It's supposed to reach a balmy 91 degrees here in PA today, the kind of weather that makes you wish you had left shorts in the dresser drawers and doesn't particularly put you in the mood for a rustic apple tart, pumpkin bread and a steaming mug of mulled apple cider. All of these things were on my 'to enjoy' list for this coming week-- So, I'm going to have to press the pause button of those ideas for another week because all of those treats call for crisp air and no humidity. I'll have to tackle the mountain of dirty clothes covering the laundry room floor instead. The guys are about to start their second round of chopping corn silage tomorrow so I'm gearing up to not see Aaron in the daylight hours until Sunday afternoon- when it rains..(I bought a box of wine, so I'm feeling prepared). He worked most of this past weekend also but we were able to snag a bit of time with him Saturday night as we were invited to a friends home for dinner and a football game. And then again on Sunday evening, we were able to carve out from family time which resulted in an ATV ride around the farm, the fields, looking for deer, visiting the horses, a stop at our favorite spot along the stream, and finishing it off with a pie of pizza at our local pizzeria.

Weekends like this, even the busy ones in busy season, with the small stolen family moments give me just enough of what I need to fill up my love tank to make it through the week. When you're a farm wife and basically a single parent during harvest time you tend to feel stretched thin, I don't have farm tasks or responsibilities, my job is the children, the meals and everything pertaining to the homefront. And right now with 3 of them, ages 5 and under I have to remind myself to slow down, calm down and give myself grace because I am NOT superwomen and as long as everyone is fed, dressed (usually) and occasionally happy then I'm doing an okay job. If you can relate then just know that you are not alone, I feel you, friend and you got this! 

Happy Friday Friends!

I don't know about everyone else out there but I'm not strong in my 'laundry' game and believe me there is plenty to go around in this house- farm clothes, kids clothes, baby clothes, etc... But, folks; laundry has always been a struggle for me because I put it in the washer, add detergent (the fun part) and then get distracted by a child or another household task and forget the load for about half a day and then it's (drumroll) TOO LATE! That smell, we all know it- has started to set in. I usually always have a million excuses but it really just comes down to forgetfulness and hating the task of laundry. I'm telling you, this is my kryptonite. So here are some tips of how to save your load of laundry and infuse a good smell instead of a musty one!!

My favorite oil to use for stunk up laundry is- Purify! Purify is a combination of Lemon, Lime, Pine, Citronella, Melaleuca, and Cilantro essential oils. When diffused, Purify Cleansing Blend can help eliminate odors from pets, cigarettes, mildew, trash, food, and much more.

 Spotlight: Purify

Above is a link to a spotlight post on Purify if you're interested in knowing what else this amazing oil can do.

Want more info on essential oils? Find it here.

Disclaimer: I only advise using 100% pure, therapeutic grade oils. Read all labels and do your research.

Lately I've noticed that my weekly grocery bill has been on a bit of a roller coaster, some weeks I'm great with planning and using coupons, deals, and featured products at the stores where we shop and other weeks I'm just all over the place which results in a bigger bill and somehow not enough of what we need. So I then end up making several miscellaneous trips through out the week.

It's nice to start the week off with a plan and I enjoy it when I make the time to put the effort in. I've been contemplating trying a 'no spend' month for a while now but I don't know if I can pull the trigger on that just yet. So, this week I decided to challenge myself to a grocery bill no larger than $60, to make a weekly meal plan using most of what we already have in the freezer, fridge, and pantry and only buy to fill in the gaps. We are a household of 2 adults, 2 children, and a baby on solids. Disclaimer: I'm no expert, I'm just giving this a try and bringing you along for the ride.

First, I went through and 'shopped my kitchen'-- making a list of everything I already had on hand. 

After that was completed I got started making up my grocery list, working hard to keep it at $60. My kids are serial snackers so I had to think hard about what snacks I could make myself to have on hand for them. Like making Mini Pumpkin Muffins instead of buying Annie's cookies, Oatmeal Energy Balls instead of buying Clif Kidz bars, Micro Popcorn instead of Pirates booty (I was personally sad about that one), using Orange Juice to make Homemade Gatorade which doubles the life of the OJ bottle in our house and Watermelon, Feta and Mint salad for myself since I already had the feta and mint on hand!

 My grand total came in at $62 and since this was my first go at trying the 'slashing the grocery bill challenge' I'm going to consider it an accomplishment. Our weekly bill usually comes in at around $140-150 dollars. Also, if you have Peapod grocery delivery and pick up in your area they offered $20 off of a purchase of paper towels and bathroom tissue if you choose an on-site pickup. I did that this week instead of having them delivered to the house and basically stocked up (on those products) for the month while saving big time.

If you want to check out what Peapod is all about and if they are delivering to your area here is a link for you --> Save $25 on Each of Your First Two Orders and Free Delivery For 60 Days with code AUTUMN50 at Peapod.com! $50 off promotion includes $25 off each of your first two $100 orders. Valid until 11/18/17.


So, friends, are you challenged to slash your bill? What's your game plan? Be sure to come back and share your before-and-after. I bet you’ll have something to say!