As a mom, I feel like my number one job is always to take care of everyone else.  I rarely, if ever, have someone babysit my kiddos and I really never go anywhere without them.  They are MY gifts from God and therefore they are MY responsibility.  This has always been my thought process for 15 years of marriage.  When I would hear mom's talk about monthly date nights or mom's night out or a vacation without the kids I would gasp!  Yup--totally was judgemental.  Truth--as women, we most often are!  But then something changed.  I would laughingly say it was Young Living, but it was a strange by-product of joining Young Living that I never expected.......FRIENDS! I met some of the most wonderful women ever.  I also started to learn more and more about self care and how advantageous it is to my entire family when I take care of me sometimes, even if for a short time. Last year I took my first ever vacation without my family!  I was a w...

OKAY, so I took some of your advice on changes to make before embarking on camping trip #2.  So let's chat about how those changes planned out and what I think of camping now. Many of you told me to plan more activities for the kiddos to keep them busy.  That worked pretty well on this trip because it happened to have been a campsite that is attached to an amusement park.  We did morning rides, back to the camper for lunch and naps, out for afternoon rides, then back for supper.  Little kids usually went back to the park for fireworks or more little rides while the bigger girls and I hit up the amazing concerts available! Even though everyone was way over tired and exhausted, everyone seemed pretty happy because they just wanted to keep doing things.  This made life easier for me!  I also made SURE that I did not forget my hormone loving oils and supplements.......HUGE difference that made!  No crazy mom syndrome on this trip!  We were loc...

I love when I hear people talking about relationships being 50/50.  As far as I know, putting 50% of yourself into anything is not going to give you the best return.  This seems to be common sense.  Or better yet when people say that it should be 100/100.  This sounds so nice and "proper".  It also sounds like Disney to me!  The idea behind the 100/100 is great, but flawed.  I like to think of one of the most rewarding relationships - my kids.  Guess what?  Any mom knows that you put 100% in almost every day and you DO NOT get 100% back.  So, why are we okay with this and why are these relationships still the most rewarding for us? This is partly because we don't generally expect much at all from our children.  It is also due to the old adage that it is better to give than to receive.  Although we may give everything we have to our children and expect very little in return.....these are still the best and most rewarding rel...

TRUTH- what does this mean to you?  Is truth black and white, grey or multicolored? I have a hard time with this one to be honest.  I like Black and white!  It seems simpler when the rules are one or the other.  Almost like I don't really need to make the decision, I just need to choose one of the two choices and be done with it.  Very little thinking is required in my black and white mind. BUT--LIFE!  Life does not allow for all things to be black and white.  This causes me some stress sometimes.  Like I said, black and white is easier for me.  Sometimes grey is the color for the day and this requires thought, prayer and actually making a decision.  Hard Work! I have been pondering this concept a lot lately because I feel that many times, way too often actually, we are raised with ideas or "rules" that we have become accustomed to that we never really thought much about.  I have begun to question many of my beliefs in a ton o...

OKAY--whoever talked me into this camping thing seriously needs to repent.  All of my friends, you know who you are, that told me about all of the fun and the memories and yadda yadda yadda........ LIES...ALL LIES!  I darn near lost my religion going camping for five days with this crew.  OH LAWDY!  I have fully decided that I am not a great camping mom.  I did learn a few lessons on this past trip.  Lesson number one is that I will NEVER forget my Progessence Plus oil at home EVER again!  I packed all necessary essential oils ahead of time and completely forgot the one that I use every night to keep away the "mom crazies". Second lesson is that I need to have a schedule of things for my kiddos to do that includes SCHEDULED times at the pool, playground, etc ahead of time.  Then they MAY not beg to go in five different directions all at the same time. Third lesson is that Mommy NEEDS down time.  I didn't realize exactly how much!...

#1 questions I get asked SSSOOO much....."Is it hard to homeschool?"  Well, that answer is a tiny bit complicated.  The answer is YES and NO!  So before I talk about the difficulty of homeschooling, I need to preface this my saying every state is different and NY is very strict on education laws.  After living in a state that has extremely relaxed education law, I have come to appreciate the reasoning behind NYS law. So, to homeschool a child you must submit paperwork that tells the school district of your intentions.  We call this a "Letter of Intent".....easy peasy!  Next step is an Individualized Home Instruction Plan or an IHIP.  This is a basic layout of what you will teach your student throughout the year.  NY does give you some guidelines here that you must adhere to but they do not dictate what curriculum is needed. There are quarterly reports that are required to keep status on how your student(s) is doing.  And then there is a f...

How? is the question I get asked so often when it comes to my life. How do you homeschool that many kiddos? How do you work from home? How do you do both? I pretty much have two words to sum up the answer to all of those questions..........God and Organization. First, I feel like God has ordained my life exactly the way He wants it.  Who can argue with that!  He has opened the doors for me to be able to be home to raise and educate my children.  He has blessed our business with abundance and He has allowed me the opportunity to start a new business that has been such a great blessing to me and my family. Second, organization!  This is key to everything I do.  Does this mean that my home runs like a well oiled macine with everything in it's place and perfet.  NOPE!  Many times in my world chaotic organization is the best kind.  But it is organization none the less. Running two business from home and homeschooling five kiddos plus regular...

This is a song I wrote for my sister and few years ago.  Here is part of her story that I told in another post:   My sister's story Sonya Jean I wish I had one more day, I wish I had just one more day. If someone had told me that this was the way; I would have wished for just one more day. The good Lord giveth, and He taketh away, I wish I had just one more day. Such short time on Earth, you had to live; And in that time you had so much to give. A mother, sister and a daughter, A spirit filled with fun and laughter. As sickness came to take you away, I held tight to every day. I wish I had one more day, I wish I had just one more day. If someone had told me that this was the way; I would have wished for just one more day. The good Lord giveth, and He taketh away, I wish I had just one more day. So many things I should have said, Sitting there beside your bed. The most important we covered, The day you prayed and Jesus ...

Many people ask me why or how I began my journey with Young Living.  It definately was not by accident.  God had a plan and a purpose.  My husband had chronic severe migraines.  Sometimes he would have as many as twenty six or more debilitating migraines a month.  This is unbearable for anyone but especially unbearable for a self employed man who lives in a 1000 square foot home with his wife and five children.  Life was exhausting and hard. We went to many doctors throughout NY, MS, VT and CA looking for answers.  We tried all the migraine medicines, accupuncture, accupressure, chiropractic, nutrition, botox, special glasses, you name it!  Nothing worked.  We were at our wits end and had a medicine cabinet so full of drugs that my husband seemed like a zombie. I was fed up.  I knew that there had to be a better way but wasn't sure what that was.  Regardless, I knew that taking as many drugs as he was, my husband's body no lo...

Have you ever been so passionate about something that it makes you almost cry?  I have....I AM!  I am this passionate about seeing lives changed.  I am this passionate about health and wellness.........BUT I am even more passionate about kicking cancer to the curb! Cancer Sucks! Do you realize that the American Cancer Society says that 90% off all cancers are preventable!  What does that mean?  LIFESTYLE choices are killing us.....literally!  Many people have the "not me" approach to cancer or the "well, if it's my time" ideaology.  I may or may not change your mindset, but at least indulge me for these few minutes.  I would love to tell you my story and see if it at least makes you think twice about what you allow in your house, on your skin, in the air around you....and in your mouth! When I was twenty years old, I had a twenty eight year old sister get diagnosed with cancer.  Yes---TWENTY EIGHT!  Most people would think lit...

Music!  Just the thought makes me smile.  I come from a hugely talented family of musicians.  From the earliest of days I clearly remember music and instruments being a vital part of every family gathering.  Music just was!  It brought us together, it was fun, and it was what we did.  We always called it "pickin and grinnin". As I watch the last of that family generation fade into memories I am overwhelmed by the thought of the music "dying" with them.  There are very few of us in the younger generation that can play music like my dad's generation in our family.  It will be greatly missed when they are gone but the appreciation for music, family, love and good old times will always remain. I blame my dad for my deep love of all things music.  Although I truly cannot play music (or sing really), I love and appreciate so many kinds of music.  A song can transport me to so many places, it can speak to my sould, help me worship, tell ...

I hear so often "I can't get on the Essential Rewards program because all of Young Living's products are so expensive" or "Wow, you pay that much for shampoo?" Yup, I do!  BUT there are a few reasons WHY I pay that much for shampoo (and other products) First- I get my household products like shampoo, conditioner, laundry soap, body wash, face cleaners, etc from Young Living on the Essential Rewards program.  I am going to buy these products anyway and Walmart does not give me anything for buying this stuff.  Young Living gives me 20% back on all of my products!!!! Second- Because I do buy my products on Essential Rewards I get FREE products PLUS I know that these products are non toxic and work amazingly!  Buying "healthy, non toxic" products at Walmart is almost impossible! Third-  HACKS!!!!!!!!  Young Living products are so amazingly concentrated that I have learned many hacks to make them last WAY longer than most people know.  For inst...

We as mom's tend to be pretty thorough about keeping our homes clean.  It's the place our kids eat, play, sleep and live.  Most mom's I know try their hardest to keep a clean environment to ward off any unwanted side effects of a dirty environment!  I know that my floors are one of my greatest areas of issue.  Our high traffic kitchen area has linoleum flooring and the entry ways have hard wood.  This creates a lot of indoor/outddor foot traffic.  The dog also contributes to this traffic. My kids predominantly run around our home barefoot.  So I like to keep the floors as clean and "critter" free as possible.  I was astonished when I learned that my hard pressed desire to keep my kids healthy by mopping the floors constantly may have been doing more damage than good! The chemicals we use to clean our homes are predominantly doing more damage to our families than good!  I was shocked!  Watch the video below done by Dr. Jim Bob Hagge...

We are preparing for our first ever (really) camping trip.  Now, you would need to know me to know that this is a STRETCH for me!  No, I am lying.....its not a stretch it is a full blown miraculous thing.  BUT, remember, I am working on Fun and Family this year and someone convinced me that camping would accomplish both.  I, however, am quite certain that camping with strengthen my Faith more than anything.  Two adults, five kiddos, one dog all in one camper....YUP--this will make or break my Faith! I am NOT a big fan of camping.  When someone puts vacation plus camping in the same sentence it sounds like an oximoron to me.  We did go camping TWICE in the last sixteen years of marriage.  The first time was in a tent big enough to barely fit the air mattress......not good!  That was before we had kiddos.  Then we went again with three kiddos in a "three room" tent.  Um, NO....those are definately not three rooms.  It's like on...

Most people assume that because I home school five children that I love it.  NOT so much!  My reasons for homeschooling my children have very little to do with my feelings about it, and more to do with my Faith and my convictions about Family! You see, I was not a home schooled kid.  I went to public school in a relatively large school district.  My graduating class had almost 200 people.  My husband went to a very small private school in the south.  Niether of us had ever personally experienced homeschooling. When we were married, actually before, we discussed our thoughts and ideas on family size and all issues about having children.  The idea of an optimal schooling environment came up pretty quickly.  There were a few reasons that we originally decided to home school, but over the years they changed a bit. We initially felt a Biblical desire to be the key contributors to our children's education so that we could oversee what they were ta...

The year our lives changed 2017 was an epic year for our family.  In order to properly tell you why, I need to back up…...way up! A bit of background to get us started.  It was June 2011, our family had 4 children at the time, we had barely begun to build a brand new home, and we had little to no debt.  We did not live lavishly, but we were trusting God in all areas of our business and He always provided. Being self employed always seemed to have the feeling of instability about work and pay and the future.  My husband and I started to wonder if a “traditional” job would be a better choice for our family.  We also wanted a change in scenery do to life being a bit trying in some areas.  We decided to start praying about moving.   My husband truly desired to be back in the south and I was all for the warmer weather.  NY winters were rough!  Then it happened.  There was a job in MS that appeared to hold all things we desired....