Last year we took our family to Great Wolf Lodge in Mason Ohio for $100 and it was such a cool experience. The six of us can’t even go to a water park for a hundred bucks let alone get all the extras that come with a Great Wolf Lodge Resort getaway. The way we scored this deal was through online coupon codes from a homeschool group on Facebook. I’m sure any hotel or resort is willing to slash their standard rates for those that are traveling off season though.

The first time we went was in November and then again in May. There is a deal going on next week for the Mason (Cincinnati) location for Homeschool Spirit week!

It really is $99 no strings attached! The resort fees are waved and while you can always upgrade or do add-ons you don ‘t have to! I know this low-cost vacation planning isn’t for everybody, but if you are like me and you have a large family and a small budget you may want to check out some of my tips. This is how we had a great time on a dime.

First of all, the day of check-in you can arrive as early at 1:00 pm to start your water park fun. Check-in isn’t until 4:00, but you can get your water park passes and leave your stuff in the car until it’s time to go to your room.

There are lots of “dry” activities like mini golf, arcades, and more but it all costs extra. Our kids knew ahead of time we were going to be spending most of our time at the water park, which wasn’t a problem because it’s hours of fun for all ages.

On top of the water park everyone gets free wolf ears all you have to do is ask for them at the gift shop. You can also get a free button if it’s your birthday.

There are also activities like puppet shows and pajama parties.

When we went we had to sign up for these things ahead of time. Your receptionist will probably offer the schedule, but if they don’t you can ask what free shows and activities there are. There are usually several throughout the day.

Another way we cut cost was bringing our own food. You certainly can eat there. There are plenty of restaurants to choose from, but they have the amusement park prices too. We packed our own food in a cooler and it was perfect because even the smallest family suites are a decent size with a table, microwave, some counter space, and mini fridge.

I used my camping tricks and pre made croissant sandwiches to heat in the microwave for breakfast.

My kids loved them and one said “No offense mom, but these are even better than yours!” They thought it was take out because we were eating in the hotel! That’s how good it was. I also had preportioned fruit salad and Hawaiian roll sandwiches.

No coolers are allowed in the water park, but you can bring insulated bags and that worked great for us.

You could rent a cabana and honestly that would not be a bad idea! Early in the day the tables and chairs are extremely hard to come by. One time we just stacked our bags against a wall and played in the water until something became available. The point is you don’t HAVE to spend the extra money. We did four days of Great Wolf Lodge just fine with the basic package. Even towels and life vest are included!

While researching how to spend less at Great Wolf Lodge I saw a tip online about bringing a stuffed wolf so that your kids don’t beg to buy one. First of all, just say no, ha ha or don’t. The wolf stuffed animals are cute and kind of like build-a-bear if that’s the route you want to take. I decided for our birthday girl that I would do the tip that I saw online and got a wolf from Walmart for way less and she still loves that toy she affectionately calls Little Howler.

We don’t ever go to hotels as a family so my standards probably aren’t high, but I was very impressed with the rooms. My oldest slept on the couch and was also able to do his school work while we were there.

You could easily spend $1,000 on a two day/one night trip like this for a family of 6. We were able to do for 10% of that!

If you are homeschooling and can swing an off season trip like this I highly recommend you take advantage of it. I have several friends who have and everyone said the same thing. This Homeschool deal is a steal!

It’s almost fall!!! 23 days away to be exact. I have a countdown on my phone, that’s how much I geek out about the fall season. We like camping year round, but autumn is by far our favorite. I know there are plenty of families that camp more than we do and probably have better setups, but we have come a long way my friends. So I decided to piece together some  hacks/tips/equipment that have worked well for us.

We even did a cheesy little video to show how we roll when we go camping. This was a precovid trip with my oldest son manning the camera.

And here are some of our must-haves

1. Tent

So a tent is an obvious must have unless you are in a camper or want to sleep under the stars. This tent is amazing, and I am not an affiliate (for any item on this list by the way). It is the Coleman Weathermaster and it technically sleeps 10, but I wouldn’t count on that unless you are lined up in a row with nothing but sleeping bags.

2. Fully Stocked Camping Bins

If you have some storage room, or even if you don’t but you pile stuff up Jenga style in your garage like we do then I recommend having camping totes full of everything you need. Rather than take your dish soap, spatulas, or anything else from your kitchen just have a stash of everything you need and keep it in the bin. It takes time to get the collection complete. We are still working on ours. A great place to look for those extra kitchen items though is yard sales and thrift stores. We got all of our knifes, pots, kettle, mugs etc used. You are going to be roughing it anyway so no need to purchase anything fru-fru.

3. Air mattress

We are partially glampers. I’ll admit it. You do whatever works best for your family, but if you are looking for a sturdy self inflating (while plugged in) mattress, this is the one we use. J and I got a good laugh about the photoshopped girls. Insert eye roll here.

4. french press, kettle, and bean grinder

I already addressed the glamping stigma so now it’s safe to admit that we have fresh roasted coffee over the campfire every morning. Ahhh. It will take up space so you have to be a hard core coffee drinker to make this a priority, but we have an extra french press that stays in the camping bin, a hand crank bean grinder, and kettle with no plastic parts. If it’s cold don’t forget the little ones who may want some hot chocolate while you’re at it.

5. Roof Rack and Cargo carrier

We get comments on our cargo rack all the time. It helps me identify our van in a parking lot. Quick side story: one time I pulled into a parking next to van just like ours with a roof rack just like ours!

This bad boy works for toting coolers with a bungie cord or a giant luggage bag to keep all your suitcases inside or often a combination of both.

6. Lots of light!

Every camper needs light, and don’t forget batteries too. Here are just a few of the ones we own.

7. Camp Fire Grill

We’ve done a variety of setups for cooking over the fire, but this grill we got from Walmart has been pretty handy.

8. Sheets

It never hurts to have an extra sheet in your camp stash. You may end up needing it for bedding, or a faux wall if someone needs to change or go potty in the woods. It can also be used for a beach blanket or table cloth. I can think of more uses, but I’ll leave it at that.

9. Fire Mitts

We used a cheap oven mitt before realizing we needed something more substantial when cooking over a fire. These were a worthwhile investment.

10. Cat Iron Skillets

Nothing beats bacon and eggs in a cast iron skillet over an open flame. Definitely a camping must!

So there ya go, an inside look at how we do fall camping. If you are more a beach camper check out this post–

In February I read a book called “Never Unfriended” by Lisa Jo Baker. The subtitle is “The Secret to Finding and Keeping Lasting Friendships”. Most of my life I have been blessed with a great community and group of girls supporting me from a young age. Listening to this audio book got me looking back on significant friendships throughout my life.

My very first best friend, and eventually the maid of honor in my wedding, was my next door neighbor when I was a kid.

We moved away from Kentucky to Georgia when I was 11.  I struggled with fitting in there because I was  small town girl going from a private christian school to a public school in the Atlanta suburbs. I was innocent, niave and I didn’t care about boys or makeup like a lot of the other girls. I got plugged in at church though and eventually saw a girl from my church at school. I said “Hey, were you at RCG on Sunday?” and she said “Yeah that was me”. I told her “I could tell, because I recognize your shoes.” How awkward is that?

Anyway, we became very close friends and eventually she would also be a bridesmaid in my wedding. Then we moved AGAIN. This time from Atlanta to Dallas my freshman year. I hated it. I didn’t want to be there and I was going into that angsty punk teenage stage. I didn’t dress gothic or anything but I did listen to punk music. A Christian punk band that I liked was coming to town and because I couldn’t drive and had no friends I went with my dad. First of all, LAME. Second, I realize now how awesome my dad is that he would take the time to go to a punk rock show with his daughter. He hated the music and everything about that scene but he knew how hard this move was for me. The next day at school a girl named Heather said “Hey, did I see you at the Value Pac concert last night?” I was like “YES! You were there? Wasn’t it awesome?” and a friendship was born. 

Fast forward many many years later to when I was a mother of three once again living in a new state feeling very alone. This time it was Ohio. This time it wasn’t so easy to get connected. Women my age seemed to already have their circle established and I was busy tending to the needs of three young children 24/7. It was one the loneliest, most challenging seasons of my life. I had no one close to turn to. It wasn’t until I started going to a moms’ group at my church that I really started to form friendships and feel like I had a community. As I was reminiscing all of these milestones of relationships in my life God really started to tug on my heart and it was undeniable. I was feeling called to start up a moms’ group.

Our pastor sent out emails about life groups and although I had the opportunity to be a leader, I never signed up. I was homeschooling and I had no money to do anything fun or special with the group. I couldn’t shake this feeling though. All of the groups and rooms were assigned and the meeting for the group leaders was already scheduled. I went ahead and asked my pastor if it was possible for me to come to this informational life group meeting even though I wasn’t signed up to be a leader. Of course he said yes. 

At the meeting he shared what life groups were about the Lord began to tug on my heart even more. I knew that there would be women in what I call “the trenches of motherhood” just like I was at that point in my life that need a community, a prayer partner, or a friend. Motherhood is beautiful but it can also be overwhelming.  Moms are NEVER alone, not even to pee, and yet it can be an extremely isolating season. I couldn’t ignore the call anymore and I did a late sign up to start a group. 

Hebrews 10:24-25 says “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” (NIV)

That was my vision for the group. In my dream world there would be decorations, child care, cutesy snacks, and COFFEE. I didn’t have any of that though. I was totally winging it, but I believed that God could use this little group to reach out to moms who needed encouragement.

We met up weekly that spring and I am happy to report that God showed up! It was so great that we are going to start again this fall!

Most of the time we met up in the preschool room with all of the kiddos running around and playing while we talked, did a Bible study, and prayed for specific needs.

We had a few “excursions” and those were a lot of fun too.

One cool opportunity that we had was to get carseats for some local teens that were pregnant and aging out of foster care. I got to go to the shower for these teen moms and we all prayed for them and wrote words of encouragement from one mom to another.

Maybe someday we will have more resources for our group to have childcare or even more elaborate gatherings, but I am so glad I didn’t wait for the perfect timing or circumstances to actually take that step of faith. I hope that my story is a reminder that sometimes you have to just go for it! It’s not too late! I also pray that if you are a mom looking to connect you
don’t give up. There are MOPS groups, churches, and playdates available almost everywhere. God doesn’t want you to be alone. For those moms who have a great group already (like I felt) be on the look out for those who don’t. Be the one who invites others in! Friendliness goes a long way.

I am way behind on posting this update, but better late than never. Back in the spring our friend Dennis (the one we met when he adopted our rooster) came on April 11th to start incubating some fertilized eggs he had from his ducks and chickens. This was the best homeschool project ever!

Dennis has been such a great friend to us. He brought over learning materials like a poster and this neat Chick Life Cycle Exploration Set that shows what the inside of the eggs look like from day 1 to 21.

We mostly left the eggs alone in the incubator other than adding water on occasion to keep the appropriate humidity levels. Once a week Dennis would come over to candle the eggs. This is what it’s called when you hold a light up to an eggs to see a glimpse of what’s inside. Egg production companies do this to look for abnormalities before packaging edible eggs into a carton for groceries stores. We did it to see the developments that the embryos were making. It was awesome! Getting to see the shadowy movement of a duckling inside of an egg is coolest thing.

The incubator has an electronic feature that automically rotates the eggs to mimic what the mother does when she’s hatching eggs. On day 18 we took out the rotator tray out because this is when the eggs need to be on a flat surface ready to hatch. The final three days of the incubation process are called “lock down”.

I had a count down on my phone and we were eggstatic (I couldn’t help myself) for hatch day!

The first “pip” finally came on Sunday (day 20) at 4:00 in the afternoon. We could hear chirping and even see some eggs wobble or a little beak poke through, but we would have to wait 20 hours from the time we saw the first pip to the time that egg actually hatched.

That meant 20 hours (with a tiny bit of sleep) where we obsessively crowded around the incubator to see the action in hopes of watching a chick hatch. This was way better than Netflix!

Sometimes we woke up to find a chick or a duckling had hatched in the night, but we were present for many of the hatchings. When the chick first cracks the egg it will turn inside the shell and peck until it creates a “zip”. Once the zip is almost full circle it will push and hatch out of the egg! This takes a ton of time and energy. It’s an important part of the process though as the chick is absorbing the yolk for nutrients and building its strength. It’s so hard to watch a chick struggle. Our nature wants to help the weak, but this is more harm than good which is also a lesson for me as a mom (I’m still learning).

I took tons of videos and time lapses of the whole process, but the files are too large for the blog. I have them on my facebook album though if you want to see the time-lapse of chick or duck hatching! 

When the chicks are born they have a little “egg tooth” that is used to crack the egg open, but they loose it after a couple of days. The whole process is miraculous and fascinating.

Chicks are ugly when they first come out (in my opinion). They are all slimy and scrawny and can’t really stand upright. They get the hang of walking around pretty quickly though and then they become very playful and curious. You are supposed to leave them in the incubator until they are dry and fluffy. I was worried that their rambunctious behavior would disturb the unhatched eggs. Dennis said that’s actually a good thing, because the unhatched eggs hear and feel the activity and it gives them an insentive to come out! This was true for our little brood. Once the first egg hatched the chick went wild chirping and knocking all the other eggs around. Then more chicks hatched. They tended to hatch in sets. It was a bit of a domino effect.

In the end we hatched 12 chicks and 5 ducks, all various breeds, colors, and sizes.

The first pip was a Sunday May 2nd at 4:00 pm and we had activity all the way until the final hatch that Friday May 7th. So there were 5 full days of observing the hatches, caring for the new baby chicks, and having an amazing learning experience. We took care of the chicks and ducks in the brooder in our laundry room for the first two weeks.

We had so many visitors wanting to meet our fluffy friends. Our cousins who also homeschool got to come over and they actually adopted several of the chicks!

Dennis took the bulk of them back to his farm, including all the ducks. The ducklings were so stinking adorable, but they were messy and eat a ton so they were ready to go.

For those wondering why we didn’t keep the chicks or ducks it’s because we don’t have room for them. We live in a neighborhood and don’t have acreage or a pond. We are blessed to be able to have a coop and 9 hens, but we are all set! There was one thing I wanted to do though before we said goodbye to the babies… PHOTOSHOOT!!!

The lighting in the laundry room was not great, but I got out my professional camera and a makeshift backdrop and started clicking away.

Can you blame me?

It’s been three weeks since I did a blog post announcing that I want to have my memoir finished before I turned 40. I still have eleven months until my set deadline and I already have a rough draft of the book completely done! There were several things in place to make this possible. First of all I had quite a few chapters already written when I first dreamt up the memoir idea. Also, even the ones that weren’t covered I was able to pull some from blog posts. To be clear the book is not going to be blog posts in print, not at all. It helps a lot though that I wrote about my experiences along the way and I can pull heavily from that. I also looked through a lot of photos, receipts, emails, social media posts and calendars to put all the pieces into place. This whole memoir thing digs up a lot of stuff from the past. Some of it is heart breaking and I have definitely shed some tears, it’s been healing though.

Here’s the thing about the book writing process. I love writing, that’s the easy part for me. Once I get into that zone my fingers go flying over the keyboard and it’s hard for me to peel myself away. The thing I don’t have the motivation for is what comes next and that is the execution. I don’t even know all the steps it will take because I have never done this before! I do know I need to polish this first draft A LOT! After that I will need to figure out how to have it edited, then published, and promoted. There are probably infinitely more details than I even realize, but I am determined not to quit before the finish line this time.

Also, even though the blog has been quiet lately I do not want to pull back on writing on Messy Mom to focus on my book. On the contrary, I want to take things up a notch once school starts. For now though we are going to soak up the last 23 days of summer break. With that said here is a little photo dump from summer so far.

The first two weeks of summer we were in Texas. Even though the circumstances were not the best we were able to have a lot moments together as one big happy family.

Jeremy went ATVing with the guys. He ended up cracking multiple ribs and the recovery has been brutal. I think he would still do it all over again if he could, just maybe with a little more caution.

We went camping with some of friends from church and are looking forward to another camp out next month that will include caving.

Of course we spend time with the chickens every day that the weather allows. When we travel we have a neighbor that collects eggs and cares for them which is wonderful.

The Fourth of July was everything it should be. Hot dogs, lemonade, red white and blue, fireworks, and time spent with friends and family!

Last but not least we were able to take a trip to Michigan and the kids got to experience Mackinac island for the first time. Some aspects of this vacation were not “picture perfect”. We packed a lot into the five days that we were there and it took it’s toll on each of us. It was still the adventure of a lifetime. The awesome happy parts of the trip far outweighed the crabby ones.

On top of the family trips the kids have had their own separate exerutions. Z went to camp, Elle went to Florida with her grandparents and the older kids are going to DC next week. This summer has had really high highs and really low lows, but I’m definitely feeling grateful and blessed.

I have never been a big “bucket list” person. I like lists, and I make a to-do list almost every single day, but when it comes to the far-off-adventures to check off I haven’t been strategic about it. However I do have one big milestone I want to complete. It’s not going to be something to check off before I die, but before I am what some refer to as “over-the-hill”. As of this week I am officially less than a year away from the big 4-0 and I have one goal in mind.

I want to write a book. I want to have a book with my name on it available to read before I turn 40.

This has been a dream of mine since I was a little girl. It’s been something I’ve actively pursued in the past 6 years but every time I made it a priority to finish one of the books I started I somehow got interrupted, or distracted, or lazy, or whatever. This is my year though. I believe it!

The book is going to be a memoir from the season of our life when we were on welfare. It’s not really going to be about welfare, but the journey from having “the American dream” to having almost nothing and then back again. It’s about facing unemployment, poverty, disability and more while keeping our faith and family intact. I started this book years ago. One reason I never finished it was because I was waiting for the day that we were completely off of medicaid to consider this a full circle journey. Then at the beginning of 2020 we were finally self sufficient again (you can read all about it in the “Goodness of God” blog post, which is one of my favorites).

I’ve got a lot of work to do, but I am excited. I LOVE memoirs. I’ve read dozens of them. This is my chance to compile everything God miraculously brought us through in one big story. Even if it’s just for me or for our family history it will be worth it to have the words bound.

I need to be held accountable. If I fail at self publishing a book within the next year it won’t be the first time I fail to hit this target. Maybe this would be an appropriate place for an inspirational quote.

Seriously, I think I have some really good shot at it this time.

1. It’s the ONE thing I’m focused on for the next year. Not at all saying I don’t have other obligations or plans, but it’s really the one BIG goal.
2. This will be the first year since I became a mom almost 14 years ago that I will regularly have a couple hours to myself because Elle will be in half day kindergarten. It’s a very short class, only two and a half hours. I plan to maximize that alone time though. I told J that I have a job that I will be doing in that window of time and that I am a writer!

Speaking of J, can I just pause to talk about how blessed I am to have a man that really believes in me and in my crazy entrepreneurial endeavors? He has always encouraged me. I know that having a spouse who values creativity and dreams is a blessing. This photos was taken on my 39th birthday by the way.

I’ll keep you all posted and will probably need some feedback and help along the way. Thank you for supporting this little writing side gig of mine. It means the world to me.

In May we closed out our 20/21 Homeschool year.

I feel like I would if I ran a marathon- sore, exhausted, and out of breath, but so happy to have reached the finish line. I was telling my fellow homeschool mom friends that I was a little dissappointed because I really wanted to finish the homeschool year strong. I had typed out plans and had the best of intentions, but life inevitably interrupted. My friend reassuringly told me that she believes “finishing at all is finishing strong”. I receive that encouragement.

I took countless photos and wrote out so many memories along the way. It really was a wonderful year full of priceless moments and lessons. Here is a look back at my first try at homeschooling.

We started out with a bang at the beginning of August. I wanted to start early to allow more flexibility for breaks.

One of my favorite parts of Homeschooling was getting to do so many field trips!

We were somewhat limited because of Covid, but we did more than if they had been in public schools which is zero (unless you count the virtual ones). My favorite field trip was to Heritage Village where we learned all about Ohio in the 1800’s.

The curriculum we used was Miacademy. I mostly did my own teaching and lessons, but the kids used Miacademy for their core subjects. I was able to get our subscription for free because I contacted the company and told them I was interested in writing about our experience on my blog. This took a lot of courage for me to ask and I was fully prepared to be declined. They wanted to work with me though and it it was so rewarding! That’s just one of the many areas of growth for me throughout this experience.

One of the other really cool things that I loved about homeschooling was collaborating with other families.

We got to do a lot of activities with the kids’ cousins/grandparents and some of our other homeschooling friends throughout the year.

I have two favorite homeschooling lessons that we did and they were actually back to back. One was learning about Indigenous People on Indigenous People/Christopher Columbus Day.

We did several crafts and activities that week along with multiple field trips. It was so cool.

My other favorite lesson was when we had an election the week before the real election to learn all about the process. We had a campaign and took a vote for what we would eat for breakfast. We worked hard, laughed hard, learned a bunch, and ate some yummy breakfast (monkey bread for the win).

I can’t post about homeschooling without including a chalkboard pic. I wrote a whole blog post all about the chalkboard.

One thing I never blogged about, but it was really fun and educational was when we did a week on healthy lifestyle choices.

I guess I already said that I had two favorite lessons, but can I make it three? We went to Jungle Jim’s super market and explored a variety of foods from around the world.

We each picked out an exotic fruit that we wanted to try and learned all about each one as we sampled them. My favorite was the Kiwano Melon from Africa. It had a unique jello texture inside and a mild citrus flavor.

The school year wasn’t without its challenges, but I got to know each child’s learning style more than I every knew before. We bonded and grew not just academically but in a variety of ways. After it was all said and done we have decided that it’s time to go back to public school. I love homeschooling. I see the benefits and I may come back to it someday.

I feel empowered to know that I did it once I could do it again. Not right now though. I love our school district. I see the benefits there too and with most of the pandemic stuff behind us I am ready, and the kids are ready, to go back this fall. Look out Kindergarten, 3rd grade, 5th grade, and 8th grade… HERE WE COME!!!

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My husband loves to be outside working in the yard and building things.

Every chance he gets (even as I type this) he is outside doing some sort of project. Lord knows we’d have a lot more livestock and homegrown produce if our property and city zoning allowed for it.
It’s our dream to own land in a more rural area someday.

This week I’ve been thinking about these dreams to possibly walk in the footsteps of my amazing father-in-law. Don has been on my heart and mind all week long since his soul went up to heaven to be with Jesus this past Monday.

He was so ready to meet his savior, which made a difficult loss a little less painful. When I remember Don, the list of talents and attributes goes on and on, but one thing that he was known for was the grit and ingenuity he had tending to his homestead. He has always been a skillful craftsman. If you look around at their gorgeous 11-acre property, everything from the gate, to the barn, to the house itself he built by hand.

On top of that, he could grow just about anything and work with animals too! He had an endless supply of knowledge about everything agricultural and mechanical.

One fun memory of Don that I can recall in great detail (because I documented it here on the blog) was a conversation I had with him about his upbringing. I asked him if he was raised on a farm.

He was hesitant to answer yes and needed clarification. In the sense of commercial farming as a source of income, he was not raised on a farm. They did live off of the land though (which back then where he was from was just living, not necessarily farming). They raised their own meat, milked their own cows, and planted their own crops. He shared memories of putting curdled milk in a pillowcase tied tight with a stick that would become cottage cheese. He remembered a wood burning stove, a root cellar, and a cantankerous rooster that when finally caught was slaughtered by his mother on the chopping block for Sunday dinner. He remembered that same rooster winking at his mother after being decapitated. She wasn’t able to kill another chicken after that day.

Don moved around a lot in his adult years, but his dream of returning to his country roots came true when they built a house on some farm land Texas shortly after J had moved out. They had cows, horses, cats, and a couple of dogs. It was true country living.

Maybe, when our kids are grown that will be our story too. Who knows.

When J and I celebrated our ten year anniversary we renewed our vows on his parent’s land. It was gorgeous and I’ve written about this special memory over and over.

I have even mentioned that we had photos of our wedding rings on some of Don’s old farming equipment.