The Broke Wife's Christmas Plan

December 25th ..... Of every single year ..... Christmas happens.

Every year we know it is coming and every single year we hear the same things asked.

All over social media, there are people asking.

 How to get Christmas gifts for less?

How to pay for Christmas gifts?

What places are offering free Christmas gifts to those in need?

Well, I have been the family in need. The single mother working a million hours a day but still not able to pay the bills and give my kids the Christmas I thought they deserved. 

It has been a while since I have been there but I have picked up a few tricks along the way. 

Heres my list of how you can provide your kids or loved ones with the gifts that you want to get them. For free or a fraction of the cost it would normally cost you. 

1. Microsoft Rewards! 

( Get Your Rewards Here )

Okay so this one is so simple a child could do it, But I believe they have to be 18 years old. I could be wrong and it could be 13 years old. You will have to do your own research on that matter. 

However, it is honestly so very simple. 

You log in on your phone/tablet/laptop and you do the items listed there for points. 

Searching Bing on a laptop or desktop computer you get a set amount of points.

As well as for mobile searches either a cell phone or tablet. 

It takes about  10 minutes a day to do and the rewards are so worth it.

You can shop on the Microsoft store, Xbox store, play station store as well as to donate to a number of causes. 

But My daughters favorite is that I can get her Starbucks gift cards to use on my Starbucks account.

The points add up pretty quickly. 

This year I bought my son the wrestling Xbox one game that he has been wanting all year. 

It was 100% free thanks to Microsoft rewards. I will have at least one month if not 2 to 3 months worth of FREE Xbox live gift cards by the time Christmas gets here.

So my kids can play online with their friends and yall be smart add a prepaid card on your live accounts so that your child can not. Spend $100's on crazy things online that they do not need. ( Be smart about your childs online gaming if you allow it. only allow them to play woth people they know. My kids can only play with their cousins or friends that I know very well. ) 

2. VeryDice 

This is an app you download on your tablet or phone. 

All you do is roll the dice and you get free things from Amazon. 

( with free 2-day shipping )

You can do many things to get extra rolls such as surveys, watch 30 seconds or fewer videos.

It is one of my kid's favorite games to play. 

I have gotten 20 free items over the past year from this app. 

Last Christmas we used it and got 8 gifts for my kids Christmas. 

This year so far we have about 6 Christmas gifts and about 6 birthday gifts. 

I have even gotten a $55 water table for our 2-year-olds birthday. 

This game is so much fun and I can't wait to see what other items I will get for free for my kids. 

3. Shopping Sales

Yes, I know that this is no secret, However, it is one that so many don't use as often as they should. 

I buy my kids many clothing items after the season is over and they have huge clothing sales. Places such as Crazy8 and Children's Place often have shirts and shorts for $1 or less and Jeans as low as $3 to $4 each. 

I buy a size bigger so that my children are currently in so that they will have them next year.

That way they have clothes ready and willing whenever the next season comes. 

I am a mother of four so let me tell you that when I see that price in my cart I get excited.

More so when I see the value of the items at 200% more than I paid in most cases.

I have never been so proud as I am when I get to tell my hubby all the money I saved.... Though I admit that I do wait until the huge boxes show up at my door and I see my husbands face. The shock of " oh my goodness wife how much money did you spend this time." It makes my heart happy to know that I am saving my family so much money. 

Plus ya know a wife has to be able to get her amusement somewhere. 

Cooking Class Is Underway

Have you ever questioned why teaching children to cook is no longer a thing?

.... You see all these fast food places taking over. 

So many people are just deciding that it is easier to go out to eat than learning what for

me has always been a basic skill. 

Military kids have to have as many skills as they can get. Life is hard enough without

going out in the world not knowing how to care for yourself. 

So My older two have been learning to cook simple fun recipes. She searched pinterest,

had a set budget and had full control of what she was going to make. 

She has been learning so many skills and I love getting help with some of my things around  our house. I have enough to do being a stay at home mom with four kids to care for plus my husband of course. 

For her first big meal, Hayley made a wonderful dish from another blogger. ( Click  Here for the awesome recipe. ) 

She made SLOW COOKER CREAMY SUN DRIED TOMATO CHICKEN

The love she has for learning to cook even though it is in the crock pot is so exciting. 

She knows that no matter what at least she will not starve once she goes off to college. 

( though she wants to live with her Nonna and Papa for college )

Watching your child learn is the most amazing thing. 

This wasn't a difficult recipe to make by any means but oh let me tell you it was actually really good.

She stayed in budget and is so proud to know that the skills she is learning right now will be skills she will use her whole life. 

After Breakfast Hayley took on the task of wanting to make something fun.

She wanted to go get some scones from our favorite bakery here on post but it simply was not in our new Dave Ramsey budget.

She found a prepackaged scone mix and gave it a try! 

The Sticky Fingers Bakeries Premium Scone Variety Mix was perfect

for her to try out. She loved how simple it was and how for once she could understand clearly what the directions are. She often gets very annoyed with baking directions. 

These took only 15 minutes to bake and they were amazing!

If you're looking for a fun and simple scone for you or your child to make.

I highly recommend giving these a try. 

- Thank was our Funky Military Kid Cooking Friday!

I hope y'all have a wonderful weekend and try out these awesome recipes. 

Comment and let us know if you love cooking with your child and share any of your favorite recipes or links!

My Money Wins Of The Year So Far -VeryDice Scores

I have gotten this question from  A LOT of people through out the past few months on social media. 

So here it is! 

In July 2017 I learned about one of my favorite apps and it changed my life! As I started looking into the Dave Ramsey - Total Money Makeover Book and his program. ( I will post a link to my Dave Ramsey post  later )  I knew I needed to find something to help me learn everything that I never learned about money growing up. I needed to find a way to get my family the things that they want and need at the same time I needed to stop spending money. 

We started the Dave Ramsey journey to make a better happier future for our family. But Let me just tell you that I LOVE to shop online. I love the happiness it brings my family and friends. 

After reading on a Dave Ramsey facebook group about this app that was easy and fun to play as well as you can earn things off of Amazon. I questioned what it was and then said the heck with it and downloaded it. 

It was the BEST decision I could have made and Thanks to that App I have now been happily using for the past year. I have stopped buying my kids Birthday gifts, Christmas of 2017 I bought my kids 4 gifts each just from that app. I paid using my tickets and since I have not paid for not one of my kids gifts. 

18 .... yes you read that right 18! Free items later ranging in prices from $10 to $55 each.

( Things I got my daughter for her birthday reading corner - Light up letter H, Travel coffee cup and a bible journal. Since one of my goals this year was to help each of my kids grow closer to God. 

I got my oldest son throw down baseball bases, a prayer journal, and baseball hitting grip. He is working hard on his baseball skills so he can join the local team this next season. My youngest son For Christmas has a baseball book and Mickey Mouse magnets as he loves Mickey Mouse and wants something to play with on the fridge or in his play room magnet board. Our sweet youngest baby girl has a book for Christmas as we do the 5 gifts plus santa gift thing for Christmas. All items not pictured will be added shortly as I have them put up so the kids wont find them. For Our youngest son I got him a water table for his 2nd birthday and boy let me tell you he has gotten so much joy out of it. )

This app is simple! you start off with 30 FREE rolls ( use my friend Code 397043 ) 

You can watch videos, down load apps, sign up for things like hulu, do surveys or of course pay to get more rolls. ( I however do not pay for the rolls, they give you so many options that I personally dont think it is needed to pay for the rolls. )

You get 30 extra rolls for every friend who uses your friend code. ( mine is 397043 )
This game is the best game I have found out there.

I love the 2 days shipping, the mail lady and I have become very good friends at this point.

I have a LONGGGGG list of items on my future shopping list. Christmas for this year my goal is that I will get most of my kids Christmas gifts off of VeryDice. Last year I got half of their gifts off of of very dice so I feel like its a go big or go home kind of thing this year. 

The Search For Me With 23andMe

Saturday, January 10th, 1987

The day that started and changed everything for me.
It is where I started and where all of the lies and questions began to form.

Saturday, January 10th, 1987 was the day I was born.

From that moment on, every breath I would take and every moment I got I had to fight for. Not only from the normal things but from being a 35 weeker who was born about 4 pounds. A Mother who was a drug addict, with serious daddy issues. Who felt having kids would keep what ever man in her life. A woman who knew nothing of what it truly meant to be a mother to any of the children she birthed.

I fought to get a sense of myself and who I am  from a very young age. Feeling like everything I knew or thought I knew about my family was just more and more lies. As the years have gone by I have learned that the foundation of my " family. " Was based on lies that we were all told by my Grandmother, Mother and Father. To put it simply my grandmother was never married to my grandfather. He was married to another women in another state and had children with her. He was married to her until the day he died. ( before I was born ) This simple fact changed the way I seen my grandmother, not that I had a high opinion of her to start with. That fact explained so much for me about why my family was so small compared to the ones I grew up with. There was no family beyond my grandmother, my mother and her two sisters and older brother ( who lived in another state and we never got to see ) It explained why my grandmother wouldn't answer questions and why I had only seen a picture of my grand father once in my life. It explained why I have never gotten to meet any of the Rogers family that I was part of.

My mother was married to my father for years and he was around here and there. We spend a few summers with him but he was never a real dad. Never like the ones everyone else seemed to have nor was he like the step fathers and other men in my mothers life who seemed to come and go. He was there when he was there and not when he was not and that is just that. The information I know about his family is based on lies I am sure. My mother says that he put himself up for adoption, changed his name from what it once was and from there split from his adopted family. He has no relationship to anyone really from the way he tells it and that was a fight to get out of him as it was. He would rather cut his children out of his life instead of telling any of the 6 or 7 of us about our own family. I was always told he was Italian but that is all I know about him.

A few years ago I decided to really dig deep into where I am from and started researching. At which time I found out that my Grand father on my mothers side had yet another child ( number 11 ) in yet another state with another lady. Who was younger than my mother who was said to be his youngest child. I know that the Rogers family lives in West VA and that they have a family reunion every year. However my bio mother and other family I have no relationship with attends every year and that is why I am not ever going to get an invite. I found out that one of my great great ( many greats ) grand fathers was a Captin during the American Revolution. I started the search of proof for what I need to join the DAR ( Daughters of the American Revolution, an amazing non profit group ) In hopes that I can join and not only volunteer but find out more about my family.

I also found out that my Great grand father  Charles Rogers ( like 5 times to that great or maybe 4 )  came to American from Ireland. For what reason I am unsure as there seem to be a few different stories out there. But anyhow I know nothing really other than what I have found on different family tree websites along with a full family tree for the Rogers family leading all the way back to Charles Rogers but that is where I his a brick wall.

When it comes to my grandmothers side of the family on my mothers side I know pretty much nothing beyond my grand mothers maiden name.

.... So with all of this information I prayed for years about what to do and how I might have a chance at finding more answers. With hardly any information I know that this is very hard to do and I haven't known where to turn to next.

Well that is up until July 16th 2018 when I took a huge step that I have thought and prayed about many many times. I bought the 23andMe DNA and health test to find out if it is possible to find more information with out my family helping me.

On July 22nd, 2018 ( yes a Sunday because it was harder to send it than I thought. ) My amazing oldest daughter helped me by dropping it in the ' big blue thing. ' It was harder to take this step for me not because I don't want to know. It is because I am scared to death about it being another road block to  the answers I crave. I know that sounds so silly but I know not everyone has family members pop up on there. I also know some people have had issues getting results to find out what regions they are from. But here I am sitting and waiting for these results. I am about a week into the waiting process and it freaking sucks!

From what I have read this process can take any where from 6 to 8 weeks on average but I know that some people have had results in a less as 3 weeks. I of course am trying not to get my hopes up too much but it's hard to not get hopeful for early results. I am at the 1st green dot (2nd if your on a laptop but 1st on my cell ) as of this moment where they have not yet gotten my little box. ( Y'all the tracking number is pointless at this point when the updates from the USPS are total crap just saying it went from one place to the next but no longer say where the place is located. )

So that is where I am at and I will update as this process moves along. In hopes that I get some answers to the questions I have always had.

** Update so they are updating something and it will take even longer to get my results. That just not what anyone wants to wake up and read. When they are waiting on results that can answer so many questions they have asked all their lives. However at least I know that at some point I will get my results... maybe .... I think at least but it has felt like forever since I sent this little box off.  **

( all pictures used on this post are my property, do not use these pictures with out first getting written consent from me. )

The Place I Have Always Belonged

Today …. a long year after my last post.

I sit in a place in my life that I have been waiting to hit. The point where I have always dreamed of being. The place I have planned for, talked about and waited what feels like a million life times for.

You know that dream you have for yourself. The one you have dreamt of since you where a little kid?

Like the center of an amazing melting center of your favorite candy bar.
The moment you get the item you have worked so very hard for.
When you get your very first car and freedom you have waited so long for.

Today is that day for me and let me just tell you know that it is the most amazing breath taking time of my life. I couldn't have ever in my life dreamed it would ever be this great.

See I am not like most people or at least not  like most of the people I know or have known.

My biggest dream wasn't some big fancy job. It wasn't a huge house ( Though I will admit I need a larger one than I have most days. ) or a big fancy car/suv/truck. I have always wanted and dreamed of this life.

A crazy, never ending happiness kind of life. The life that I use to day dream about and knew with out a doubt that it was the life I wanted. The life I have always known would be mine one day and oh let me just tell you I could not wait.

Let me just tell you that it is way more amazing than I ever though it could or would be truly.

I am a MOMMY of 4 amazing crazy kids officially!!

I know …. I know …. I am a huge stereotype in many ways when it comes to Military life.

I am a stay at home mom , I have 4 kids so a huge family and to some it may appear like I just keep " popping out " more kids. I am not in the best shape of my life and I pretty much always have yoga pants, a messy bun and a top with baby spit up on it. ( but only while at home or at least that's the lie I tell myself most days. )

However for me, this is it! This is the life I have always dreamed of and it couldn't be any better. My hubby has a job he seems to love, we are learning to set a new path as a family of 6. The kinks are still being worked out but I am honestly loving my life! It is everything I wanted as a child.

It was a long hard pregnancy and the birth of our final baby. Was not what we planned nor was her time after but it has been such a blessing to all be together. ( I will make another post later this week about her birth and the days after. )

Let me just tell y'all as moms we all know when our family is complete and that feeling is hard to explain. I know it's different for everyone but for me I just know I have the life I have always wanted. I have known since I was 12 that I wanted to have 4 kids. ( two boys and two girls ) I wanted to have them close in age but God and secondary infertility had other plans.

I love being a mom to these 4 kids. I cant believe that this is my life and I am so very very blessed to live the life I do. It isn't easy at times and I know its going to be harder when my hubby. Goes off to training, the field and schools that I am sure will come sooner than I would want. However I am happier than I have ever been and I know that Army life doesn't stop just because I have four kids to care for. I know that my hubby and I can handle anything life or the Military has instore for our family.

It still feels like I am dreaming and I honestly am scared that I will wake up at any moment.
It could be the lack of sleep mixed with coffee that has me so excited about being a mommy of four.
But HEY! if it works for me right now than I say pour me another cup and lets do this mommy thing!

This is the place I have always belonged and it feels AMAZING!! To be living the life that I have at this very special moment in my life!

So here's to the sleepless nights, the crazy four kids running amuck. The Military wife life that we all know is never ending stress most of the time. The many many cups of coffee past present and the ones that have yet to be brewed. This life might be crazy but it's all mine!

The Two Objections I Hear Every Day.

Okay Y'all know that I am a huge fan of posting my feelings on so many different topics.
I love to speak my mind and I love to do everything I can to change the world.

There are somethings I have been deathly scared to make a video of myself.
I have been scared to death to show pictures of myself in any way.

I am not proud of what I look like. I am not proud of the weight I have gained since 2009.
But I did it! I made my very first video!

This video is all about the two big objections that I hear a few times a day. Mostly from Military wives of why they would not want to or could not start their own business. Why they do not think they need to work out or change their bad eating habits.

Check out my video and feel free to share with your friends and comment.

Thank yall for your support through out this whole process!

Looking Back At Where I Was

3 years .... that is how long it has has taken me to see just how much my life has changed.

It doesn't feel like it has been almost 3 years already but sure enough we are about to hit that point.
3 years of  marriage is right around the corner and holy cow how things have changed in that amount of time.

1. Dealing with a hardship tour right after we got married.
2. Custody battle with people who only wanted our kids for the money.
3. Our First Year of marriage pretty much totally apart.
4. Giving up the chance to pcs to another country due to the on going custody battle. Only to find out     we could have gone.
5. PCSing only days after my husband returned state side.
6. Moving to a whole new state far away from the East Cost I have always known and loved.
7. The struggle of secondary infertility which I never thought I would deal with in my life time.
8. The loss of babies once I was able to get pregnant.
9. Moving to a 3rd state with in 1 year.
10. Getting pregnant and being on bed rest with our youngest.
11. Having our little boy born 6 weeks early after a long and difficult pregnancy.
12. Surviving the NICU life and not being able to hold him after my c section.

The list just goes on and on yet here we all are standing here together. Happy, stronger than ever and ready to move on to the next phase in our lives.

It didn't seem like we have come that far but we did. We have made it through tornado's and storms that I never thought we would ever go through. We fought to stay together and grow our family.

To think that 3 years ago I was just a gypsy girl sitting in an a crappy apartment with my best friend and crazy kids chatting about what the future would hold for us. I was controlled by my family and my ex husbands family. I had no real control or say over my own life. I wasn't able to be the mom or friend that I wanted to be. I honestly thought that living in campers and tents and any where else I had lived in the past. Was going to be the hardest time of my life but let me tell you I was wrong. All of the hard things I went through lead me to where I am right now. Every failed relationship was showing me what I didn't want in my life. Every tear I cried was making me tougher for my future life. All the years I was a single mom was making sure I could handle the house and kids. On my own because my husband would be working often. Every thing has brought me and my children to this life that we live now.

 I never in my life would have thought that I would find the man of my dreams. Fall madly in love and that we would be where we are today. I never thought I would have this kind of happiness but here I am every day living a life that I am so blessed to have.

I honestly thought my best friend would still be living with us or maybe she would be in love and married with a baby of her own by this point in our lives. She helped me raise my older two for most of their lives. She is going to make an amazing mother and wife one day. I will forever hold out hope for her to fall in love and be happy. I could wish nothing more for her than true happiness and a family.

Chatting with her the other day brought all of this up to me, it reminded me just how much my life has changed. I don't know what life has in store for our future but I know that it will be amazing. So when your having a hard day. Just sit back and think about how far you have actually come in life. Think about where you were and where you are now and what it had taken for you to get there.

Could someone have told me that back then, umm NO. Not a chance that I would have listened to them but I see it every single day of my life. I see the changes coming to the lives of my friends. I see their struggle bringing the to wonderful places in life. I know that the hardships are not over for me and my family. Deployments happy, hardships happen but ya know what life is amazing and beautiful. Just keep your head up and know where you want to be in and life. Faith and hard work will always get you where you need to be, even if it is not where you thought you would end up.

Because life behind these gates ....  is always an adventure!

Always, Steph