Its been a long time......

Well it has been awhile since I have been on here........It has been so long I forgot my username and password. 

The last time I updated everyone the girls and I move to Kokomo -which we are still their- and David went to Madison WI. 

Madison was a beautiful place. 

I was blessed enough to get to go up there a couple times. 
They have a free Zoo, which is very cute. Lots of parks around with lots of walking trails. 

This was on the drive back. So blue and fluffy clouds with green grass!

David got a job offer there but we decided to turn it down so he could further his education. 

So to get everyone up to date David has taken an assignment to South Bend, IN. where he is only 2 hours away instead of 5. 

He has a roommate up there that has let him rent a room off him for when he works so many days in a row. 

He will be able to come home every Sunday and Monday which the girls are excited about. 

On to the girls they have started public school as of yesterday, which was very weird for me because all 4 of my girls went to school this year. 

It is BAD when your first goes to Kindergarten but I think it was worse when my BABY went to Kindergarten. Then she comes home from her first day saying school is boring!

WHAT CAN BE BORING ABOUT KINDERGARTEN? 

I mean really...........

then she gets talking and starts getting more excited about the things that she has done.

 Her entire favorite thing about her class is that her teacher has a pink desk! 

Yes I repeat a pink desk. My kindergartner absolutely loves pink.  

Then my first grader comes home and this is how the conversation goes.... 

Me -"Honey how was youuur" 
1st grader- " MOM SERIOUSLY THEIR IS NO AIR CONDITIONING ON THE BUS" 
Me- "Well some buses don't have air" interrupted as i was saying air 
1st grader- "Theirs no air on the bus MOM" 
Me- " Okay other than that how was school?" 
1st grader- " THEIRS NO AIR ON THE BUS" okay so do not mention their is no air on the bus (it has been quite humid outside lately but its too funny)- check!!!

For anyone that has a prissy, drama queen 1st grader is laughing so hard because they have had this situation happen or can picture it. I love her dearly but some days her drama is to much and she is only 6! 

So to continue with my drama queen she gets off the bus today and she looks straight at me and says "NO AIR" i just laugh then she walks into our nice cooled house and slow motion walks to the couch and slowly sits down like she has just walked through the dessert, and says "Finally AIR" spoiled princess. LOL.  

So now I have an 8th, 4th, 1st, K! Oh I do not know where the time has gone. 

I am working full time as a housekeeper at a local Hotel. Its a nice place I do like the hours. Right now I am here when they get on the bus and here shortly after they get off the bus. Which does not make for a great paycheck but I will find something better.

 I am thinking about doing something even crazier and joining the elementary PTO! 

I know right! 

I think it would help me get to know the girls' school and teachers and other parents. Anyone have thoughts on that? 

I am also thinking about starting another Blog about my bad cooking? Any thoughts?

We are seriously blessed with the family that we have and very proud of all of them!

OK....The moment Everyone has been waiting for!!!!

Hey I know its late again, but I wanted to have all the details before I posted. 

Things are going to get interesting on our next adventure.

 David and I have decided that the girls and I are going to go stay in Kokomo. IN.

 I am going to get a job and put the girls back into public school because they are to much of social butterflies to be home-schooled. 

They are missing kid interaction. 

So for them and us, we are going to move them back to Indiana where I will be closer to family and friends.  I am also going to take classes at Ivy Tech to finish my degree. 

As for David, He will be going to Madison, Wisconsin. He starts on March 9th and will be there for 3 months. 

This has not been an easy decision for any of us. Being split apart for 3 month will be really hard but we will get throw it. To better ourselves. 

I am excited for this next adventure. 

I have a great support team and a HUGE family. 

So I will continue this blog.

I will continue my FREE blogs.

 I have already been researching free and low-cost things to do around Kokomo. 

Kokomo was where I was born at. So if anyone knows of any jobs that are open give me a shout. I have applied to just about everywhere on indeed. LoL. 

As far as the low carb eating has been not doing as well as we would like but during the week its great but the last 2 weekends we have drove to Indiana to help get the house ready for us to move in. 

So we have had to eat dinner out a couple times. Besides that it has been good.

 We plan to continue to eat low carb after we move. 

I will pack the kid's lunch every day and of course they are excited, Lunch Kabobs are their favorite right now with the gummies.  

Oh, and I will be couponing again. EXCITED!! 

 So I am going to start blogging the deals I get, where, and how I got them. 

Starting this week. I have Xtra coupons. $1.00 off 2 of the little bottle.

 CVS has them for $1.44 so I am going to go get 4 bottles of Laundry soap for $3.76. I am not the biggest fan of Xtra but I always buy it when it gets this cheap to either keep it as a back up or give it to someone who has lost something. 

Thank you all for taking the time to read about our lives. Thank you!

Low Carb Gummies

 Their favorite is the NO carb, LOW calorie Gummies we found and now I have to make them by the tote full. LOL.

 Its a really easy recipe too:

(I do two boxes at a time because we like them that much)

Low Car Gummies:

1 box of Sugar Free Jello

I packet of Gelatin

1/3 cup of water

Jello molds

 Don't mind the floor....Lol. 2 boxes of jello which means 2 packets of Gelatine.

Add all ingredients to a sauce pan then turn on low. Stir the ingredients until all dissolve then

pour into molds. The only molds we have right now is lips and hearts. 

My husbands co-workers think its funny a grown man eating heart and lip gummies.

and put in fridge for half an hour. 

Finally. Gummies!!! 

We all love them. 

We have made strawberry, cherry, raspberry, lime, lemon, Strawberry Banana. So far that is all the kinds that we have found that were sugar free. 

These helps us with our snacks and sweet tooth. 

Last Month in Saint Louis!

Well it has been a few since I wrote my last post. Lots of things are happening this month! 

This month is our last month in Saint Louis. I can honestly say that I am kind of bummed about it. There is so much to see in this City but the weather was usually too cold for it. I can say that when it gets warmer we will be back for a visit. Their is still one more thing I really want to do before we leave, and I think it is finally open. The Arch. So maybe next weekend I will be posting about our Trip to the Arch. 

 We still are not sure where we will end up on our next adventure. Iowa, South Carolina, or even Hawaii. Right I want Hawaii but it would be really expensive and we would have to pay for plane tickets for The kids and myself. So that one is interesting.

Another interesting thing is that we have started another adventure inside this adventure. I know lots of adventures. LOL. With that said we have decided to go on a low carb life style change.  We started this for our whole family January 12th which was really hard to get use to. My Favorite food is bread. 

Which you can tell if you knew me. lol. So me have been pinteresting recipes and ideas. As one month into this life style change we have seen results. 

My husband is down 18 lbs. RIGHT! 18 lbs in a month. 

My oldest daughter which is 12 was never fat but still had a lot of her baby fat in her checks and belly area. She has lost 11 lbs. She is so excited. We give the kids more carbs then we have but we try to stay around 20-25 a day. Most days we stay right there. 

Oh I forgot to say That I have lost 9 lbs in the last month.  

We eat a lot of eggs and bacon for breakfast, eat a lot more salads and chicken and fish. We do also have a cheat meal once a week. We all decide together as a family. One night we went to Texas Roadhouse with my In-laws when they came to visit. I say they came to see me but the kids disagree. 

We have found some awesome new recipes. We have even found a new low carb pizza recipe that we all like. WHAT??? That's right all 4 of my picky eaters likes this recipe. Oh! They also have low carb Ice Cream. We make low carb shakes as a treat for ourselves. I have got to say this is the best. Ice cream on a diet!!! LOL.

 Their favorite is the NO carb, LOW calorie Gummies we found and now I have to make them by the tote full. LOL.

 Its a really easy recipe too:

(I do two boxes at a time because we like them that much)

Low Car Gummies:

1 box of Sugar Free Jello

I packet of Gelatin

1/3 cup of water

Jello molds

 Don't mind the floor....Lol. 2 boxes of jello which means 2 packets of Gelatine.

Add all ingredients to a sauce pan then turn on low. Stir the ingredients until all dissolve then

pour into molds. The only molds we have right now is lips and hearts. 

My husbands co-workers think its funny a grown man eating heart and lip gummies.

and put in fridge for half an hour. 

Finally. Gummies!!! 

We all love them. 

We have made strawberry, cherry, raspberry, lime, lemon, Strawberry Banana. So far that is all the kinds that we have found that were sugar free. 

These helps us with our snacks and sweet tooth. 

Now I know that this is not exciting news to everyone but this is big for our family because we would have bread for every meal and lots of sugars. 

We had a great visit with my in-laws couple of weekends ago it was so great to see them. Wish they could of stay longer but its okay. Was just great to see them. 

Oh and I can't wait for our taxes to come in because we can order the kids some more water bottles from Tupperware. I am hoping to order some more bowls to help us organize the kids lunches. I love my Tupperware. And if anyone would like to order they can order from me. I love Tupperware so much that I sell it. Awesome I know. www.my.tupperware.sberkshire2 if anyone wants to look. 

Well Thank you again for reading my post The next one should tell where our next destination is!

See you then!

Another Free EVENT.......What???

Another one for the FREE section of our Family Blog.

We decided last weekend that it was 34 degrees out we were going to go do something. 

The Science museum is FREE to enter. We all got ready ate lunch before we went and headed out.

The Science center has paid parking but you can park at the Planetarium  in Forest Park they have

free parking. So we parked at the Planetarium 

and walked through.  

This is the Planetarium! It is very nice. They have one side about Mars, they had the rover full scale model. It was so Great they had lots of hands on for the kids. They got to test drive the rover through remote, and test lots of samples from Mars rocks. 

                           These guys were sitting outside the Planetarium looking for food!

They had a lot of  space facts, toys, articles, and fun items in the tunnel to the science museum!

  

This is the Willis Tower made out of Lego's it was so awesome!

This was very impressive, The Arch of Saint Louis made of Lego's! 

This is a must see!

This got to build their own Arch! They had fun. Yes I said the kids had fun at the Science Center!

Crazy I know!

The Science center was definitely busy but it was fun. They have many different hands on stations to teach kids all about science. 

For our homeschool science project they had to pick what their favorite station was there, research about it, and write about it. 

They were excited to do it! 

We will be going back very soon on a not so busy day! 

They also have a Build-A-Bear inside the Science Center! We have never been so we might surprise the kids next time we go! 

They also have an Omnimax Theater and was showing Stars Wars!

We did not watch it but the point of this is that their are many 

different things to do at the Science Center in Saint Louis. 

We all had fun and that is what is important: Family Time!

Guinea Pig, Hamster, or Lizard..... Decisions! Need Help!

For the last two month the kids have been asking about a pet.....

We have a dog but cannot have him at our current location so he is at a friends house and we all miss him very much.

                                                          WE LOVE YOU BUDDY!

 So my husband and I have discussed getting another pet. A smaller pet. He wants a lizard....yuck....I want something fuzzy. The kids want both! 

My six year old says "that every family needs a Guinea pig because that makes them a good family" I told her that "I did not have any when I was growing up" and her response as serious as can be "and look at your sisters and brothers they fight." Speechless!

I have not laughed so hard in a long time. 

I do not want to get both. So I have been researching the internet to see what would be more logical for us. So far I am still undecided so I thought I would take to the blog. 

Requirements:

We are a family of 6. So something that does not cost a lot to feed and maintain. We need something that can travel easily. We need something that will help teach the kids responsibilities. I still want something fuzzy, Lol, but not a requirement.

So Number #1: Guinea Pig

They are fuzzy, compared to all my research they are medium maintenance. They need hay and wood and exercise. They are awake most of the day! They live 5-8 years. They also bond with kids easily. That's what we need!

Start Up Cost is around $170 and $10 Monthly!

Number #2: Hamster
They are fuzzy, they are also medium maintenance. They need lots of exercise and also are great for 10 and younger. They live 3-5 years. They do not get very big. 

Start Up Costs is around $120 and anywhere from $10-$30 Monthly! That seems reasonable. 

Number #3: Leopard Gecko
They are scaly, they are nocturnal pets so they sleep a lot during day.  They live 10-15 years. 

Start up costs is around $300 and $60 a month (for live crickets healthier then the bottled one).

We go to Petco and PetSmart once a week to check out their selection! Every time we go everyone tries to scatter to a different area. 

I have two that want Hamsters, 2 that want Guinea pigs and 2 that want lizards.  

So this decision seems easy enough but everyone is still indecisive about which one we should get! 

Any Suggestions??? 

A Free Zoo.....Whaaaat?

Okay, so weird title I know but as soon as we found out the location of our apartment we started Googling all the awesome fun things that were either free or that cost little. 

First thing first you have to pay for parking this is a new concept to me. 

I have heard, seen and knew that it existed but never had to do it. I know the small town gal. So we found out that the zoo was free! What wait a Free zoo, okay a little bit of the farm animals and maybe a couple bigger animals. That is what I was expecting. 

My husband had a day off and we decided the venture out and try to find it. So we got an our handy dandy GPS and it shows this huge zoo. 

89 acre park. 

Okay so maybe you can see the first few animals for free then have to pay for the rest.   

So we get to the park and it costs $10 to park, of course, but their are several people parking along side of the road. 

So we followed the other people and went and parked along side the road. I know if everyone else is doing you should not either. I do teach my kids not to follow everyone else. 

The signs say no parking Monday through Friday 8-3 due to bus parking. Okay that is awesome you might have to walk a little bit but you do not have to pay to park. 

Cool.

 Excited about that. Yes it does not take much. Lol. 

The Saint Louis Zoo looks huge. So we go in and this lady stops us, great it isn't free, she asks if we have ever been here before and gave a map. Wait a FREE map! I am all sorts of excited. Free Zoo, Free Map. 

Awesome!

So we walked around the zoo for 3 hours and still did not see it all. We had to come back. They have over 700 animals at this Free zoo. I know I keep repeating about the Free zoo.

 

This Hippo scared my daughter and myself we were sitting on the ledge looking the other way then the hippo came up behind us and made us jump and everyone else laugh!

 We all absolutely loved all the different types of birds!!!

Seriously Camels!!!

 Kangaroos, were everywhere. Almost every time I go to the zoo all the animals are sleeping.

  

 Free does not usually happen anymore. A family of 6 on a budget so we have to be frugal. 

I would like to Thank the Saint Louis Zoo for all the wonderful animals they have and all the wonderfulness of enjoying it for FREE!

Some of the websites i used to research all this was: www.stlzoo.org,

www.explorestlouis.com, and the wonderful ladies at the Welcome Center they were a blessing and loved the kids when they were in there. 

https://www.visitmo.com/st-louis-official-missouri-welcome-center.aspx