Also Our bills are finally paid for the month. That is always a blessing.




Here are some cool products I tried this past week

WEBROOT    great security program

ASUS G75  awesome comp for graphics, gaming and more. Mine has been super fast and quiet so far. The sound is great on it.  Other than the pink issue with the first I have been thrilled so far. Being a gamer and working with graphics and web stuff it fits the bill.



Mystic Chai Tea   This stuff is yummy. You can taste the cinnamon and clove. It tastes almost like tea mixed with cider. I sip on it while I am crafting or gaming.



Speaking of gaming I have been playing . It was a birthday present and I will do a write up on the expansion soon.

What's to come?

Time to get ready for the Holidays. This is a big time of year for my type of business. I am working on filling up my shops and getting into a few shows. I have made the move to shipping overseas. I used to do it with another company I worked for so I have a good handle on how to do it simply and legally. I also have to get ready because we have 3 birthdays next month, Thanksgiving and then Christmas. I am going to Texas for a concert with my mom as well. That should be a lot of fun. Thanksgiving and Christmas takes some planning. There are 3 families to see in a short amount of time. We all try to work around each other which is helpful. This year my sister S is supposed to be having at least one part of the family to her house for Thanksgiving. I am very excited for her. I am not sure what the plan is on my dad's side. My grandma has moved up here and my dad will be moving in early Nov. so I am not sure what the plan will be. I am also need to plan 3 B-day parties and I will then need to work on Christmas. We have a coin jar for Christmas. I am hoping to get to go with my sister on Black Friday shopping. I have never done black Friday Shopping before. It sounds insane but fun. My shops will be set up for Black Friday, small shop Saturday and Cyber Monday Sales this year.My sisters bows will be in my shop as well. Mostly because her family needs the money from her business growing like mine does. I love her bows. She does a really good job on them. They are really unique and fun.  I am hoping my other business doesn't take a hit but sometimes that type of business does during this time of year, but then picks back up after the Holidays.

 I have been working on doing some upgrading of my skills and have been looking at some different classes to help with that. I just can't decide where I want to take these classes and how much I want to invest in them. Time and money wise. We live on tight budget and my family is in a place where it needs me around as well so I have to be sure before I jump.

I will also be teaching some classes at the local shop I am currently in. I think they will be a lot of fun and I  am excited about them as well. It will be on topics I am already showing other people how to do so it will be something I am used to doing only in planned out forum.

A Big Imagination

So to make things more simplified I have come up with blog appropriate names for my kids.
coyote -youngest
bunny - next up
bear- next up and my sun
lizard - my oldest

Now I will be able to relate stories to you with out giving out to much detail or embarrassing my teens. Yes they do stop in and check out dear old moms blog every so often. Mostly to make sure I don't share something that would embarrass them.  Now that I have these names out and listed I want to share something about my youngest Coyote.

Coyote has an awesome imagination. We have been living with her imaginary friend Sally for about a year now. Sally comes and goes but still pretty constant. We don't know where the name Sally has come from. She doesn't and has never watched a show with a character named Sally. We don't know anyone named Sally. Sally lives in a house with monsters, but they are her family and they are nice monsters. Sally lives in a place that is dark,but Sally doesn't like the dark ( so we have a night light for Sally). Sally doesn't live in our world ,but wants to come over into our world.  Sally is older than Coyote but not as old as Bunny. This is not our first imaginary friend  Bunny had one for a little while when she was about  Coyote's age. Not one as detailed but still had one. We actually had to serve food to her friend. It's just fun to see my kiddos imagination at work in such a unique way.





Thought I would share something fun on here today as well.  So how about a little Gangam Style.
Don't forget to dance along and enjoy your day.  Thank you for visiting today!

Some Saturday News and something fun to try

I want to share something great I found. My husband and I live on a very tight budget and with this economy it seems to get tighter every day.  So I try to find ways to save a little money everyday in as many ways as possible. We do coupon on a lot of items but if I can be thrifty and a little more all natural all the better. Well I found a great new homemade laundry detergent recipe. Not only does it get my clothes just as clean as name brand products but actually cleaner in some cases. Plus it smells great. I really do love it. It makes my whole garage smell amazing. Oh and I don't have to use fabric softner. My clothes have been coming out of the dryer so soft. Now when I began looking all I found where recipes for liquid ones  that resembled snot. GROSS! I am a mom of 4 kids and snot is not my bag. Then I found a recipe for a dry version. I tweaked it a little because it called for a bar of Ivory soap but that soap sometimes irritates one of my kids skin so I had to get an alternative for that part. Plus I could make it easily and inexpensively with out out the goo.  I found all of the ingredients at my local walmart in the laundry area.  Here is my recipe that I use

1 bar of Fels Naptha finely shredded ( I use a cheese shredder)
1 Cup of 20 Mule Team Borax
1 Cup of  Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
and because I am a mom of 4 kids and it has to be able to fight all the lovely stains they seem to get
1 Cup of Oxi Clean

I just simply pour all of the ingredients into a ziploc bag and shake it to mix it. Now I have to shake it to mix it before each use but not a whole lot. I use only about 1 Tbsp with each load.
I do use it in my HE washing machine with no problem.  I have found it works best in warm water but did do the job in cold.So far my whites have been coming out whiter and brighter than the commercial brand we were using and same with my colors. It also has been  doing an excellent job of getting the stains out.  I have gotten about 40 large loads out each bag and I think some of it went a little fast because my teens now do their own laundry and I think they sometimes use more than the amount they should.

Some other fun things this week happened
I got a new Comp with a mega graphics card and a ton of storage as a B-day present. Plus a new printer that also scans,copies and faxes.
 My hubby who loves beyond words saved up and bought me the new Pandarian Mist World of War Craft expansion with a mount and a new pet. Just made my whole month that he went and got such a thoughtful gift for me and it really is just for me.
My other business is growing again leaps and bounds.
I got to hang out with my dad and that side of the family.
I had another craft show and was invited to join a big one in November. Which I probably will.
Had a really good long time friend come over. That was a really good time,
 Some sad news happened this week too
 We have some very dear friends who are a very sweet couple. We have gotten to know her parents and younger sister as well over the last month.  Sadly her mom died of a sudden heart attack. Her dad was the one who heard her slump over in the bathroom and rushed into try in an resuscitate her but she never came back. She was only in her 50's maybe early 60's. She was so very sweet and kind and an awesome Christian woman.  She not only left behind two older daughters and their spouses ( or soon to be spouse)  and her husband, but she also left behind a 7yr old daughter. My heart goes out to all of them and so do my prayers.

Well all I have left to say is I love you guys and thanks for reading my blog.