Category: Family Life

Herring family adventures, Jeep life, organic living. Karie Herring, Jeep aficionado, organic advocate and chef, details life as a reformed corporate woman, wife and motherhood to her twins and tween.

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Not Getting It….

I love my moms that dropped by to share their comments about Mother’s Day Sucks! But I have to say that some people are NOT getting the message. I wasn’t bagging on Mother’s Day, I wasn’t saying that my day sucked, I am not that negative. I am a realist…which is why most people dislike me, I give you everything you wanted without a big red bow, without the sugar, just raw, pure, unadulterated slap you in the face good ‘ol honesty *UPDATE There is no drama in honesty, if there is…well then the saying IS true…..ALL THE WORLD IS A STAGE.

Here is the deal with Mother’s Day. You moms, and you know who you are, that go around telling everyone what a “Joy joy wonderful” day you had are full of it! Yup you are grade A, 100% full of minutiae and I will tell you why before you stop following me or leave me a nasty comment that I will leave for ALL to see. You moms are settling. You are settling for ONE lousy ass day for people to treat you like you are special, to appreciate you, to tell you endlessly that they love you. WHY THE HELL DO YOU ALLOW THIS ONLY ON ONE DAY? And then brag about what a singularly wonderful day you had and then the rest suck a goats ear. I say you are settling.

You are settling for less when you deserve more. You deserve to be told at least once a day, once a week, or once every 12 hours that you are appreciated. If you are not being told this or your husband and or children are looking at you like you are speaking Greek then go on strike. If you are not being TOLD everyday at least that you are appreciated then quit. In all honesty quit your job. At a real job you are told you are appreciated, you get a paycheck. The paycheck of being a mom and being a stay at home mom at that is being told you are appreciated.

Some of you are arguing saying “Well I know they appreciate me.” Great, so why not tell you more or more often for that matter. Why do we settle for one day, maybe two a year to receive flowers. Do different flowers not bloom year round? Can you not buy a Hallmark card anytime and anywhere for that matter? Can you not tell me on more than just one day a year how much I am appreciated?

I used to get so angry with DH because I would power clean my house, where you could eat off the floors like they were the finest wood ever laid and my stainless steel was so clean you could use the appliances as mirrors, and then he would just leave clothes, dishes, and whatever strewn everywhere and completely destroy my masterpiece. I thought I am going to quit…to hell with cleaning. But I cannot do that. Why not? I am a clean control freak, I am so OCD about cleaning. I mean I venture into the area around the toilet to clean that no man has gone before….and I do mean no man. If my man went there I know I would get more appreciation as he would see the schtuff I put up with for cleaning, can you say HazMat?

So I finally yelled at him and he asked what exactly I wanted. To be honest I wasn’t sure at the time, but then I was sure. I wanted appreciation. I wanted to be appreciated for the hard work I do around the house. I don’t mind hard work at all, cleaning, yard work, those are all my muse for blog content in addition to the kids. I can putter at my work and think quietly in my head, taking note, and then I am able to look at what I accomplished. And the victory is even sweeter when someone tells me “Wow, looks great babe. Thank you, we appreciate you.” Those few words make every day a great day. I don’t need a pedicure, or a luncheon, flowers, or a card, while they are appreciated I don’t need and or want them. I love the daily appreciation, love, and respect from the everyday and not just on Mother’s Day.

For you Mom’s that had an average day and nothing spectacular, that’s okay. Accept this. I have lived long by this “Expect the worst and hope for the best” that way I am never disappointed or let down. Especially on days like Mother’s Day, but I am not saying I had a craptastic day, I had a nice day, again nothing spectacular, just a really great average day. So while I didn’t have one day where I was treated like a queen, I know that everyday I am a princess who is loved and adored and always goes to bed with her prince. So ladies, here is to you for being a mom!!

A mom has the hardest job on Earth. You are appreciated, you are loved, and you are special, EVERYDAY not just Mother’s Day.
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5 Money Saving Ideas for Single Income Homes

In this crap of an economy some families are thriving, some are striving, and others are literally barely surviving. I have to say that I am a family that teeters on some days. My DH works in the building materials industry (doors, lumber, windows, stuff to build houses) and lets say that his industry is barely alive. With that I have figured new ways for saving money, cut home costs, cut major spending costs, and cut corners without sacrificing the way we have become accustomed to living. Some moms may know these little tricks and tips and others may not, some may be totally ecstatic about the idea and others may think the whole idea is hokey. Whatever your stance may be, these are my ideas, tips, and tricks and they do not reflect your particular lifestyle etc. So now that I am done with my basic disclaimer here are the goods for some money saving ideas:

1. Buy as much and as many canned, dry goods, condiments, cleaners, tiddly items you can at the DOLLAR store. I mean Dollar General, Dollar Tree (who also offers larger wholesale type quantities if you need, AND they accept Food Stamps), Family Dollar.

Buying from these stores does not mean that your food will taste any different, be any different, look any different or that you are less of a human being because you shopped at a discount store. I bought Velveeta Shells and Cheese there, name brand Spaghetti O’s, Duncan Hines brownie mix, you name it I got it there for more than HALF of what I would have paid for the generic at my local grocers, and guess what….ALL THE SAME!

2. CLIP THOSE COUPONS!!! That’s right, clip the coupons when you get them and then HOLD ONTO them. What? Why? Well because manufacturers know that you will clip those coupons and then go right out and spend full pop on the item with that coupon.

Rather, you wait for the following week, or maybe the week after to see if your item goes on sale. This is the coupon game. Watch for the weekly circular to see if your item goes on sale AND then use the coupon. Also use grocers that apply double coupons. Here in AZ, we have double coupon grocers everyday. Only special occasions do they triple your coupons.

3. Buy canned or frozen produce. Yes we all LOVE LOVE LOVE our fresh produce. I am a victim of loving my fresh produce. But when I saw how much of my beloved I would throw out each week because the items would spoil so quickly (even with my Debbie Meyers Green Bags) I decided the time had come to buy frozen or buy canned. In the frozen I buy my broccoli, corn, cauliflower, spinach, the foods I love to steam for dinners. You can buy a package of frozen spinach for almost more than half you could for the fresh, and its the same, at least the end product.

4. Buy as much generic and or bulk as possible. If you have an item you are CONSTANTLY running to the store to replenish….buy bulk. By doing so and being a member of a warehouse store like Costco (who I love) and or Sams Club, you can save yourself bundles in dollars and bundles in gas dollars for running back and forth to the store. I compared cereals and milk as those are our family’s biggest inventory turners and we save at least $20 (per store trip) buying bulk than buying at the local supermarket.

5. Invest in those awesome reusable bags. I know, the lover of Mother Earth came out in me with all my green adventures this year. But in all honesty you save money each grocery trip! Bet you didn’t know you get FIVE CENTS off for each bag you use, EACH time you use them at your local supermarket. I shop at Fry’s here in AZ and with having 5-10 bags each time, well that’s an additional 25-50 cents off my bill. Not much, but HEY, every little bit counts.

6. THE BIGGIE….make a list. I think too many times we as Mom’s are so DAMN busy that we forget to make a simple list. We are the Queen’s of multi-tasking so we run our list in our head like a drill sergeant attacking his troops in line. We beeline to the grocery store and end up buying those damned Krispy Kreme’s at the front display, the Ho Ho’s which are near the coffee, and a bag of Doritos’s since they looked so yummy on our way to the check out. All the while forgetting that we needed tampons, mustard, and eggs. So remember to take a few minutes to make a list. Or build your own online @ My Grocery Checklist. I have laminated mine so that I can use it OVER and OVER again with a dry erase marker, or I stuffed mine in a Ziploc Freezer bag until I got it laminated, plastic is about the same. I just check what I need at the time we realize we are out and then done. I don’t have to try to remember later. I mean seriously, three kids screaming and the last thing you can do is remember what the hell to get at the store when you don’t have a list.

Take ’em or leave ’em, just some of my ideas, tips and tricks. I hope these are some great ideas you can use. I also use the Coupon Mom as my reference for what is on sale and what is a coupon based on circulars. The grocery shopping trek is time consuming but so worth the effort when you can add up the HUNDREDS of dollars in savings.

Let me know what you do to save money with groceries, around the house, and things to help your family in these tight times. I would love to hear how other Moms have other neat ideas, please post comments and subscribe so I can see what else you have musing in your home.

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HOLY COW!

Now I am not one to endorse anything. I also do not get excited easily unless of course you tickled my fancy just right…..but that’s a WHOLE other blog. So roughly a year ago my aunt comes over to visit and brings lots of goodies since I just had the Squids. You know the visit, they bring food, goodies, and then oogling over the baby. Well in her bag of goodies I received some wonderful Organic pasta dishes, bags of steam fresh vegetables (which are a dream for making dinner), bread, Goldfish (a family favorite) and HOLY COW!

Holy Cow you ask? What the hell is Holy Cow, other than a fabulous catch phrase for anything astounding. Well here is what Holy Cow does in my home, with my kids, husband, dog, stains, goober, gunk, grunge, goop, and gobbly gook:
Now picture #1 is after my daughter gorged herself on “cuties” (mandarin oranges), blueberries, cheese, chicken and whatever else she had for dinner that night along with whatever else she had that day. This is a TRUE picture of all the food build-up from the day. As a mom you know that some stains are just outright NASTY and take lots of Spray N’ Wash or Shout or Oxyclean, whatever you prefer, and maybe a good soaking to get the stain out. So I am now armed with my bottle of Holy Cow, I spray the shirt in picture #1. I am not one to do laundry at night unless I can’t sleep, so I let the shirt sit over night in Holy Cow. Picture #2 is after a long nights sleep in the stuff and I do laundry that day. Picture #3 is what the shirt looked like after Holy Cow and Tide. No soaking, no extras, just the Holy Cow and Tide.
Not only is this stuff amazing on stains, but counters, bathrooms, you name it! I personally use the concentrated green formula and the pink. I use it for just about everything and the best part is there is no harsh chemical smell, feel, taste. You know that feeling after you have used a harsh cleaner that you feel like you need a breath of fresh air. Holy Cow has a very mild scent and is fabulous. Check them out for yourselves!

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Before and Not Quite After

So I said like a week ago that I would be playing construction and not sure if I could blog……well let me share the fruits of my labor for the last week(s) or so which includes moving 200 sq. ft. of sh-tuff into my garage and other miscellaneous storage areas in my house. My shed is slowly morphing into what we will call the “pool house” if we ever sell our house. (BTW- We do have a pool to the left of the picture of the “pool house”)

Painting is a slow and go….only because I hate to primer ugly colors…..so enjoy my crasptastic primer job that I am still working on. But the pool house will hold our office and a futon for folks to stay with us and the current office will become 200sq. ft. of play area for my munchkins with all their toys and a twin bed for naps and extra bed space. The huge queen seen in the picture will be moved into G’s room so maybe he will quit sleeping in our room. He sneaks into our bed in the middle of the night since we have a super comfy Seely Posturpedic. So he gets the comfy huge queen. Luckiest 5 year old I know!!

Anyway here is what the interior looks like now….equipped with A/C for those bloody hot summers here in Arizona. Now all we have to do is put up the wall coverings and insulate the ceiling (I did a lot of the insulation with DH….and ALL of the painting by myself). But once the walls go up…..VOILA!!!! Office and area away from the kids. I plan to decorate the area and paint with colors that suggest….um…..whats the word….peace, solace, calm.

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The Working Mother

Ah yes the working mom. We know the stereotype as the Mom who works outside of the home. The mom who commutes and holds a “real” job. I can say I have come to resent that whole stereotypical bravado of “the working mom”. I mean really, what am I doing…..sitting on my duff watching soap operas and eating take out?

I used to be the working mom. The stereotype in the expensive suits commuting to the office making me and my bosses lots and lots of money. I would get Starbucks for lunch and have expensive Vodka drinks after work and I would also be the working mom who would pick up her son from daycare. Yup, I was that Mom. I would drive tirelessly home to fix dinner, cawtch up on laundry and miscellaneous house work and get my son and husband to bed and I would finally crash, then I would wake at 5am to do the same thing all over again. Yes, I was the working mom.

But things haven’t changed. Well, my wardrobe has and I added a few kids (by accident, not like I planned for my biology to say “Here, here’s an extra egg smart girl”).
Here is to the true working mom! The undervalued, underappreciated, underpayed, no thanks at all Mom who busts her ass everyday to take care of her children, her home, her husband and show pride in doing so. We are the true working Mom’s.
I used to mock those women who would stay home. Like “What the hell? Yeah, you so do not have it rough lady?” Oh how I ate my words. Yes, one child is such a breeze. Believe me I got so much more accomplished but add a couple more and let me tell you…..well you probably know. The job is hard. Trying to appease three little mob bosses barking at you for more food at the table. Caring for the homeless when those children ask for “money”, “Food” and “a ride somewhere”. Yes, I just referenced children to being like a homeless person. Then add in the mix laundry, housecleaning, running the kids to this function or that, to and from school, yard work, dinner, dishes, then add a couple of screaming kids and you have to stop what you are doing to pay attention to that situation and your whole day can be shot. So the “working Mom”…yeah….that broad has got it easy. I did your job….for many years…..you come do mine and then we’ll compare notes. Until then…..here is to the true working mom and all of our selflessness for caring for the ones we love and showing pride in our home. Way to go Girl!!!
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Project Manager

I think that is my new term I will use for everything since I am not treated like the CEO who runs this operation almost flawlessly everyday. Here is how a typical week of operations look like, including G and the Squids:
Sunday: attempt to finish any school projects, follow around kids cleaning up messes, attempt to blog about said messes, feed dog, water dog, brush pool, sigh at weeds that need pulled, make lunch, breakfast, dinner, play clown to Squids, personal assistant to G and Chad, watch my HBO shows, set up coffee for morning, bed.

Monday: Awake @ 3 by Squid Seth, lost bottle looking to crawl and fails miserably, back to sleep until 5 where I stumble for coffee and attempt to wake up alone and in peace only to have said Squid wake up babbling LOUDLY (dada, yaya, lala….squeals in the dark), in shower by 6 or 6:30 to be dressed and ready before G wakes up at 7 to feed him breakfast that he argues about (every morning), get him ready, Squid Sara is awake, load all three in car, drop off G at school, haul back to the house to put garbage can out by street before I miss pickup. Home to look over school, attempt to do some school work, squids down for a nap, take inventory of all dirty laundry (at least 3 loads), make beds, have Pepsi, back to pick up G at 11. Back home, fix lunch, take inventory of perishable and non-perishable food items including those that add to the side of my rear end (because Costco has the best damn cookies EVER!!!), make Costco run for said needed items. Come home, unload, back to Fry’s to pick up small items not needed in bulk from Costco, back home to unload. Fix dinner, play clown and wait staff to the three small mob bosses barking at me from the counter eating. Clean up dinner, baths all around, then bed for the three little amigos, I then pull in the trash can sitting at the curb all day waiting for someone else other than me to bring in. I get to watch some DVR shows with DH (if he is not occupied by War Crack, I mean War Craft) bed.

Tuesday-Friday: Rinse and repeat. Except on Thursday, put out recycling bins instead of trash bin.

Now in the mix throw in doctors appointments for the Squids which is a circus (oh are they twins, oh, oh….SLAP), PTO committees, school functions like the Halloween parade on Friday, picture retakes, school recycling program. I swear, you think that parents are like the parents on TV and from Desperate Housewives….I mean seriously….who is over scheduled here? The kids or the parents? Sheesh!

Add on top of all of this….I have an electrician doing something outside of my home…that I need to check on right now…he is doing what we asked…though I hear funny noises. I have to pick up G in 20 minutes, write two papers this week (BLAH!), cut the last two pieces of trim for my room that DH said he would do Saturday (is it still Saturday?!!!), nail said pieces of trim in, caulk, touch up paint, move bed back, somewhere in there clean my house and find some peace. So as project manager I will delegate all BS projects to DH as I am tired of getting them all done. Which also include making a trip to an e-cycler (electronics recycler) to do my duty to our environment and get rid of the SHIT computer stuff taking up precious space, trekking through Home Depot with the Squids to pick up building materials, and I don’t even know what else!! So, that is my rant for today. Here is what I have done though so I have proof of my hard work!! Now all of these items have been cleared out so the entire shed is EMPTY!!! Ready for the electrician to run lines and us to close in, etc.
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McCalls Pumpkin Patch

G was in Albuquerque last week as we all know since I had some free time (HA!) last week. During his stint there Grandma ran him around and they did all sorts of fun stuff. One of his memorable activities was visiting the McCalls Pumpkin Patch in Moriarty with his cousin Colin and Colin’s church day school. Here is how their pumpkin patch visit went along with pictures of BIL #1, G-Mommy (Great Grandma), cousin Colin, and pictures of the hayride. G was able to pick out his own pumpkin which is so cute since it is the size of a softball and he brought home baby pumpkins to our baby pumpkins. Such a great brother! Also big thanks and love to Grandma Bev for setting up the field trip for G for the pumpkin patch and all the great pics!
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Playing Construction

I won’t be blogging…..at least I say that now….for a few days as I will be playing construction to my home along with junk sorter extraordinaire!

Chad and I decided to convert our gigantic shed into an outdoor office so now we have to relocate junk, stuff, tools, and lawn mowers somewhere else! I am thinking we need a bigger house. So I was up late last night cutting trim to finish trimming our bedroom and today I will be finishing homework so that I can finish the aforementioned.

I will post pics of the before and after! This should be fun. Especially because I have an electrician coming on Tuesday and I need concrete cut and all the junk moved! YIKES!

But the good news is that the office will be the kids’ play room for all their JUNK and toys and we will probably put a bed in there for folks to stay. Off to run power tools, research useless information, and stash junk where I have no place to stash it! HA!!

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Ten Things Tuesday

I have to first say Thank you to Mrs. Brownstone the XBOX wife for this wonderful gift to share with everyone!

1. I am thankful for my sister. I am thankful for having my sisters, Brittany, Nicole and Tori. I don’t always get to talk and spend time with them but I love them dearly and am thankful for them. Especially because I saw Britt doing Ten Things Tuesday and thought HOW AWESOME!

2. I am thankful for the fact that I can have breakfast for dinner and my kids eat it, they love it, and nutritious to boot!

3. I am thankful for my twins being able to sit in their high chairs to feed themselves and they ate their mashed potatoes all by themselves!

4. I am thankful for my G being able to wash his own body every night when he takes a shower. He still needs help washing his hair but he can wash his body and that is super awesome!

5. I am thankful that I will be spending Thanksgiving with 75% of my family….now I just need to convince the other 25% to come out (hint hint Britt!).

6. I am thankful for all of my extended family and this weekend I will be able to see all of their crazy selves and spend time with them. Although it may be for a sad occasion with the passing of my Aunt, we will be “waking” in her honor and celebrating life just as she would want!

7. I am thankful for this blog and other blogs and being able to share in my friends’ and families lives. We may not all connect all the time but thanks to the net we can still stay in touch.

8. This one is odd….but makes sense…I am thankful for my chunky monkey body. If I didn’t have a chunky monkey body, that would only mean I am childless and I am thankful I am chunky because that means I have three wonderful gifts to share my chunky self with hugging each one of them everyday.

9. I am thankful for my mother for teaching me how to be tough. Because some days, when I want to give into my kids, I remember my mom and how she would NEVER give in to me and she taught me independence.

10. My dishwasher. Because I have a BOAT load of dishes and my hands are so cracked and dry anyway from cleaning that I couldn’t bear to wash dishes. So I am thankful for my Whirlpool to do it for me.

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Passing Out Love

Chadley had lunch today with some of our favorite people. One of which is still trying to convert us for half price Sunday’s and 50% off our annual tithings (not bad!) and the other told Chad he gets all his gossip from my blog!! WOO HOO! That is a productive lunch! So here is a shout out from your Neighborhood Common-Law Mormons, the Herring’s, to:

The Jarvis’ and My Mowers

Check them out and their beautiful families!

Another shout out as well to my BIL who finally hit adulthood! Way to go Brentley, Happy Birthday! Welcome to being 30! Go check out my BIL’s beautiful wife, my sister, Mrs. Greer!

Finally, to my SIL and my brother. My brother who finally communicated to me personally…after I don’t know how long of always talking to his wife! Love you Chris and Nic! See you guys Sat!