Fruit Shoot Football - Have a Ball Stunt Hunt

   

     It's Football Time and if you have little ones like mine that love the game too, then they are just as excited and have been playing with their footballs for weeks now. Even though Football season is here, it is blazing hot outside and the kids need hydration. Well, Fruit Shoots are their new favorite drink. This was our first time trying them and I can tell that from now on anytime we stop at the store, are going to the beach for the day, or headed out for a road trip these are will be what they are asking for.

                                                          View our Video HERE:

Magic Kingdom Webcam

     I don't know if you know or not but we're going to Disney World, for those of you who know us and just thought again, or rolled your eyes, I'm sorry Disney is one of our favorite places to visit with the kids. I absolutely love everything about the park. Anyways, this post is for all you Disney lovers! At the Magic Kingdom there is a web cam right at the front facing Main St. USA, with this great view you can people watch, enjoy the parades, and end the night with the most beautiful firework show you have ever seen and you can watch it over again and again every day if you would like!

Catch some Savings at Wal-Mart

      Shop at Wal-mart for everything? I do too and let me tell you that my bank account screams every time I go in there. For some reason I go into Wal-mart an all of sudden remember everything I need to buy and usually go ahead and get it all. My husband on the other hand can take a list get whats on the list and get out of there, how he does it I will never know. I choose Wal-mart though for the amount of money it saves me.
    

     When I say Wal-mart saves me money i mean it, and not in the I spend hours cutting coupons way either. I can't speak for Wal-Marts all over but the Wal-Mart here matches not only everything on sale other places, it matches Buy One, Get One Free ads from other grocery stores here locally. Do you know how much money that saves me alone? Most of the other grocery stores raise their prices when they have buy one get one items where you are technically paying for the other item too, but not at Wal-Mart. The way this works easiest, I have found, is to make a list from your sales paper of the things on sale and their prices. While shopping make sure to keep the items separated from your regular grocery items so there is no confusion. When you get to the check out, go ahead and put all your BOGO items and any additional sale items up so you can make sure you get through this. I have only been asked once to see the sales ad, but I always have them with me. I find it easier to make a separate list so I don't have to continue to flip through the sales ad.

{Team No Kid Hungry} The Solution

No Kid Hungry is working hard to end child hunger in America and this is a task that can be done, we can end child hunger. This is a great organization taking simple steps to help our children. You can visit http://www.nokidhungry.org to learn more about how they are are making changes for all our children. Here are a few ways. 

{HomeSchooling} Our First Week

We made it through the first week! YAY! It really was a great week! It was a little of an adjustment but it is going to be great for my son and I think he is really going to enjoy it. The first couple of weeks are going to be a review for Math & English, to kind of see where he is and/or what he needs help with. I also worked on looking up other peoples home school schedules to get an idea of what we should be doing, and the number one thing I learned this week homeschooling is this:

Everyone home schools differently and usually according to what is best for their child.

Odor Check - Take Away the Stink

  *This is a sponsored post by Odor Check, but all opinions are my own. Read more about Odor Check to find out all the reasons why it is perfect for you and take advantage of the promotion below.

  In this Alabama heat the last thing you want to do is leave half eaten Tacos from a fast food restaurant in your car for the entire weekend, talk about a smell you can never forget. As my husband came in with this look on his face and told me about the food and the stench, I had no idea how we would get it out. We cleaned it with cleaner and added an air freshener, that only added a flowery fragrance to the stink, which was no help at all. We decided we would be driving our truck, it's been 3 weeks now. I knew we were never going to get the smell to go away, nothing worked.

     I received my Odor Check in the mail and was ecstatic. I couldn't wait to try them out on a few other stinky objects in our home, but especially see if they could get the smell of rotten tacos out of the car, it was truly our last hope before we just had to bleach the spot.

    

{The Scott Life} Taking Stock Link-Up

Making : It happen- Our vacation is coming and coming fast so I have got to get everything done for work, home-school for the week we get back, and pack this whole family. 
Cooking : Logan is going to be cooking today, making Cookies for his and his sisters afternoon snack. 
Drinking : Mt. Dew
Reading: Our itinerary, making sure everything is ready to go. 
Wanting:a Dole Whip- if you don't know what this is look it up. 
Looking: at all the stuff we have to have to travel and hoping it + us will fit in the SUV 
Playing: Burn by Ellie Goulding https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGyEd0aKWZE&index=28&list=PLI2DUu39FiPqGMgYzVjA0_SST01jyODbF

{Team No Kid Hungry} The Importance of Breakfast and your Child

     In July I talked about Team No Kid Hungry, Did you join? This is a simple way you can make a BIG difference and a very important difference for our future and theirs. According to new analysis released by Share Our Strength's No Kid Hungry Campaign, the simple act of feeding kids a healthy breakfast can have a dramatic impact on their academic, health and economic futures. It you read Team No Kid Hungry you learned that 1 out of 5 children struggle with hunger. That is a LARGE amount of children that are being set up to fail because they are hungry, and no child should ever be hungry, especially in our Country!

     Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It wakes you up and fuels your body and mind for the day ahead. If children are struggling with hunger this can have serious long-term effects on their future success, as childhood hunger negatively affects health, academic achievement and future economic prosperity. We should never set our children up for failure but we are when we are not making sure they have a healthy start to their day. Take a look at these facts that Breakfast, whether at home or school can change lives. 

{Southern Snapshots} August 26, 2014

These photos were all taken by myself, Kari Scott.

These Photos are from:

-Pace Ball Park at Sunset 

-Perdido Bay, Lillian Alabama {we went fishing for the evening}

Chore Chart App- iAllowance

    

     Looking to make your Chore Chart a little more child friendly? In this day an age, I have noticed that children aren't about writing things on paper, they would rather make a note on their computers with their sticky notes, or in their tablet. They will look up anything happily but give them a dictionary and they are not too sure what to do with it. Children now a days are being raised on Technology, it is inevitable. Technology is all around them, everyday.

     We have always used paper charts, some the kids made themselves when they were younger and now to printed ones they check off now that they are older. Since they have gotten older and started wanting some of their own things that I am not just going to buy unless it's birthdays or Christmas, they have started receiving an allowance. I'm not all about giving them a large amount of allowance for helping clean a house they live in too, so our children receive $5.00 a week, $2.50 for Spending Money on whatever {Candy, extra snack at school, go out for ice cream} and $2.50 for Savings, that is for something big they want, or like right now it is for our Disney Vacation. You can find out more about the Kids Bank and how we do it HERE.

We Choose Homeschool!

This year we started school off very differently then we normally have in the past. This year my Daughter headed off to school at our Elementary School to finish her last year in regular school and my son started his first year of Homeschooling. It was a weird first week of school to say the least, but nothing we can't get use too.

Our decision to homeschool was a quick decision this year but it has been something we have thought about time & time again. I did pre-k work with both of our children in a homeschool type way, but we did decided to send them to traditional public schooling, since we moved to where we wanted to live and in a very small community. I loved the Elementary School and thought it was a perfect school system, until I realized that my 4th grader would be a Middle Schooler. Yes, you heard that right- my 4th grader would be a middle school child. I was not at all thrilled and very worried about how the school year was going to go last year. In Kindergarten - 3rd grade we had already dealt with bully, being picked on, not following rules because others weren't, doing what he wasn't suppose to, being told he may have ADHD, etc. All the typical things that you hear about public schools. That's really just how it is. Even at great schools like ours, these problems still arose. The problems were dealt with each and every time and if reoccurred only did once or twice and never became a real big issue, but why should those even be issues to began with?

 

MyCraftilyEverAfter - Back 2 School Bouquet

   

We're back with another awesome craft over at MyCraftilyEverAfter.com With all the little {and big} ones back to school this is a great gift to have then take to school. Plus, they will love being able to make this for their teacher knowing the joy she/he get! This is a very simple craft with not much needed, and look at how adorable it is! This craft would even be great for a play room or a childs desk to help keep them organized! We have one in our playroom that holds all the pens, pencils, etc. that are found all over just lying around. Get Creative!

You can find all the supplies needed and instructions on how to make this cute Back 2 School Bouquet over at MyCraftilyEverAfter.com

See y'all next month over there!

   

{The Scott Life} Taking Stock

Making : Homeschool Schedule - Getting Everything ready to start school on Monday.
Cooking : Jambalaya - It's what's for Supper. 
Drinking : Nothing Currently
Reading: Emails & Blog Posts, that's all I have time for currently. 
Wanting: the next twenty something days to pass till our 2014 Family Vacation 
Looking: over the calendars and planning out the rest of the month till our vacation 
Playing: nothing
Wasting: nothing
Sewing: a few bows, making new bows for school, Disney Vacay, and inventory

{Southern Snapshots} August 12, 2014

I love sharing these photos of this beautiful area that I call home! My favorite time is sunset & moon rise. I absolutely love taking pictures especially on the beach because no sunset or moon rise are the same but are all gorgeous. 

These Photos were taking by Kari Scott at the Following places:

- All taken in Lillian, AL 

{Our Family} Happy Birthday to Us

Yay for the Month of August, for Leos, for our beautiful birthstone the Peridot, it means it's our Birthdays! My husband and I's birthday are in August, 10 days apart. His is the 1st and mine the 11th. We have this running joke that I say my birthday is the because it has two number 1's in it. He of course says his is the best because it is the 1st, ya know, number 1. LOL, If you a wife, you know we just let them think whatever they want, even though his day is very special.

     This year for my husbands birthday, the last year of his 20's I wanted to do something very very special, so I got a little sneaky. My husband is in love with his football team! He is a die hard FL Gator Fan, football season is starting and, he has never been to a football game, so what is the best gift in the world? Football Tickets to the game with a great view. Yes, that makes me the best wife in the world. So I got busy conjuring up a plan of how I was going to get these tickets for our family to go to the game on our way home from Orlando. I talked to other members of the family about my plan and they decided that was a great idea and instead of getting us gifts they would just get us tickets. That way they didn't have to get me anything and he would get the surprise of his life :) I got the tickets a week before his birthday and I couldn't wait to tell him. I knew how happy he was going to be and I just knew he would cry. He didn't but he did fold the picture of the view from our seats that I printed out and carries it in his wallet {how sweet, I know} Even though we are waiting till our vacation to celebrate our birthdays I absolutely cannot wait. We were going to have a great time already but this was icing on the cake! 

These are Memories we will have Forever! 

{Southern Snapshots} August 5, 2014

All Photos are taken by Kari Scott, Owner of Raised Southern \

These Photos were taken in:

-Perdido Key, FL 

-Lillian, AL on Perdido Bay 

-Alabama Point Orange Beach, AL 

-Pace, FL Hwy 90 Bridge at Sunset 

{July Monthly Memories}

Hello AUGUST, which means July is over & it is time for our Monthly Memories! We want to share all our fun memories from August that we have & the stuff we did!

We went & enjoyed Breakfast with my mom {the kids call her YaYa} and took a look walk on the beach to see what we could find! I of course enjoyed the morning taking pics and looking at the kids findings!

The Art of the Brick by Nathan Saway at the Pensacola Art Museum

Pensacola Art Museum – The Art of the Brick

Once being a kid yourself, I’m sure at one point or another you played with those awesome building blocks we all just couldn't get enough of, Legos! If you have kids now, not just boys because there are girl Legos too, you have purchased a set or two, maybe 50+ sets like us. Legos aren't only for fun they are great for learning and Art.







     I live in a little town right on the state line of AL/FL, You little come to the end of of our main road and take a Right for Florida or a left for AL. My Mom lives in Pensacola, FL and gets the kids every Friday for a visit, spends the evening and on Saturday they usually find something to get into. This particular Saturday they headed over to the Pensacola Art Museum to visit a beautiful Display that they currently have going on called The Art of the Brink by Nathan Sawaya This exhibit runs until August 8th and it is definitely worth a visit especially if you have a little Lego Lover in your home. Take a look at some of the amazing art that is build entirely from Legos, and then head on out to Pensacola, FL and view the whole exhibit before it’s gone. This is a day at the Art Museum you won’t want to miss, & if you do or did miss it The Exhibit is headed HERE next: http://brickartist.com/exhibitions/

                        

Don't Tell me I can't or it's Too Much - How I Try to Get it All Done!

Don’t Tell me I can’t or it’s too much!- How I Get it All Done, For Now.

     Don’t Tell me I can’t or it’s too much, because I’ll show you I can do it and get it all done. 1st of I’m a Women that explains everything. I have a habit of taking on too much, but honestly it all gets done {Somehow}

    
     First thing is first, I’m a Stay at home Mom & Wife so most of the home duties fall on me, I’m good with that I like things a certain way & he goes and works all day. Don’t think I wait on him hand and foot, because our Acre & a half is his responsibility, but I handle the Laundry, Cooking, & Cleaning. All of this sometimes gets done, though most deep cleaning gets done sporadically, our house is cleaned daily, through a regular cleaning routine. Our Kids are 10 & 7 and they have certain responsibilities that are theirs and I have certain responsibilities that are mine. This is truly the only way that everything gets done, child labor, just kidding, but this is teaching them responsibilities & hard work pays off. The kids earn a small allowance {I say small because this is their house too, and I’m sorry but I don’t feel they need to see working & cleaning the house as the same thing, because it’s not} You will always need/want to keep a clean house. The kids have a “bank”{Read all about the Kids Bank HERE} My Husband takes care of everything outside, cutting the grass, pressure washing the house, trimming the hedges, etc.
-That’s how everything gets done in the house; Everyone pitches in and takes care of the home, because this is all of our home!

*Blogging

I don’t know how all it gets done. Sometimes it truly baffles me that I write out a “To Do List” & it someone all gets completed, sometimes not as quick as I would like, or the exact moment I would like, and sometimes things do get forgotten but it always gets done. –I even have a Calendar and a great organizing system, but it still sometimes gets hectic.
- Make sure you have a Calendar for each blog. Sometimes one Calendar can become too cluttered and you forget something or don’t have enough room for everything. Write down everything that needs to get done on a separate piece of paper and then schedule it on your calendar. If you set up a schedule you will work hard and be more focused on what you are working on and what needs to get done.
-Once you have your calendars, have a daily to do list. Write down the top 10 things that have to get done today, and focus on them, once you are done and have any work time, continue on your list. If you don’t get to everything, schedule it on your calendar or save it for tomorrow.
{Sometimes, I work during extra time while supper is cooking, and everyone is outside playing or once the kids are in bed, and my husband is watching another action drama that I’m really not into}

*Boutique Business
So Since I took my Boutique of the web I have had several customers that have kept in contact with me through my blog or know me personally and they have all asked why I took my Boutique offline, WELL, if you must know, it was only because I’ve been building it. I’ve been making A lot of new bows and ordered several different new sets of ribbon to make more. Everything will be coming back soon, but I’ve really enjoyed the Summer just hanging with the kids and having one thing off my plate, However it is coming back online! So be ready, but the way this gets done, is when I need a break. I love making bows or being creative and making all kinds of things & this is a way to clear my head because I do have to focus on what I’m doing to get it just right. Plus my daughter loves new bows, and she knows new bows are coming for school time.
-Find a Hobby that is possible your passion like mine, and work hard to build it into a business. I hope to one day have my Raised Southern Products in some our local boutiques, or to open my very own Boutique that carries only local businesses?

*MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL
– Spending Quality Time with my Family
If you’re a Working Stay at Home Mom like me, the best thing about it is the flexibility we have to spend with our family whenever we want or are needed. Please do not get me wrong working at home is hard, you’re at your home the majority of the time so you have to be very disciplined to treat work time like work time, family time as family time. Even though it is hard work, the best thing about it is if my daughter wants to go for ice cream, and I am in the middle of emailing, writing, scheduling,etc. I can stop exactly what I’m doing, where I am at and go with my family to get ice cream and then if we decide to play a game of goofy golf, we can. It’s great to have that freedom but the key is to remember you only have that freedom if you work hard to complete the work that needs to be done.

Even though my day consists of All of the above, everyday, all day – I am adding additional stuff to my plate. I know, the thought of REALLY? Comes to mind but I am going to be Homeschooling. This is something that is really important and new for our family. In my small town Middle School starts in 4th grade – yes, my going to 5th grader has the knowledge of a 6th or 7th grader, even though he doesn’t show it but when your 10 year old discusses Sex as “making out & stuff” you get a little concerned. I have a list of reasons to homeschool that are very beneficial to my children. I love my daughters elementary school so she is going to finish elementary school and then homeschool. This is going to be a new journey for all of us and I am very excited at all that can be done with homeschooling, especially around our area and how advanced it can be. If it is something you have ever thought about I would definitely check further into it and what all is offered around your town and area.

-All I can say about getting everything done is to be one scheduled family, but make sure that schedule is flexible because it will change several times a day, and just go with it!