SRKindredSpirits

2017 Year In Review: January - Jekyll Island, Georgia vacation February - finished painting interior trim and doors throughout the house. March - Rhoda 1st. surgery May - Faith high school graduation          -wyatt surgery in hospital stay June - Wyatt 2nd. surgery/ hospital stay July - Wyatt home from the hospital and infusions at home for 3 weeks August - Rhoda 2nd. surgery and 3rd. emergency surgery September - visited College of the Ozarks and the St Louis Arch in Missouri October - Hocking Hills Ohio trip December - Blessed with a new Church family and friends. Stephen - still working at the glass plant and stays busy keeping things looking good around our little farm. Rhoda - busy with our Shaklee business , homeschooling , and being wife, and Mama. ~ Married 12.2 years ~ More in love now than ever! Rented a cabin in  Hocking Hills, Ohio  for our anniversary and enjoyed hiking the rim and gorge trails. We enjoyed the hot tub and the alone

Today, I'd like to give you three Ideas to minimize stuff you don't need. Many people often think that getting rid of clutter is a long, hard process, but in fact it is simple. 1. Look around your home and see what items you would take with you in the event of a hurricane, flood, tornado etc... I bet there's not a super large amount that would make the cut.... I did this a few months ago and realized there's not a lot of stuff that means a lot to me.  So, now you know what items you treasure....  2. Next add in the items that you need. For example sheets, towels, dishes, toilet brush, lawn mower, broom, toilet paper, clothes.... these are the items I'm talking about.  Everyone knows you need these items, but most of us own way too many. For example two towels for each person and 2 sheet sets per bed are plenty.  Dishes.... do you really need and use all that you have? For years I have collected a Chutney Corelle dish set , which I still use and love,

Continued from  Getting Healthy - Part 1 .... ..... So, last year, hubby and I really started searching for options. We knew that to make a lifestyle change as big as I needed - I would need the best tools to help me succeed. In October 2016, I attended a health seminar and started meeting with a dietitian monthly. Over the next few months, I continued meeting with my dietitian, but with Thanksgiving and Christmas we didn't do awholelotta changing. I did manage to lose 10 lb. through - the monthly visits with the dietitian helped to keep me accountable. We decided to start 2017 out fresh with a lifestyle change, not just for me but for our whole family! Well, that was the plan.... life had other ideas.  You see, I have multiple autoimmune disorders. The last couple months I had been seeing a different specialist for other ongoing health problems. That Doctor set a surgery date for March. The surgery, although it was out patient, set me back quite a bit. During this

A few months ago, I shared some of my favorite house hold hacks , and it got me thinking about some of my favorite kitchen gadgets and products.... USA Pans - cupcake, loaf pans, cake pans, 1/2 sheet pan, etc.  USA Pan is a professional grade bake ware. It has  perfected the nonstick coating process so that food won't stick to the pan. It is warp resistant, heavy-duty, reliable, and very easy to clean. P ampered Chef Products I love are the  Pampered Chef Round Stone , Executive Nonstick Cookware pan set (I have both the 7 piece and the 5 piece set) , mix & chop - meat chopper, glass batter bowls, spice rack, tool turn about, mini serving spatula, pan scraper. coated Knife set, Chefs silicone basting brush Tupperware thatsa bowl set, store and lock containers, snack cups and mini cups, cookie containers 8x8 and 9x13 Kitchen Aid Mixer  - I use mine multiple times a week... mixing bread dough, cookie dough, icing, puddings, etc. Ninja Professional Blen

My sister Marla found her man!!! Don't they make a cute couple?!?! Photo credit: Alicia Magnus I wanted to have a small intimate lingerie bridal shower for my sister. Since she lives in Montana, we don't get to see her often. The guest list was small, just mom, sisters, sister in laws, and her two oldest nieces (4 ppl could not make it). I didn't want to have the normal 'how well do you know the bride' games, so this is what I came up with instead... The theme was "In His Time".... "Take Time to Date" When guests first arrived... They could write down date ideas on wide pop cycles sticks and place them in the "Date Jar". "Take Time to Play" We started the evening by playing games. The first, involved each guest, and the bride to be making a veil out of toilet paper. They had 5 min. and we're judged at the end.  Next involved a bottle of sparkling grape juice and a garte

The best thing I've done when it comes to homeschooling is to ditch the idea that it needs to be like a real school!  We used to have a school room with charts, maps, desks, set hours and breaks, etc.  Then, after 3 years, needed the room as a bedroom (we live in a small house), so we moved the schoolroom to our enclosed back porch. We still used desks and had individual pencil cases, charts, maps, posters, and all the stuff you think you need to have for a school room. We used the back porch as our school room for a couple years, but then turned it into a office for our home business ..... But, I still needed a place for school..... turns out, the best thing I ever did regarding homeschooling was to give it all up.  I gave up the idea of having to have a class room, desks, charts and posters on the walls, set hours, and every other extra thing most people think you have to have to homeschool - including the complete encyclopedia set!!! I got rid of it all!  Instead,

Getting rid of stuff -  Round 2 - Year 3 This year, we signed up for Joshua Becker's Uncluttered Course .  And although we have read most of his books and have gotten rid of so much stuff in our first round .... we still had stuff that needed to go. Here's some of it... 5 explorer loads full to goodwill 1 trailer load of junk to the garbage dump 1 trailer load of scrap metal (I forgot to take a photo) Multiple items sold on Craigslist and online sites totaling over $4,000 And... We had over $200 of returns that we took back to Menards for in store credit Let me say again... we are not pack rat people. It amazes me that we have so much to get rid off... if we haven't used it, don't need it, don't like it, or it has no purpose; out it goes. With a family of 5 living in the country on a hobby farm with animals, splitting our own firewood, homeschooling, and, having a business from home... there is a lot of e

We've had Nigerian Dwarf dairy goats for over 6 years now and I still love them as much now as I did when we first got them.  Some of the reasons I love Nigerian dwarf goats are: They are small - only weighing in around 30 - 45 lbs. full grown - I can pick them up myself. They are not overly rambunctious. They are not hard on pasture or fences. They get along well with most animals and humans. Their manure is great in flower beds and gardens. They don't need a lot of space. They do not eat nearly as much as a full sized goat. We only need approximately 25 bales of good high quality hay for 4-5 full size goats for all winter. Their milk is mild and creamy... I love using it in baking and cooking with it. The kids love to drink it. They have a great temperament! They are great with people of all ages. They are super friendly and love human interaction. The baby's are so little and so much fun to watch. Our small herd has changed over the years.... so I