Happy 10th Birthday Ciara Talyn!

Giveaway: From Gillette Venus {through Jan. 24}

For the next 9 days, Gillette Venus on Facebook will be hosting daily giveaways. All of the Venus & Olay razors have been claimed today but be sure to check back with them tomorrow. The times of the giveaways and the items being given away have not yet been announced, so make sure to “Like” their Facebook page and watch their wall for status updates.

Giveaway: Free Box of 20 Mule Team Borax Coupon {3 Winners!}

Oh how I love being a Purex Insider. I received 20 Mule Team Borax in the mail to review. Some ladies I work with use Borax but honestly I have never tried it nor did I known how it was supposed to be used. 

Like me and not familiar with 20 Mule Team Borax? Allow me to fill you in, it is a 100% naturally occurring mineral that is produced by the perpetual evaporation of the seasonal lakes. Once removed from the earth it is washed, dried and boxed consumers. Absolutely nothing is added to 20 Mule Team Borax. No phosphates, chlorine or any other additive chemical! As a Mother of 6, knowing that there are no chemicals added was a huge plus. 

Ok, now that you know a little about it, I bet you are scratching your head asking, "What do I do with it?" The possibilities are endless! 

20 Mule Team Borax softens hard water to maximize cleaning power. To boost your detergent, simply add 1/2 cup of 20 Mule Team Borax to every load, along with your regular detergent. You'll find that it naturally softens hard water and improves your detergent's cleaning power, and it helps keep stains from being re-deposited back onto clothes. This is a big plus for me as my kiddos are MESSY! (Have a septic system? Great news, 20 Mule Team Borax is safe to use!)

But wait! There is more! 20 Mule Team Borax is not just for laundry. From cleaning to pets the list is just about endless. After seeing how well it worked on my kiddos clothes,  I'm eager to try using this in some different ways. You can visit www.20muleteamlaundry.com for more awesome ideas on how it can help you in your daily cleaning. 

20 Mule Team Borax and Purex Insiders wants to give 3 of my readers their own box of 20 Mule Team Borax to try for themselves and see how well it works in your home.

Mandatory Entry - Tell me how you plan to use your 20 Mule Team Borax.
Additional Entries:
Like 20 Mule Team Borax on Facebook here. Also, be sure to enter to win 1 of 171 Boxes they are giving away: http://insiders.purex.com/Borax-fresh-year?id=960 Why 171 you ask? The TOTAL prize value is $2013!

Hurry, this giveaway ends January 20th.

Disclosure: I was sent a box of 20 Mule Team Borax to facilitate this review. I was not financially compensated for my review and all opinions are 100% my own.

thredUP

So I am on this big money saving kick this year. There is so much that as a family I want to do but my paycheck never seems to stretch far enough. Today, I stumbled across thredUP. Have you heard of this? it is like an online consignment store! I paid $6.95 (the cost of shipping) for two pair of leggings and a pair of shorts for my littlest who seems to have grown out of all her clothes! 

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Get $10 off your first order when you use my sharing link http://www.thredup.com/r/UFCYGS.

Best of all I can actually go through my closets and send my clothes to them to sell for me. it is a win/win situation if you ask me. 

Going shopping at thredUP? Let me know how much you saved! 

-Trisha

Learning to coupon.

I must admit, I admire extreme couponers. I really wish I could do it half as well as they do. But alas I am happy to just save 10% when I shop. lol. That is until this year. My goal is to start saving more money on the items my family uses on a regular basis. I do not need a $10,000 stock pile; I just was to spend less if possible.

The other night I went shopping and was able to save about 33%! Not too bad, but I am looking to save a little more if possible. Thankfully, there are a lot of awesome sites that do all the searching and matching up for you.

After I get the Sunday paper I will google certain local stores with the week date, like "Kroger coupon roundup 1/15/2013" then I open a few of the sites and see how much I can save. If I don't have a coupon they mention, I will go look for it in another search. :) Tomorrow, I will head out shopping and will let you know how I did!

-Trisha

Off to church we go?!?!

In a few hours I will pile my kiddos into the van and head off to church. sounds like what most ordinary families do on a Sunday morning. Only, as my title states we are NOT your ordinary everyday family. I have not been to church in years. Truth be told, I did not think I would ever attend again. Let me guess. Now you are curious as to why. am I correct? Let me fill you in. God and I are not on the best of terms at the moment. I turned my back on him years ago after he turned his on me. Powerful words I know.

See, I gave birth to the MOST beautiful children in the world. sadly, one of them was born with a lung condition...well lack of lung condition actually. Long story short. I got pissed off and through a huge pity party for myself. Not able to comprehend why I, the Mom who did not smoke, drink or use drugs birthed a child with a rare illness while thousands of "crack-head" Mother's were giving birth to perfectly healthy babies. BS I tell you! BS! So after months of trying to come to terms with my daughters illness and learning about what it meant for her future, I finally came to the conclusion that I was walking alone....and I was perfectly okay with that. 

only recently have I given thought to attending church. So tomorrow, I am sucking it up, putting my pride aside and walking through those doors. Kids in tow. Hopefully, we will be able to find a "home church" that we enjoy and feel like we mesh with. If not the church we are attending in a few hours then there is always next Sunday and there is a plethora of churches to be found.

-Trisha

Let's get ready to rumble!

Why is it when all kiddos are together they gain a false sense of courage and feel like they can take me on? Don't they realize who I am? Did they miss the memo? I am Super-Mom! All six kiddos ganging up on me and they could not manage to take me down. Oh, and then they ran to the bedroom to secretly plot out their take down. Problem was, I could hear them from the other side of the door. Gotta love um!

 Who would have thought when I smashed some of the chocolate pie in Shianne's face this would all begin? Truth be told, I blame Shi! Had she not decided to try to wipe the pudding and whipped cream all over me none of her siblings would have thought they too could get away with attempting to beat me up. So kiddos...blame your sister! She is the reason you cried out in agony as I "accidentally" crushed you while we wrestled around the house. My favorite moment? I had Collin pinned on the bed and I pulled an old school move. Yeah buddy, I held him down and I hovered boogery spit over his face, sucked it back in and did it again. The look on his face PRICELESS!

Well, I am off to go rearrange my bedroom before settling down with the monsters kids for a movie. Night.

-Trisha