I am thankful for ~~~~~
*my bonus daughter Katie Lynn on her birthday
*for extended time spent with Greg while he practices "retirement"
*for time spent with my mom
*for sweet texts back & forth with Amy Lynn
*for plans for our future
*for fun times with friends
*for warm clothes in this really cold southern weather
*for the essential oils I have purchased and the knowledge from others on how to use them
*for my sugar free hot chocolate (its cold!)
*for my strong, healthy, growing grandsons
*for watching the Lords plan for us unfold and mesh together
*for a storage place for the items we have moved (moms basement)
*for a friend having a well timed garage sale and wanting donations for her sale ~ we've loaded her up
*for my cousins sharing some of my aunt's possessions ~ oil lamps, silverware, a couple of pieces of furniture for our new home
*for salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ
Saturday, February 28, 2015
Monday, February 23, 2015
Great information on doTERRA Essential Oils
What is an Essential Oil?
http://www.mydoterra.com/donnajackson3/essentialDefinition.html
Essential Oils through History ~
http://www.mydoterra.com/donnajackson3/essentialHistory.html
Uses of Essential Oils ~
http://www.mydoterra.com/donnajackson3/essentialUses.html
How are oils extracted?
http://www.mydoterra.com/donnajackson3/essentialExtraction.html
Essential Oil quality grades ~
http://www.mydoterra.com/donnajackson3/essentialGrades.html
How do I use oils safely ~
http://www.mydoterra.com/donnajackson3/essentialSafety.html
&OwnerID=1647833
How do I sign up to purchase oils at wholesale prices?
http://www.mydoterra.com/donnajackson3/companyIndependentProductConsultants.html
http://www.mydoterra.com/donnajackson3/essentialDefinition.html
Essential Oils through History ~
http://www.mydoterra.com/donnajackson3/essentialHistory.html
Uses of Essential Oils ~
http://www.mydoterra.com/donnajackson3/essentialUses.html
How are oils extracted?
http://www.mydoterra.com/donnajackson3/essentialExtraction.html
Essential Oil quality grades ~
http://www.mydoterra.com/donnajackson3/essentialGrades.html
How do I use oils safely ~
http://www.mydoterra.com/donnajackson3/essentialSafety.html
&OwnerID=1647833
How do I sign up to purchase oils at wholesale prices?
http://www.mydoterra.com/donnajackson3/companyIndependentProductConsultants.html
Why the Name? and More!
Honestly, we put the s on the end of farm because to us, Jacksons Farm sounded weird.
I was kinda leaning toward "Little House in the Country" but Greg like Jackson Farms better ~ seeing as we are Jacksons and all that!
Our "farm" will have lots of uses ~ gardens (mom has already requested lots of green beans), fruit trees, chickens, maybe pigs, bunnies, wood working shop, possibly a ceramics business, cupcake business, and more! And a place where grandkids can romp, play, create, ride bikes, etc.~
A realtor came and looked at our house yesterday ~ we've got a little bit of work to do ~ some painting and such. She will be coming back with a stager to see whats best for each room.
The garage looks like the attic upchucked in it ~ because it did! We are getting somewhat bogged down because we are finding some awesome stuff ~ pictures, family treasures, our childrens childhood goodies, cards, etc.
*Another week ~ another change....we decided on Jackson Family Farm. It will be a family venture, on one piece of land!
I was kinda leaning toward "Little House in the Country" but Greg like Jackson Farms better ~ seeing as we are Jacksons and all that!
Our "farm" will have lots of uses ~ gardens (mom has already requested lots of green beans), fruit trees, chickens, maybe pigs, bunnies, wood working shop, possibly a ceramics business, cupcake business, and more! And a place where grandkids can romp, play, create, ride bikes, etc.~
A realtor came and looked at our house yesterday ~ we've got a little bit of work to do ~ some painting and such. She will be coming back with a stager to see whats best for each room.
The garage looks like the attic upchucked in it ~ because it did! We are getting somewhat bogged down because we are finding some awesome stuff ~ pictures, family treasures, our childrens childhood goodies, cards, etc.
*Another week ~ another change....we decided on Jackson Family Farm. It will be a family venture, on one piece of land!
Friday, February 20, 2015
Changes!
Our lives have been changing and "evolving" for the almost 10 years of our marriage ~ 6 of our 7 children have graduated from high school, our homeschooling years are over, 4 of the 6 have flown the coop and established their own households, 3 o the 6 are married, 2 of the 6 have children! On a sidenote ~ being a MaMa (grandma) is AWESOME!
We've also been anticipating the date that Greg is eligible to retire. He's been counting down the days for several years. And with the customs of today when people change jobs all the time ~ sticking with one job for 25 years is quite the accomplishment. The magical "I am eligible to retire" date is April 1st......this year!
We've decided to retire and move! We are downsizing! Not "tiny house" downsizing but it will be a big difference to us. We are currently cleaning out. We've got 3 piles ~ a keep, a trash, and a donate. We've found lots of treasures ~ 1 found some Disney tickets ~ remember E tickets? I have 1! Greg found some money~stuck in envelopes and put in a box, probably from his desk at their old house. We even found a box of stuff that wasn't even ours, I guess from the people that lived here before. We have a box for each of the children ~ we are distributing treasures as we find them.
And, I will have to change the name of the blog. Because the name Mississippi Mama will be a lie ~ we aren't going to be in Mississippi. We are relocating to Georgia ~ where I grew up and lived until Greg and I got married.
We've made one trip over and taken a trailer full of valuables. Mom has a huge basement that we can store our goods in. We've looked at houses and narrowed it down to what we have named "the grandma house"....there was a grandma in it when we looked at it! Its a ranch style house on 4+ acres. The land is cleared and the back pastures are fenced and ready for animals and a huge garden. Chickens are a definite and possibly pigs too. The dogs will have lots of room to run. If its not this house ~ then it will probably be something similar.
This area is 9 miles from my mom, 13 miles from Allen, and just 2 hours from Katie. Andy & AmyKate were already talking about moving to Atlanta after he graduates in May.
We are excited, nervous, anxious, thrilled, scared, and loving our dreams for the future!
Mississippi Mama & MaMa is now officially "Jackson Farms"!
We've also been anticipating the date that Greg is eligible to retire. He's been counting down the days for several years. And with the customs of today when people change jobs all the time ~ sticking with one job for 25 years is quite the accomplishment. The magical "I am eligible to retire" date is April 1st......this year!
We've decided to retire and move! We are downsizing! Not "tiny house" downsizing but it will be a big difference to us. We are currently cleaning out. We've got 3 piles ~ a keep, a trash, and a donate. We've found lots of treasures ~ 1 found some Disney tickets ~ remember E tickets? I have 1! Greg found some money~stuck in envelopes and put in a box, probably from his desk at their old house. We even found a box of stuff that wasn't even ours, I guess from the people that lived here before. We have a box for each of the children ~ we are distributing treasures as we find them.
And, I will have to change the name of the blog. Because the name Mississippi Mama will be a lie ~ we aren't going to be in Mississippi. We are relocating to Georgia ~ where I grew up and lived until Greg and I got married.
We've made one trip over and taken a trailer full of valuables. Mom has a huge basement that we can store our goods in. We've looked at houses and narrowed it down to what we have named "the grandma house"....there was a grandma in it when we looked at it! Its a ranch style house on 4+ acres. The land is cleared and the back pastures are fenced and ready for animals and a huge garden. Chickens are a definite and possibly pigs too. The dogs will have lots of room to run. If its not this house ~ then it will probably be something similar.
This area is 9 miles from my mom, 13 miles from Allen, and just 2 hours from Katie. Andy & AmyKate were already talking about moving to Atlanta after he graduates in May.
We are excited, nervous, anxious, thrilled, scared, and loving our dreams for the future!
Mississippi Mama & MaMa is now officially "Jackson Farms"!
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
Amy's New Business "Venture"
Amy found a new business to start on Pinterest last night......
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| Fresh Water Shrimp Farming at Home
I guess this makes perfect sense considering this is the wedding cake she wants when the time comes~~~~~
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Monday, February 9, 2015
Dryer Balls DIY
I found a cool tutorial on making your own dryer balls ~ from 100% wool yarn. And would be money saving in the long run. The original link I followed was to http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2014/04/how-to-make-your-own-energy-saving-wool-dryer-balls.html. Jillee has tons of great ideas for the home ~ well worth looking into her blog and exploring!
In January, Amy went and bought me 2 skeins of "Love This Wool" from Hobby Lobby. I double checked the label because I had read the balls would not "felt" properly with a wool blend. These particular skeins were 90% wool, 10% acrylic. We returned them last week and got the same brand but 100% wool. The 2 different skeins were side by side at HL ~ very misleading!
Anyway, out of the 2 skeins I thought I would get enough dryer balls for 2 sets ~ one for me and one for Mom (who strongly hinted that she needed these too). However, after I round them into balls, I got 5 balls of approximately tennis ball size ~ a set is 4-5 balls. So back to Hobby Lobby for more yarn.
After you get your ball shape ~ you secure the yarn. I followed Jillee's instructions and then repeated the process several times for each ball. I didn't want to have the dryer balls that disentigrated into a tangled mess.
I tied them into a leg of knee high hose, tied acrylic yarn in between each ball and started washing and drying in hot water. Then I decided to take a short cut ~ put the hose wrapped balls into a big ceramic popcorn bowl (thanks Brenda) and poured boiling water over them ~ then weighted them down with a plate and my metal utensil holder, to keep them under the water. After several hours, I dried them. I repeated that process twice. The 1st and 5th time, I washed them in the washer.
Now, they are "felted". I was a little apprehensive to take off the hose because I still had visions of them falling apart. Not only did they not fall apart, they were felted to the hose and I had to peel them off. One ball still has a nice chunk of hose on it that I can't get off.
And why make these ~~~~~ glad you asked.....they are supposed to cut your drying time in half, using a natural product is better for your clothes than dryer sheets loaded with chemicals, this set of balls should last a year (each skein was $5.99, I used 2 for the set, so $11.98 for a year instead of $3-4 a month for dryer sheets and fabric softener. Knowing that I will need another set in a year, I can now watch for this yarn to go on sale instead of paying full price!)
I did scent mine with lavender essential oil ~ just 3-4 drops on each one. Laundry day is today, so they will get their first work out!
The hardest part of this whole process ~ getting the hose off the balls!
First load done ~ 45 minutes instead of an hour and no unraveled balls! And no static in our knit shirts and sweaters. Load in now is jeans ~ so they will get a good workout this time ~ next load is towels. I'll report back!
****I did 4 loads ~ the drying time on each load was cut by 20 or more minutes. This includes the 2 loads of jeans/bath towels. I imagine in the summer, that drying time will reduce more with the lighter weight clothing. And there was no static in any of our clothing. So far, this is a successful experiment!
In January, Amy went and bought me 2 skeins of "Love This Wool" from Hobby Lobby. I double checked the label because I had read the balls would not "felt" properly with a wool blend. These particular skeins were 90% wool, 10% acrylic. We returned them last week and got the same brand but 100% wool. The 2 different skeins were side by side at HL ~ very misleading!
Anyway, out of the 2 skeins I thought I would get enough dryer balls for 2 sets ~ one for me and one for Mom (who strongly hinted that she needed these too). However, after I round them into balls, I got 5 balls of approximately tennis ball size ~ a set is 4-5 balls. So back to Hobby Lobby for more yarn.
After you get your ball shape ~ you secure the yarn. I followed Jillee's instructions and then repeated the process several times for each ball. I didn't want to have the dryer balls that disentigrated into a tangled mess.
I tied them into a leg of knee high hose, tied acrylic yarn in between each ball and started washing and drying in hot water. Then I decided to take a short cut ~ put the hose wrapped balls into a big ceramic popcorn bowl (thanks Brenda) and poured boiling water over them ~ then weighted them down with a plate and my metal utensil holder, to keep them under the water. After several hours, I dried them. I repeated that process twice. The 1st and 5th time, I washed them in the washer.
Now, they are "felted". I was a little apprehensive to take off the hose because I still had visions of them falling apart. Not only did they not fall apart, they were felted to the hose and I had to peel them off. One ball still has a nice chunk of hose on it that I can't get off.
And why make these ~~~~~ glad you asked.....they are supposed to cut your drying time in half, using a natural product is better for your clothes than dryer sheets loaded with chemicals, this set of balls should last a year (each skein was $5.99, I used 2 for the set, so $11.98 for a year instead of $3-4 a month for dryer sheets and fabric softener. Knowing that I will need another set in a year, I can now watch for this yarn to go on sale instead of paying full price!)
I did scent mine with lavender essential oil ~ just 3-4 drops on each one. Laundry day is today, so they will get their first work out!
 |
| ready to be washed & dried |
 |
| the finished product! They shrunk in the process. Use all 5 per load! |
 |
| the hose stuck to the ball. |
First load done ~ 45 minutes instead of an hour and no unraveled balls! And no static in our knit shirts and sweaters. Load in now is jeans ~ so they will get a good workout this time ~ next load is towels. I'll report back!
****I did 4 loads ~ the drying time on each load was cut by 20 or more minutes. This includes the 2 loads of jeans/bath towels. I imagine in the summer, that drying time will reduce more with the lighter weight clothing. And there was no static in any of our clothing. So far, this is a successful experiment!
Tuesday, February 3, 2015
Needlepoint Patterns from Pinterest
Freebies are AWESOME~ to find me on Pinterest click on this link https://www.pinterest.com/missmomof7/. The easiest way I have found to print out these goodies ~ click on the pin, on the next screen, right click and copy. I then paste them into a file to wait for printing. When you get to the print stage, check the box on the print screen that says...fit to page. That way you get the whole pattern that is pictured. Looks like some Thanksgiving stiching will be happening soon with these cute patterns I found!
Monday, February 2, 2015
Rainbow Loom Bracelets for Honduras
Between Amy & my neice Bethany ~ 375 rainbow loom bracelets were made to give to the VBS children in Honduras. Amy, Granny & I also bought tiny looms, bands, and clasps to make 20 "kits" to give to people down there. Each kit also included picture instructions. EVERYONE loved receiving these bracelets ~ tiny babies to great grandmas! What precious smiles & "gracias" from everyone!
Sorry some are sideways ~ Will let me borrow his little camera to take and it doesn't automatically flip the pictures like mine does. This little girl was 4 and her name is Raquel. She is probably Amy's youngest to tutor in making the bracelets. Everytime she stretched an elastic band over the loom, she looked up and grinned at us! The bigger kids needed to get into the act too! You can buy the bands in Honduras but not the looms. Amy left her loom with Sharon & her sister Samantha. Now Michaels needs to have a good sale so Amy can get another!
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