Live Like You Were Dying

Okay, so I didn't have a great title for this blog, so I stole the title of a Tim McGraw song. Have you ever read an obituary and thought to think what yours might say? Now, I know some people don't like to think about things they consider morbid, but a healthy dose of morbidity might just help us really live! (Think of someone who gets a terminal diagnosis of cancer or someone who's just lost a loved one. Death truly puts things in perspective.)

I'm one of those quirky people who actually read the obituary section. It's always bittersweet to read a long, loving obit. Someone so amazing in life that the pain of their death is greater than normal. And then the sad obituaries where there really isn't much to be said. A life wasted, perhaps.

I read a great article one time that included a line that said something to this effect, "I don't want my obituary to read, 'she kept a clean stove.'" It made me laugh, but how true! It really hit home with a Type A/OCD personality like me!

When I kick the bucket, I want to have one humdinger of an obituary. You know something to the effect of, "Granny loved skydiving, made a mean chocolate cake and loved her family more than life itself."

I think we should all take the time to think what would be said of us at our funeral or in our obituary. Will our kids remember us running through the backyard sprinkler with them or were we too busy manicuring our lawns? Will our husband have memories of a wife who made him the best birthday dinners or a lady that was always at a PTA meeting? Will our children remember our smiling faces at their school play or that mom was at the office working late to pay for that shiny, new car?

As long as God gives me breath, I hope I can keep my priorities straight. It's a daily battle for most of us and definitely for me. I want to try to be part of everything I can for those I love. Babies being born, someone taking their last breathe, school plays, soccer games, you name it. May the "busyness" of life never get in the way of the truly important things. If my heart's going to give out may it be from laughing myself to death not stressing myself there.

If we truly live life and ingrain ourselves in the lives of others, we will leave a mark on this world that even death itself cannot erase. I hope I "live like I was dying."

Product Reviews and Tips

How many products do you use everyday? Probably more than you care to admit! I'm passionate about saving money, but also having products that work well. Sometimes cheaper is better and sometimes you are better off spending a little more on a product that gives better results. As you read on you will find tips for finding which product is best, stretching your dollar and a few product reviews!

Let's start with household products. I go through a lot of cleaning type products with a family as large as mine, so I don't want to spend a lot and I want products to do double duty whenever possible. First, let's start with the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. Seriously, this thing is a miracle worker! It works on practically everything-coffee and tea stains on the counter or in your mug, crayon and scuff marks on the wall, sinks, tubs, sneakers, even permanent marker and the list goes on! Because I use this product frequently I found that many stores carry an off brand. It still works great and is about half the cost. I also cut each eraser in half and they last much longer.





I also have a couple of laundry room favorites. (I do have to disclose that I am a "Purex Insider" and get free products to test.) I'm in love with Purex with Zout. It works on our toughest stains (and with six kids, baby I've got 'em!) It works as well as Tide and is considerably cheaper. It even takes grass stains out the first time! I also like the Purex Fabric Softener Crystals. A little goes a long way and the fragrance really lasts. Probably my best laundry room tip though is that most people use too much product. When I say "too much" I mean using what the manufacturer recommends. Detergent build up is hard on our clothes, so find out how little you can use for your water hardness (I find it's about a third of what's recommended) and use only that amount. One item you saved from a nasty stain is well worth the extra spent on a good detergent!





For all purpose cleaning I really like Murphy's Oil Soap. Walls, doors, wood furniture and floors, it does it all! I'm a minimalist when it comes to cleaning products. I need a few that work great and are multi-purpose. I don't have time to mess with 17 different cleaning products! I also use a blend of vinegar, water and a great smelling extract (I like Orange). Mix it in a spray bottle and voila a cheap and safe all purpose cleaner! Spray this in your toilet bowl, toss in some baking soda and again you have safe and inexpensive cleaner!





Some random household items I like are-Walmart brand drawstring trash bags. They are just as durable as the name brand and save you some dollars! I also like the off brand Swiffer pad refills. Way cheaper! We have hard water and I've found that Cascade Complete dishwasher tabs, although a little pricey, do the job and don't leave my dishes filmy! I'm loyal to Scott brand toilet paper. It goes on sale often and lasts forever. In this house we go through toilet paper like water and I don't want to change the roll every 5 minutes!





We've changed over to low flow shower and faucet heads. Don't let the "low flow" fool you. The water still comes out just fine, the only difference you'll notice is on your water bill! Another money saving change we've made is to energy efficient lightbulbs. I suggest doing this gradually because they are more expensive than traditional bulbs, but you will notice a savings on your electric bill sure to make you happy. A random product like-kitchen shears!! I use them for EVERYTHING! They are great for cutting up little ones food, cutting meat and even cutting pizza! Works better than a pizza cutter! I bought a cheap pair at the Dollar Tree for a buck and they are still going strong!





My favorite products to try are beauty products. I'm definitely a girls' girl and love beauty products. I really like the Suave Professionals line of hair care. From shampoo to conditioner to styling aids, they've got it covered! It's a line of salon quality products starting at around $1.50! I have a lot of hair products in my cupboard and shower and probably 80% is the Professionals line. It's so inexpensive that I don't mind my 3 preteen girls using "my" hair stuff! One to try is the Dry Shampoo Spray. It's great for mornings you don't have time to wash your hair. I'm the type that wants to wash her hair everyday and this even lets someone like me skip a day and feel happy with the results! I also like the heat protector spray and the Sleek line. The Suave mens line is great too and smells nice!





Flat iron addicts-heads up! I really wanted a Chi, but didn't want the Chi price tag. So, I was so happy to stumble across a Good Housekeeping article on flat irons. The pricey Chi was beat out by the $40 Remington Frizz Therapy flat iron. You better believe I picked one up at that price! I'm happy to say it does a marvelous job! And at $40, who can complain? Seriously, if you need a flat iron look up the reviews online for this baby! As a compliment to the flat iron, I really like Organix Brazilian Keratin Therapy Flat Iron Spray (that's a mouthful of a name, huh?) It's about $6 at an big box or drugstore and it adds great shine and all day straightening power. And the smell is heavenly!





For shaving I use the cheapest conditioner I can find. Yep, hair conditioner. It's inexpensive and leaves your skin silky smooth!I've recently started using Colgate Optic White toothpaste and have seen great results (even though I've used whitening toothpaste for years). It's priced around $3 and you can most always find a coupon for an extra discount.I've also found that the store brand knock off of most facial products like lotions and cleansers works just as well and are often half the price.





For the diehards out there-I use an at home glycolic acid (alpha hydroxy) facial peel. I purchased mine through Amazon and use a brand called Skin Laboratory Gylcolic/35 Gel Peel. It's about $20 and the results are unbelievably smooth skin. It minimizes wrinkles, improves acne and discoloration and a list of other facial issues. I've never had a salon peel done, so I can't compare, but I love the results this product gives. I really think this is a product every woman should try. It's pretty amazing. It's a powerful product though and you must do a patch test first.





I've fallen in love with face primer. (I'm currently using Revlon brand.) Put it on after your moisturizer and before your makeup for a flawless, long lasting finish. I also like Revlon Photo Ready concealer (a must for a girl with hereditary dark circles and 6 kids) and L'Oreal Infallible foundation. Both provide long lasting, great coverage. There are so many great options out there, so play around with "drugstore" brands and ditch the pricey department store makeup counters.





Don't be afraid to try new beauty products! Walmart, CVS, and Rite Aid all have a no-risk return policy. If you try a product and don't like it for any reason, just return it with your receipt! It's really that simple and it allows you to test out a product without the fear of being stuck with it!





I don't use a lot of baby products, but I have a couple I stick with. For me it's Luvs diapers, hands down. For about $16 bucks you get around 100 diapers (if you buy the box). They're virtually leak proof and a killer deal at that price. I also like most store brand wipes. Usually Walmart, Target, Giant Eagle's, etc. store brands are safe bets. The really cheap kind aren't a deal in my opinion, because they are so thin you end up using two instead of one. Definitely a case where cheaper isn't cheaper!



I'm going to wrap it up with a few basic tips. If you are a name brand junkie, stop! Many off brands are produced by your favorite name brand. It's okay to have a few name brand favorites though (I'm a Jif loyalist!), but don't be a name brand snob. This can really add up at the grocery store! I buy almost storebrand everything! I love to cook and I'm pretty picky and still I'm happy with the products, so no excuses!!





Probably my most favorite tip is to always, always, always reserach before making a bigger purchase. I'm cheap, so when I say bigger I'm talking $20 or more. Take a vacuum cleaner purchase, for example. Go online find the ones you like with whatever options you are looking for. Then see which model gets the best reviews for the lowest price. This can save you considerable amounts of money. Many, many, many times the more expensive products are the ones people have the most problems with. Usually that middle of the road brand will be your best bet. Cheap doesn't always save you money in the long run and the pricey brand isn't always all it's cracked up to be.





I hope you find the product reviews helpful and the tips useful. If you have a question about a particular product, I may be able to help. My whole idea is to be frugal, which in my mind is living BETTER for less!!

The grass is always greener on the other side....

There are days when this stay at home mom dreams of being a career girl. Don't get me wrong, I love my kids, love my life, yada, yada, yada. But after a day of wiping butts, whining kids and spit up stained clothes, a girl starts to fantasize. I think what it would be like to get up in the morning and get ready to go to "the office." It even sounds cool. I'd put on my tailored power suit, pumps, jewelry, the whole bit. I'd drop the kids off, turn off Veggie Tales and put on some jamming tunes as I cruised into Starbucks for a Giant-Grande-Mocha-Frappe-Latte or whatever it is that they charge a pretty penny for. I'd pull up to work in my fancy car and strut into my comfy office building and do....stuff. I don't know what kind of stuff I'd do, but it wouldn't have anything to do with poop, that's a fact jack. I'd eat lunch out at a place that didn't sell Happy Meals and I'd even pick up take out for dinner. Man, that'd be the life! Or would it?

Now you see, for every stay at home mom like me dreaming about "the other side", there's a mom sitting in an office wishing for what I've got. She'd give her right arm to trade in her Italian pumps for Nikes and the power suit for sweats. A Happy Meal with her kid would beat that overpriced gourmet stuff any day. She'd trade in her perfume for the smell of spit up.

I think we all sometimes fall into the trap of thinking the grass is greener on the other side. We stay at home moms can especially get worn down when the other life seems so glam. So what that getting dressed up means waiting for the rare date with my hubby or that the only time I hit a Starbucks is well, never. I'm going to slip out of my imaginary Italian shoes and stick my feet in the grass, on MY side of the fence and realize that it feels pretty good. And you know what? I'll gladly munch on a Happy Meal any day!!!

This side of things...

After an emotionally draining day yesterday with Spencer that included two different ER's and a whole lot of prayer, I posted a Facebook status about how I believe in prayer. At the end of this lengthy status I said, "I'm thankful for a God who hears and although doesn't always answer the way we'd choose, always, always cares...." I included that last bit for those that might feel negatively about prayer. People who don't believe in God or have been turned off from prayer because God didn't answer them the way they wanted or the way they thought he should have.

The thought of God always caring for us really got me to thinking how our relationship with Him is much like our relationship with our own children. Now, maybe you don't have children, but you are, of course, someone's child. As an adult now you can see things more clearer and realize that your parents did things in your best interest. So, I think we can all relate to this analogy. I think how often I do something in the best interest of my children that they don't understand. They think I'm mean or bossy. How many times have I said something and finished it with, "just because I said so!" Children in their tiny, naive minds can't understand why we as parents sometimes do the things we do. Why we say "no" or push them to do something they don't want. We see the big picture that they just can't see right now. We do it because we love them. Isn't God just the same? We can't not even fathom how much He loves us. As much as we love our children, He loves us even more. He wants what's best for us always, but we can't always see how that works out on this side of earth.

My husband uses the best illustration for this. Have you ever seen someone doing needlepoint? To sit across from them it looks horrible, to be honest. You see the messy, seemingly pointless backside. It's not pretty and it certainly doesn't look them it's going to turn out they way you'd want. But the crafter sees the beautiful side, how each seemingly sloppy stitch works together and when you turn it around it's a masterpiece. Our lives are much the same. We see the backside of things. It's messy, it seems it couldn't possibly turn out to be anything good and we question what the "crafter" could possibly be doing. But God in His infinite wisdom sees the beautiful, finished side. How each prayer, answered in His way, works to the good of the finished work. Oftentimes, God allows us to see the finished work, how it all worked out, but sometimes it seems to be a mystery. I guess that's what faith is all about. Trusting in God and that He has a beautiful plan for each of our lives. If we can close our eyes and forget the messy side that we often see, He may just allow us to see a glimpse of the masterpiece He has in store.

Vacationing with us, ain't for sissys

Vacationing with a big family is surely a test of your survival skills. I'm pretty sure it could be included in the Navy SEAL training or possibly a part of Marine combat training. Seriously, this is not for sissys. I must be a tough cookie though, because I survived and lived to tell about it.

The last time we vacationed we only had four kids (yes, I said only four.) We were gone for about 5 days and it was pretty smooth sailing. This time around though we had six kids and had planned a nine day trip. The logistics of a trip like that are almost too many to list.

First off is packing for our giant crew. I managed to pack the bare minimum, but this still equates to an amount of items that would rival Walmart. Packing our van took a mix of skills that might included a UPS guy, Santa and the Clampetts from the Beverly Hillbillies. The end result made you sympathetic for those poor sardines stuffed in those tiny cans. But we did it. I paid one of the kids a dollar to open the back hatch for the first time. I was fully expecting an avalanche. For once in my life I was happy to be wrong.

The ten hour drive began and in true fashion of our crew it was not uneventful. Don't get me wrong, those six kids travelled great. They kept each other entertained and the giggles were almost non-stop. Well, except through West Virginia. About four hours into our trip, we made our third stop. Yep, three stops in four hours. We have a two year old who is freshly potty trained, what can I say? But here is where West Virginia comes in and it has to do with Dramamine. Yep, we had three carsick kids. And let me say, God bless Dramamine. It knocked them out and we survived the rolling hills of the fine state of West Virginia.

Let's talk food. I think those kids knocked out $30 of snacks in about 45 minutes. I'm a numbers cruncher and my brain never shuts off. This led me to the unfortunate discovery that eight people and three meals a day for nine days would equal 216 meals. Yep, 216 meals. Add snacks in there for six hungry kids and feeding this crew on the road became quite the task. I channeled my ancestors who at one time foraged for food. Thankfully, this meant using the GPS to find the nearest Taco Bell. It also meant that at the beach condo when the kids asked for cereal for dinner, I played "cool mom" and said, "yeah, we're on vacation, WHATEVER you want." Obviously, it was more lazy mom than cool mom, but I've got to play the cool card whenever I can.

Vacationing with a big family means that mom is never really on vacation. I think I did 17 loads of laundry. on. vacation. We stayed in a condo, so I did dishes, swept, even cleaned the bathroom. But if I'm going to scrub the toilet, it might as well be at the beach!

Vacationing with our crew means that 12 tons of sand came home with us. It means that the call to the pediatrician nurse line is almost not even worth mentioning. Because not going to the ER is a small miracle, not even going to Urgent Care is definitely a miracle and the fact that we didn't have to ask anyone if they had a first-aid kit is nothing short of divine intervention.

With our large family the possibilities for disaster are endless, everything we do is a major undertaking and there is never a dull moment. It also means that it's six times the joy, six times the fun and six times the laughs! I never in my wildest dreams imagined my vacations would be this "big", but I wouldn't change it for the world!!!
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Organizing Small Spaces

This is my first ever "link up" post and I'm doing it as part of the "Organizing Small Spaces" series at Hall of Fame Moms. For those who don't know me, I'm Bri, mom to six kids ages five months to eleven years. We are a big family living in a small-ish ranch house, so organization is not optional, it's mandatory for survival! As a stay-at-home mom, I'm on a tight budget, so my ideas are simple and inexpensive. But they can't be tacky either! Hey, I like HGTV as much as the next girl, so it's got to be stylish!

Before we dive in though I have to say, you can't organize clutter!! Seriously, just watch an episode of Hoarders and you will get my point! So, purge whatever you can as you organize an area or an the very least store items that are not frequently used. Also, buy an inexpensive label maker. I label everything possible! My kids are just lucky I haven't labeled them yet.... Alright, the tips are going to come rapid-fire, so hang on!

Let's start with a girl's best friend. No, not diamonds. Shoes! I love over the door shoe bags! Not the tacky plastic kind your grandmother had either. You can find stylish, fabric ones even at Wal-mart. (In fact, they carry the exact same one as the Container Store for half the price.) Now, aside from the obvious of organizing shoes, they are great for organizing craft supplies or storing small toys or even socks and undies in a child's room. Put one on the back of any door for instant added storage and organization! On the subject of kids' rooms, use that space under their beds for great, hidden storage! We had a trundle built to fit under our twins' bunk bed and it stores extra blankets and all those stuffed animals that drive me crazy! (Seriously, stuffed animals give me a nervous twitch.) It could also be used for the obvious of storing an extra mattress for guests, but I love that I can store bulky blankets out of sight! You can also buy bed risers if you have low beds and this will allow for under-the-bed boxes.

We are limited in our closet space here and so I have to get the most out of every inch. We have a craft and game closet in the dining room and it has to be perfectly organized for everything to fit. I have hooks on the inside of the door for backpacks and the kids coats. (Let me take a moment to shout the praises of hooks. Again, put them anywhere you can and definitely have some on your child's level, so there are no excuses for not hanging up towels, coats, etc.) I have various medium sized plastic containers (all labeled, of course) to hold craft supplies, puzzles, coloring books, etc. I've also used baby wipe containers for small items like beads, glue sticks and bottles, etc. Just use the same brand container for easy stacking. I also have one unconventional tip. We have lots and lots (and lots and lots) of board games. We literally ran out of room to store all those boxes! So, any game that was just a flat board with game pieces (ex. Monopoly, Sorry, etc.; not a bulky game like Operation or Trouble) I ditched the box and put all the game pieces into individual baggies. The boards stack neatly and take up a lot less space than all those boxes and I store the game piece baggies in one small container. This saved an immense amount of room!

A few tips for small items: shoe boxes work great inside big dresser drawers to divide small items. In one drawer I have several boxes to separate my youngest's socks, hairbows, bibs and onesies. Now more digging through a drawer in search of something and no expensive organizer to buy! Always have a couple of decorative baskets or crates by entrance ways as catchalls. Hats, gloves, keys, cell phones, etc., always look better thrown in a basket than just thrown on the table or counter. I use a dish pan to store all the lids to my food storage containers (i.e. Rubbermaid or Tupperware.) It's easy to just pull out that dishpan and find the lid I need for any container. Use flat containers where ever possible to store items. You'll be amazed at how much you can stack and store this way. When I'm tackling a new project, I just buy a couple of containers every time I go to Wal-mart, so as not to break the bank! I've found rectangular Rubbermaid containers that I LOVE for storing all our snack items in the snack cupboard. Everything fits so much better now and food stays fresh longer. Plus, it's easy to grab a container or two as I walk out the door and the kids (or mama!) need a snack.

Paper clutter is a constant challenge here. I think the kids kill their own section of the rainforest with all the papers they bring home from school! And the mailman does his part, too! I have baskets in the kitchen in my buffet (you could use a cupboard or drawers too) and I tackle it immediately. I recycle what I can and then file papers accordingly. School papers get tossed in the school basket (surprise-lol) and bills in the bill basket. It's not super organized immediately, but we (read-kids and hubby, too) always, always know where things are! I also have a bulletin board in the kitchen right beside the calendar. So, when I stumble bleary-eyed to the kitchen in the morning I can easily see what's important that day. All permission slips or important informational sheets go on the bulletin board. No digging through any basket to find those important items!!!

Again, I cannot stress the fact that clutter and just plain "too much stuff" cannot be organized. So, pare down, buy less and organize as you go. I promise you it will decrease your stress! I hope some of these tips have been helpful to you and bless your family! (P.S. I'm glad I'm getting a mansion in heaven, because some days I get tired of organizing this stuff!)

When He was on the cross, I was on His mind

Easter. Whoa, wait a minute. Didn't we just have Christmas? Easter falls late this year, but it seems to have crept up on me yet again. We are literally reminded the day after Halloween that Christmas is coming. Commercials, e-mails, flyers, you name it, we are bombarded with the fact that Christmas is coming, but Easter is a quieter holiday. I've always found it ironic that Christmas gets so much more attention than Easter. Sure they are both important Christian holidays and don't get me wrong the birth of Christ was amazing. I mean I get it, we wouldn't have Easter if there hadn't been a "Christmas." But Easter truly is the pivitol holiday for Christians. Seriously, Easter changed the entire course of the world!

When I take the time to think about the intimate details of the Easter story, I'm amazed. I'm talking have to sit down amazed. Christ died for me. Christ died for me? Yes, a statement always followed by a question. It's hard for me to wrap my mind around someone dying for me. There are only a few people I'd lay my life down for, yet Christ did it for the world. Yep, the world. People who loved him, people who hated him. People who followed him, people who ran from him. Even those who nailed him to the cross. Even me. When He was on the cross, I was on His mind.

He was humilated. He was beaten, whipped, tortured. His hands were nailed to a cross and his feet, too. They made him a crown of thorns and they mocked him. And Christ took it all willingly, because when He was on the cross, I was on His mind. He could have, at anytime, called a legion of angels and stopped it all. But on that cross beaten and bruised, I was on the his mind. My sin put him on that cross, but his love for me kept him there.

So this Easter season take some time and think about the story. The intimate, personal story. The one that involves just you and Christ. If you or I had been the only one to die for, he still would have. That's how much he loves us. A line from one of my favorite songs says, "The nails in your hands, the nails in your feet, they tell me how much you love me." That day on the cross, long before you were born, you were on his mind. Today as you think about Easter, let Him be on your mind, too.

Good enough

The question was recently posed in an online group that I'm apart of, "how do you balance it all?" You know, the cooking the cleaning, the "me" time. Well, motherhood is a little bit like walking a balance beam, except you have one leg, and you're blindfolded, and your arms are tied behind your back. Oh yeah, and this is the OLYMPICS, so all eyes are on you and the pressure is on to do it right.

Seriously though, isn't that what motherhood feels like? Trying to do it right with lots of things going against you? You feel like you are in the spotlight and you're expect to do it all.

But maybe this is where we go wrong. The pressure, that is. You know that feeling when you are trying to do something just perfect and you're nervous? Hands shaking. Butterflies in your tummy. And you mess up. Why? Because you were trying too hard! You have put so much pressure on yourself that you're a nervous wreck. And you fail....

We pressure ourselves as moms (and wives) to do it all. The house must be spotless, each child must have had an equal amount of personal attention, cookies must be in the oven, dinner on the table and then we still have to have time to volunteer at the school and go to the spa with "the girls."

Really? I could clone myself and still not get my to-do list done everyday. And guess what? That's okay! Somedays I come pretty close to "having it all." But most days if I feel accomplished in one area, it's because I've let another one go. Sure I've played board games with the kids all day, but my house is such a wreck you probably need a tetanus shot just to walk through the front door.

So repeat after me, "good enough." Yep, it's that simple. No, I didn't get the bathroom Martha Stewart clean today, but I scraped the toothpaste off the mirror and rinsed the ring out of the bathtub. "Good enough." I didn't have time to make a gourmet dinner, but that simple chicken and rice really hit the spot. "Good enough." I didn't get to the spa today, but I caught up with an old friend on the telephone. "Good enough." Oh, and helping out at the school consisted of sending in a bag of Oreos, instead of staying up all night making perfectly decorated cupcakes. "Good enough." Seriously, Martha Stewart tried that whole perfect homemaker thing and look where it got HER!

And tonight as my head hits the pillow, I don't feel as guilty as when I was trying to walk that balance beam and just couldn't do it. My kids are tucked in bed and they are happy. My hubby doesn't have a stressed out wife. I don't feel like a frazzled, train wreck of a person. No, tonight as I lay my head down, on my pillowcase (that I forgot to wash), I say to myself "good enough."