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. 

Power of the sisterhood

Yesterday I found myself scrolling down my facebook news feed when I read a post from Ashley Netzer stating.  

            " STOLEN!!!! Please help me get my baby carrier back. This was the one I desperately wanted for so long and is now discontinued. Stolen on post at JBLM Wa. Thank you! "

There I found myself feeling angry about someone stealing from another spouse.

Thinking that it would be okay.

Im not a baby carry wearing kind of mom but then again my kids are 8 yrs and 9 yrs old so there wasnt many carriers out there back when my kids were little. 

I found myself angry about the whole ordeal and it wasnt even my business. 

Today I woke up to see if hopefully Ashley had been lucky enough to have her Tula returned to her. However that is NOT what I awoke to see and oh how the update shocked me. 

 I found a wonder lady had mad a GO FUND ME page for Ashley. 

To help pay for her to be able to get a Tula, maybe not the same one that she had as that one has been discontinued at this time. However it has shown me and many like me that the power of the Military wife community.

Becca Ryan Falkey a Army wife her self  created the page to help show Ashley that even though someone stole her tula that there are people out there. Who will support her and show her how much the community cares about her. 

On the Go Fund Me account you will find this statement from Becca.

" Ashley's Tula was stolen out of her car which was parked in her personal driveway. I wanted to show her that as a community we can come together and support each other to make up for the scum bag that took it! "

After only 14 hours the goal of the $200 to buy Ashley a new Tula was met. 

Thanks to a few awesome giving people who wanted to make up for what someone unknown had done. 

The support of the community is beyond anything I could think it would be. I honestly wish that I could have done something to help her. but the amazing efforts of the Military sisterhood once again come though! 

If you want to know more about the story

check out the link below.

The amount of support and shares of this story proves that when your in need that the Military sisterhood will come though. We try every day to be there for one and other through the good times and the bad. 

I am so blessed to be part of such an amazing community that is truly there for each other. 

I hope that this kind of love and support will keep going to show every Military wife that the sisterhood stands!

That there are people that will be there for you and that together we can reach any goals we set!

New Tula For Ashley

From Civilian Life To Military Wife

                           The New Life Of A Military Wife!

   Married Life in the Military is not what it use to be! The first things you need to know about being a Military Wife are life long lessons.

      I read all the books I could find on Military Life. All the books seemed to say the same thing over and over again.
    Here is what I learned about how to be a great Military Wife!
   

     
      * INDEPENDENCE
  
       The key to surviving a Military Life ( at least as the books all tell it ) .... When I first read that I laughed! Who would think that being independent would be the key to what some call a Dependent life.
      No I don't think that's the key to this life style though it is very much needed. You have to have your own life our side of your husband. You have to learn to spread your wings where ever the Military might take you. Get out of the house no matter what it might be and start building your life. Find a job, join a craft group, a running club. Whatever you are interested on as long as you are not sitting in the house every day. Simply waiting on your husband to get home from work day in and day out.

 


      * THE SISTERHOOD

       This is in my opinion the most important thing you can do. Put yourself out there in the world of Military spouses. No matter what your home branch happens to be. Army, Marines, Air Force, Navy or Cost Guard ( yes to me they are a branch ) Find your self a group of friends. There are sisterhoods out there for every branch. They are there to help you along your new journey. On every post there are Wives Clubs, FRG's  and other special clubs/groups. Get out there and make friends because you will need friends no matter what. .The days get long and lonely when your husband is away. Having friends who are in the same Military Life style as you are will help. They will be there to help you remember why you should smile. They  will help you remember why your part of this life. They will show you the strength of  the Military wife community when you need it the most. Let them love you, support you and don't be scared to be yourself.

  

      * RESPECT THE LIFE
       
      Though I can't say I agree with it so many people refer to spouses as " Dependents ." Or " Dependa " I dislike this word more then any other in the Military vocabulary. It is the most disrespectful word you could ever call me. I'm not a " dependa " simple because I'm a house wife. You have to respect the life and be greatful for it.  This life affords us each alot of advantages that we wouldn't normally have. We get health insurance ,( though who ever said its free lied ) life insurance,  and  an ID that gives is access to every Military instalation in the U.S. ( Yes you can get into other branches base/post. ( To the Army  it's called post ) Using your Military ID not just your branches base/post. We get to shop at the commissary and px. ( or whatever your branch calls it  for us Army Wives it's the PX ) These things are all a privileges and each and every one of us needs to remember to respect that. Those who don't respect the Military and privileges we get as Military spouses. Are often refered to as " dependas" and most of us all too often forget. That we are all dependants of the Military. No matter if you work or stay at home. You still have the same ID as the rest. So respect the life and all that comes with it. Don't complain about it because you never know when you can and will be kicked out of the life style.

  

      * PCS LOVE

   Yes you read that right, PCS Love! ( PCS means Permanent Change of Station ) What I mean by that is you need to learn to love pcsing. I know at first this can be so confusing and frustrating. You get to travel to places in the world. That you never dreamed you could go much less live. Pcsing can be one of the best times in your life or the worst. You get to learn new languages, see new places. You get to explore the world around you. If you chose to ,which I highly recommend. Every where you move there are tons if sites to see. We are luckly to live in a time where we can simply google. To find out about fun exciting things wait for us at our next duty station. Do your home work before you PCS and ask around about your new post. There are tons of Facebook pages/ groups for information about where ever your pcsing to. Use the resources at your disposal. Military Spouse pages and websites are there to help you.

    

      * FOLLOW THE RULES

     Yes there are rules of this Military Life we are all living or joining. Most of the rules are unwritten rules but nonetheless they are all important. Each rule is there for a reason and those who don't follow the rules. Seem to live unhappy short lived Military lives. The happiest wives from what I have seen and read follow the rules and set the standard for the rest of us. Etiquette is a big deal in this life style of ours. There are rules for every occasion and though some don't believe in following the rules. You should at least learn them. Don't think that you can avoid the rules or ignore the rules. They always catch up to you. You don't want to be stuck looking a fool because you don't know what you should or should do or wear at an event.

Lego Land Adventure

         Green ones .... blue ones.... red ones and more .... legos are.                                                     always on my floor!

         

                                       The Lego King .... got him way a
                                                   LEGOLAND TOUR!

Our Experience At LegoLand

Going to LegoLand was all around awesome! 

We went for the kids thinking it would

Just be a kid thing. We had no idea

Of the amount of information we would come

Out with. Our kids learned so much from the tour.

The excitement in their eyes through out the whole day 

Was priceless. I could hardly get any pictures with

My kids or my husband looking at the camera.

He tried so hard to hide how much fun he was

Having along side the kids. 

It was well worth the money.

We try every chance we get to do family activities.

With my husbands work schedule it leaves

Us with working around when he works.

We try to plan day trips to local

 Places. Luckly we have a huge area that is always
Doing family friendly events.

https://www.legolanddiscoverycenter.com/kansascity/

Easter Fun 2015

            Our kids had such a great Easter!  They got to spend.                 time with their Nonna and  Martin.
           
               Their Easter Baskets from their grandparents were awesome. They were so shocked to have gotten such large gifts at dinner.

Baskets from Momma & Daddy

                    Dying Easter Egg's With Daddy & Momma! 

     

   

Family Easter Fun

All too often it seemsthat people have forgotten the real reason for Easter. Its not about some large bunny leaving candy 

Filled plastic eggs. Its not about a race to see who could get the 

Most eggs in their baskets. Its about Jesus , about how he died on the cross for our sins. sins. About how 3 days later he had risen.

From the grave! 

I can only hope my kids know the reason behind this great day! 

Remember The True Reason For This Day!

   John 3:16

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have.           everlasting life.

     

Why we decided to year round homeschool

     

     Catching Our Kids Up! 

   Deciding to Year Round Homeschool is not for the faint of heart! .... There are MANY reasons we knew it was right for us.

What it means to our family might not be what it means to other. Homeschooling this is for us is about catching our kids up. They had a very rockie past with being "homeschooled" by a former step mother. Do to their experience with her they are very behind there with school. We have tested both kids with Sylvan Learning Center and the results well they were not good. Jay is on a 1.5 grade level when in a public school he would be going into 3rd grade. Hayley is on a 2nd grade almost the beginning of 3rd grade level. When she should be going into  4th grade. It breaks my heart to see how far behind they are due to someone elses failure. That is one of the largest reasons why we not only decided to year round homeschool. It is also the reason we have to year round homeschool. If we didn't then they would never catch up. They need alot of extra attention. One on one help to build the skills they should know by now. It's  alot of work day in and day out but it. Will be worth it to know my kids are on the grade levels that they should be.

   The kids Enjoy Picking Their Days Off

        It means long days and for us , it means that we can't take breaks the way alot of people do. We have to home school 6 days a week on most weeks. We have to do everything at each kids own speed. There are some days that we get done at 3pm and some days we go right up until 5pm. But at the end of each day we are all happy and the kids are proud of how far they have come. They are proud of the things they have learned. They get to pick days off. They get to have fun learning. It's hard work but there is nothing in this world that would change our minds about year round home schooling.

   We Prayed About It, let their faith grow

        We prayed about year round homeschooling for about 6 months before deciding to go ahead with it. We as a family believe that God should be the foundation for education. Our Catholic faith is a huge part of our life. We want our kids to learn every day the joys of our faith and to grow there love for God snd the Holy Mother. We sat down and talked as a family to our kids and asked what they want. How they want to homeschool and what subjects they want to learn. They get the freedom to pick fun classes, to pick what class work they do each day. ( luckly we have kids,who know the basic subjects must be done every day then they get to do the ones they want to do. )

   Give The kids Freedom To Pick What They Learn!

They get to help design activities and lessons every day so to them even on the subjects they struggle in are made fun.We believe in structure and that just because we are on school and we must do class work. That doesn't mean we can't have fun, do field trips, explore the world around us. Discover history as its meant to be learned. Learn the fun of science and grow there imaginations.


                 

Freedom To Let The Kids Learn Their Own Way!

         We wanted the freedom for our kids to be able to learn the way they want in the time frame that is best for them. Every child is different and learns at their own speed and own way. We believe our kids need to be able to learn the way they learn the best not the way the school teach. We are against common core and don't think it's right to attempt to make children learn one way of doing everything. There are many ways to learn. Just because one child gets the right answer one way doesn't mean a nother will get the right answer that way.

Our Believes About What Shouldn't Be!

     As a family we wanted to be able to spend time together. With traditional public school it seemed my kids were not being given the one on one attention. They need and they were moving to slow in some subjects and to fast in others. The kids bringing guns to school. The schools going on " lock down " every other week due to strangers attempts to enter the school. It was just all too much. Too much worry too much stress and too many fears. Not to count the teachers being caught for sexual relations and the fact that we don't feel our children need to learn " sex education." Until they are personally ready for it and I'm sorry but my children will not be ready for a long time. We wanted the freedom to not have to pull our children out of school due to a PCS. Our kids get to know other kids , build relationships and bonds. They get to play sports , they get to just be kids and not robots!

We don't believe in long school breaks for the kids. They get to pick a few days every month they want to have with no school. They get a say in their school year and they absolutely love it. Children deserve say in their schooling. We believe they want to learn when they get more say in their education.

Though our reasons might seem strange to some they mean alot to our family!

Homecoming At Last!

                                              HE'S HERE!!     HE'S HERE!!

                                    

( The kids with their homecoming sign

Waiting at the airport )

           At last my buttface ( my hubby's nickname from me sense we first started dating ) is home at last! After the longest year and dome change of my life. He's home at last.
     
                                                  GOOD BYE KOREA!! 

      

       ( The kids playing on their phones, waiting at the airport )

           I don't know who was more excited me or our kids!

Their relationship warms my heart! There is nothing better then seeing the love my kids and husband have for each other. He is the greatest dad ever.

                                                       

               ( He is here at last!! The kids with their daddy )