Unsolicited Advice

Dr. Seuss Time Again - Yay!

2012-02-25T00:35:00.003-05:00

I know I have totally abondoned my poor blog here. I want that to be different, but life is a bit packed right now. I'm constantly blogging in my head though, if that counts.

Just wanted to quickly let any of you who are still subscribed here to be sure to head over to my business blog, Kidlet Occupation, to check out some free Dr. Seuss printables and sign up for a Dr. Seuss giveaway in honor of his birthday.

The winner will choose between two Seuss gift sets.

The first set is geared toward toddlers and young preschoolers. It consists of a Green Eggs & Ham lift flap board book, a Dr. Seuss Matching Game, and the Dr. Seuss What’s in the Cat’s Hat? game.

Green Eggs & Ham (Nifty Lift-and-Look)

Dr. Seuss Matching Game

Dr. Seuss What's in the Cat's Hat? Game

The second set is geared toward older preschoolers and early elementary ages. It consists of the Dr. Seuss One Fish Two Fish game, The Cat in the Hat I Can Do That game, and the Childhood of Famous Americans Dr. Seuss biography.

Dr. Seuss One Fish Two Fish Game

Cat in the Hat I Can Do That! Game

Dr. Seuss: Young Author and Artist (Childhood of Famous Americans)

(A side note on this book: My younger siblings and I read every Childhood of Famous Americans books that we could lay our hands on. My mother passed on her set to me, and many of the books are falling apart… they were that good. This would make a great read aloud book.)

Head on over to Kidlet Occupation to sign up. Contest ends Friday, March 2nd at 11:59 pm (Pacific Time).

The Money Saving Mom's Budget by Crystal Paine

2012-01-05T20:57:00.001-05:00

Often, one of the many responsibilities of a mother is management of the finances. Even if it is not solely her area, she still must manage the money she spends while doing the family shopping. It can really become just another thing on the plate to stress over. Crystal's book, The Money Saving Mom's Budget, may very well be the key that can get moms moving in the right direction, releaving stress and clearing guilt.

The Money Saving Mom's Budget

by Crystal Paine

Crystal's book, The Money Saving Mom's Budget, could not have come at a better time for me. As a mother of four in just five years, life washed me over and swallowed me up without warning. My health, my house, and my finances in cluttered messes around me, I realized about six months ago that it is time to swim to the top, break through, and breathe again.

Crystal offers straightforward, step by step advice for those who find themselves needing a financial make over, but have no idea where to start. She takes the overwhelming concepts of budgeting, saving money, and managing money and breaks them down into manageable steps of action.

With each page turn, I became more and more confident and excited to jump in and get started. “We can DO this!”

I am most excited about the chapter on clutter reduction and the chapter on writing a budget. These are two areas that very quickly frustrate and overwhelm me.

Crystal poignantly demonstrates just how much money we waste when our homes are cluttered and chaotic.

I throw away toys and other items that have broken when stepped on. I spend money on fast food or expensive frozen convenience food because I cannot find my kitchen counter for cooking space. I could not find my children’s socks on Sunday mornings. After several stressful Sundays, I just went out and bought more. When I see marked down children’s clothing, I swipe it up, purchasing items they do not need because I have no idea what they do or do not have. I waste money on water and laundry detergent, washing loads two or even three times, because I totally forget about the load in the washer for days on end.

You get the point. I waste money, because my home is cluttered and chaotic. Crystal gives very precise, “get it done” steps for decluttering your house from top to bottom.

Chapter three addresses the ins and outs of writing a budget. I’m going to be completely honest here. Budgets scare me. Not because I’m afraid of skimping or having to stick to it, but because I’m clueless. How do you know how much to budget where? What if you don’t even have enough to cover the bills? What if you’re behind in bills… do you budget that in or do you budget according to being caught up? If you follow the cash system, what’s cash and what’s not? Confusing stuff.

Crystal’s guidance in The Money Saving Mom's Budget is the only budgeting help that I’ve heard or read that has not left me feeling like an idiot. She assures that it’s ok to take it slowly and learn as you go. I like her “Three Months to a Realistic, Workable Budget”.

Month One: The Food Budget

Month Two: The Bare Bones Budget

Month Three: The Full-fledged Budget

I’m still a bit scared of the complexity of the full-fledged budget, but I think setting up and following a bare bones budget will make it feel much less like a gigantic algebra equation and much more like a simple plan of action.

Overall, I give The Money Saving Mom's Budget a solid five stars. This is definitely going to be my financial guide for the coming year.

(Disclaimer: This post contains referral links.)

Party Carpool Meet Up - Starting Now

2011-11-01T05:56:00.000-04:00

Well, like other road trips, I've stayed up all night preparing for the trip. Literally. It's nearly 6:00 a.m. and I have yet to go to bed. My kids will be waking up in about an hour and a half.

Ah, but who cares about sleep. Let's go! Everybody jump in. And no fighting over the front seat, okay?

Buckled in? Good.

Alright, here we are...

Tada! I give you Kidlet Occupation! (Please pardon any messes you find. We're still cleaning up.)

Now let's party!

Be sure to enter the giveaways. five lucky guests will walk away with loot.

If you've been itching to join the coveted preschool swap, now's your chance.

And check out the store. Everything is $5 off through Friday, November 4th. (And you get extra giveaway entries when you make a purchase.)

Go have fun!

Oh and this is definitely a totally open party. Invite anyone you wish.

It's a Grand Opening PARTY!!!

2011-10-31T12:30:00.000-04:00

I can hardly stand the excitement!! Tomorrow marks the launch of our brand new busy bag website. I can't wait to show you all what my husband and I have been working so hard on. I'm ready for a PARTY already!

But since we're keeping the location a suprise, just meet me here tomorrow and we'll carpool over to the busy bag party.

You'll be able to purchase busy bag sets at discounted prices... just in time for Christmas!

You'll get the opportunity to join the most popular busy bag swap online... but hurry! They fill up super fast.

And best of all, you'll have the chance to win one of five great prizes!!! So, get on over here tomorrow and have some F-U-N!!

Busy Bags, Swaps, and Giveaways - Mark Your Calendar

2011-10-28T08:32:00.001-04:00

Do you have anything going on Tuesday, November 1st? We do. This date marks the launch of something completely new and exciting. We'll be organizing another preschool swap (with lower shipping costs!). We'll be hosting giveaways - your chance to win your own busy bag set. And... you'll have the opportunity to purchase busy bag sets at a special introductory price.

So, mark your calendar for November 1st, and don't miss the fun!

Breastfeeding Woes, Part 2: Dairy Issues {Guest Post}

2011-10-27T09:43:00.002-04:00

Let me start off by saying I am by no means an expert. Everything concerning dairy has been a trial and error process that we still struggle with. We are however learning and at this point that’s about all we can do.

It all started shortly after my daughter turned one month old. She had recently been diagnosed with thrush. We were squirting the thrush medicine into her cheeks and mouth as directed. (If you are ever faced with the thrush problem, I HIGHLY recommend swabbing the thrush spots vs. squirting the medicine inside the cheeks .)

She had been on the medicine for about a week when all of a sudden every evening she would scream in pain for hours. There was nothing we could do to consol her except attempt to walk around with her. We gave her gas medicine which helped to some extent but she was still in obvious pain. Not only was she in pain but she was spitting up a TON. We were almost certain she was having a reaction to the medicine. Which yes, I still believe she was but I also believe now, from what we’ve learned, that she was also having a reaction to diary.

At this point I wasn’t sure if she wasn’t tolerating my milk anymore or what was going on. All I knew is that my baby was BEYOND cranky - very out of the norm - and was spitting up a ton. Seriously, I went to the store the next day and bought some formula. The price almost made me cry. Ha! I ended up discussing the problem with my sister in law who suggested maybe it was dairy.

So at her suggestion, I stopped eating all dairy. It just so happens that the week this all started my husband and I enjoyed an entire block of cheddar cheese in about two days. We also had made dip using sour cream.

So no dairy for an entire week. No cheese… milk… ANYTHING! The hardest was the milk. I’m a cereal everyday for breakfast type of girl and to all of a sudden have to change? That was hard.

I kept thinking to myself, “If this proves to be the problem, I’ll just give up breastfeeding because I HAVE to have my milk.” So selfish! We only had to go a couple of days to realize that indeed dairy was causing the problems. About two days into no dairy our baby girl was back to herself. Not spitting up near as much and was so much calmer at night.

Since going without dairy I have been able to drink milk again. It doesn’t seem to affect her. Yogurt is out for sure. We ended up accidently having frozen yogurt without processing in our heads that it was dairy and sure enough that night she was cranky and spitting up. Not having cheese hasn’t been extremely difficult unless we end up going out to eat.

But like I mentioned, we continue to learn things. Specifically, most recently we learned that she doesn’t tolerate cream of (insert food here) soups. We’ve had cream of chicken and mushroom in a couple of different recipes. That night she has gas and tummy pains. Finding recipes without the soups in them has been the most difficult thing. Milk still doesn’t affect her and we are slowly being able to eat cheese again in small amounts.

So 6 weeks into not having dairy and we’ve cut back on the amount of gas medicine to MAYBE once a week but even then that’s rare. And thankfully our girl is back to her happy self.

-Bridgette

Farm Rich Appetizer Review and Giveaway

2011-10-25T09:24:00.001-04:00

When Farm Rich asked me to review one of their appetizers, my first thought was to run out and grab a bag of their mozzarella sticks, because I love mozzarella sticks almost as much as I love fried pickles. But I figured I might as well broaden my horizons and give this review an honest try. So I snatched up a bag of their Mini Bacon Cheeseburgers.

Farm Rich promotes their product on the premise that Farm Rich is always there for moms, providing wholesome, easy-to-prepare snacks. Their home page reads, "Welcome to your keep 'em happy place. Looking for ways to keep your kids, hubby, and friends happy? Want a time out from the day-to-day craziness? Well, you've come to the right place." And so I shall base my review on these great and lofty claims.

The day I chose to serve the mini cheeseburgers was a very hectic, stressful weekend afternoon. Aaron was attempting to work on the new busy bag website (hopefully coming soon!!), and I was trying to get some good photos for the website. The kids, in the meantime, were in less than a good mood. It was a cold rainy day, and they were restless. I figured it was a good day to test the "easy-to-prepare" and the "keep 'em happy".

Easy-to-prepare: Yes, very. I just arranged them on a foil lined cookie sheet (so I wouldn't have to wash it afterward) and popped 'em in my oven. In less than 20 minutes, they were ready to serve.

Keep 'em happy: Eh, not so much. Maybe it's just because my kids are still at a young, semi-picky age, but they were not all that thrilled with them. Neither was my husband. I thought they were good, but not good enough to purchase them again. I'm really wishing I had just gotten meat balls or mozzarella sticks or french toast sticks... something I know the kids would have enjoyed... or at least I would have. Ha ha.

Farm Rich has offered to give two of my readers a coupon for a free (up to $4.99) Farm Rich product. With 16 products to choose from, you should be able to find one that you might like to try. Then you can test the "keep 'em happy" for yourself.

Here's how to enter...

Required Entry:
Leave a comment and include an email address.

Additional Entries (leave a separate comment for each):
1. Help me create a list of easy-to-prepare, kid friendly meals by sharing one meal you and your family enjoy that requires minimum preparation.

2. Share this giveaway on your blog, Facebook, Twitter, or some other social network. Paste your link in your comment.

This giveaway will close next Sunday, October 30, 2011 at 11:59 p.m.

Most Loved Toys - Vol. 2

2011-10-19T22:48:00.001-04:00

Balloons

While we do not have balloons around everyday, we certainly do not reserve them only for birthdays. It's just an empty rubber bubble, yet so much fun for a kid. Whoever came up with the idea really should have been paid a million dollars. I have a feeling he didn't.

Yes, that is my kid licking a balloon.

Big Box of Pom-Poms

Yes, it makes a mess every.single.time the box of pom poms are out, but for some reason, that box holds the magic to entertain all four kids at the same time. Into the box I threw a few small containers, some serving tongs, and an old Christmas candy jar. The kids play candy store, scoop and dump, throw snowballs (uh, yeah. not my favorite), stuff them in their shirts... whatever pops into their little heads.

{For those who are also Money Saving Mom readers, I promise that while she beat me to it, I am not just copying her post today. I took these pictures last weekend and woke up this morning with the intention of writing this post tonight. Honest, really and truly. I take no blame for making you want to run to the nearest craft store to buy pom poms.}

Good Things Come to Those Who Pin

2011-10-18T08:25:00.002-04:00

Preschool Finds on Pinterest
Here are some of my favorite preschool ideas I've come across on Pinterest.

Free printable learn to glue booklet. So cool and ingenious.

Padlock Board - I think my boys would love this.

Color Coded Parking Lot - definitely perfect for my 4 year old son who loves to order and group things

A Calm Down Jar - You know those times when you just need them to calm down so you can deal with the issue?.. this is an option. Hand them the jar, have them shake it up, instruct them to sit and watch the glitter settle. Once it is all at the bottom, you can proceed.

Animal Classifying for Little Ones - Present the question ( Ex."Which animals like snow?"), then let them sort their toy animals.

Ice Cream Chore Chart - Make little daily responsibilities fun by assigning one to a scoop of ice cream. They build a tall ice cream cone as they complete their tasks. How fun is that?

Do you use Pinterest to bookmark ideas and inspirations? I seriously have no idea how I lived without it. I have always depended on the Internet to supply me with ideas. Now I have a place where I can store my ideas so I can come back to them. I no longer need to have 20 IE tabs open several days in a row, waiting for me to implement the idea. I like that. A lot.

I'm Worse Than That

2011-10-17T16:34:00.000-04:00

Some people are thieves, stealing others' money and possessions. Some people are adulterers, breaking the sacred trust of their spouse and giving away something that is not theirs to give. Some people are murderers, spilling blood and taking lives.

I'm worse than that. I judge. I look down my nose on people that don't measure up to my standards.

I do this to make myself feel better. If I place my focus on the wrong things people around me are doing, I forget about my own sin. If I point out the physical appearance flaws and the lacking skills of other people, I feel pretty, smart, and talented.

But underneath all my vanity, there's an ever so quiet and nagging voice, reminding me that I am an arrogant snob. It reminds me that "as I think in my heart, so am I". I would never tell that lady in the McDonald's booth that she was fat and ugly, so why do I think it? I would never tell that mother that she was a bad mom and has no business keeping her child, so why do I think it?

The first chapter of Romans speaks of God's judgement on sinners. I'm not one of those. Nope. I'm worse. I'm what he talks about in Romans 2... the judger. I am without excuse, for I sin just the same. The thief steals out of greed. I am greedy. The adulterer cheats out of selfishness. I am selfish. The murderer kills out of anger and spite. My heart thinks angry and spiteful thoughts.

Who am I to judge? God judges because He has the capability to show grace and to pardon the sins of others. Do I have that capability? Can I show unlimited grace? No. Can I pardon the sins of others? No. I cannot snatch them from the consequences of their sins.

I am no better than them, and yet when I judge, I place myself way above them. I play the role of God. What blasphemy! What disgrace!

Breastfeeding Woes, Part 1: Too Much Milk {Guest Post}

2011-10-13T12:33:00.000-04:00

When I found out I was pregnant there were a few things I just knew I would do. Breastfeeding was one of them. I had taken a child development class in High School and knew breastfeeding was the better option. Of course the other reason I choose to breastfeed was because it’s free, and I didn’t want to pay money for formula if my body makes everything my baby needs.

My husband and I signed up for birth classes, but I opted out of breastfeeding classes. My thought, “How hard can it be?” Breastfeeding for me has not been particularly difficult, but I have had a couple of ups and downs.

The first difficulty I faced happened about two weeks into breastfeeding. At the time, I had no idea what was wrong. I had no idea why, every time I fed my baby, I covered both of us in milk. I was constantly soaking our clothes and squirting my daughter. Now I know I was faced with oversupply and fast let down.

Since I had no experience breastfeeding, I was switching sides at each feeding. After some research and realizing the oversupply issue, I learned switching was not the best idea when an over production problem. I was producing a lot of foremilk so my baby was only receiving the foremilk and no hind milk. This was the cause of my daughter’s green, loose stools, fussiness, gagging, gassiness and spitting up.

When my daughter was 3 weeks old, I decided to try a different nursing position. I started sitting having her straddle my leg facing me, this was much more upright. I also stopped switching sides and only nursed one breast per feeding. By the end of the week, my daughter was having normal poop again, her gassiness was better, and she wasn’t gagging nearly as much during the feeding.
The best news of all was I no longer gave my baby a breast milk bath, and I wasn’t changing shirts after every feeding. I had finally reached a point where I wouldn’t have been terrified to nurse in public – for fear of making a big mess.

Until next time, when we discuss the latest Breast Milk Woe: Dairy problems…

Bridgette

Irritable Mom Syndrome, Pt. 2

2011-10-10T14:19:00.000-04:00

As I mentioned in my last post, I definitely have a case of Irritable Mom Syndrome. I want to change that. I want my children to have a happy childhood, not because it was perfect, but because Mom was happy.

In order to change, though, I need to know what causes my irritableness. I cannot just wake up one day and decide I'm going to be happy. I've tried that. Wasn't so successful. I'm going to need to change my thinking in other areas first.

"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will" (Romans 12:2).

Below is a list of thinking processes and attitudes that I need to re-think and reprogram in my mind, in order to overcome this illness of irritableness. (Which, in reality, is sin.)

I and my plans are more important
Rash actions
Rejecting God's grace
Irrational expectations
Time vs. priority
Attitude of pride
Believing less about myself than God does
Living outside of the moment
Expecting adult behavior

I find that I have the same problem Danielle, who commented on part one, addressed. When I put my plans (housework, business work, etc.) at a higher priority than my children's hearts, I end up getting extremely annoyed at them for continually throwing wrenches into my plans. Love is not selfish. It gives freely.

When I discipline or address issues rashly, without a plan and without consistency, I only cause my children to feel like I do not care about them as much as I care about making sure their behavior is not annoying me. This makes them resistant to me, and in turn, makes me more irritable at the obvious lack of attitude change in them. Love takes the time to nuture the heart while directing the will.

God gives to me unconditional favor and love. When I reject His free gift and try to earn it, I fall flat on my face. I can never be a good enough mother to please Him with my success. I end up frustrated that I "can't do anything right". I need to snuggle up in the never failing grace of God.

The times I am most irritable are the times I look around me and see everything I should be doing right now. And I think to myself, "Why do you not accomplish more? I mean, seriously! There are moms out there with more children than you who have happy children, a spotless home, and make up on their faces. What's wrong with you??" I need to let them go. I need to just focus on the present need at the present moment. As Elizabeth Elliot said, "Just do the next thing."

Sometimes I become obsessed with the clock. "No. I cannot come build a train track with you. It's time to start school with Cherith." "No. I cannot read to you right now. It's time to make supper." Seriously, most of the time, taking a few minutes to fulfill a request would not throw off the rest of the day's schedule.

There are times when the only reason I "get after" one of my children is because they hurt my pride. I am irritated because they did something, said something, or displayed an attidue which poked me right in the pride gizzard. Of course, these moments then become moments of mommy failure, for loving discipline cannot be administered in the presence of mommy pride.

When I walk around as one big failure, I can't help but get annoyed at the ones who "cause" me to fail so often. I need to remember that I am God's creation, designed to bring Him glory. He takes great pleasure in me.

Some days, I realize I am living in a fog. I daydream the hours away, thinking about plans for the future or what I would do if all the kids were grown up, or where I would go if I could have a weekend away, or how nice the next "stage" in life will be compared to the current one. I get annoyed when a child's voice pops my paradise bubble. But while I am dreaming of "better days", I'm missing an entire day in the life of my sweet children.

Something I need to remember... They're still kids. It's often their childish behavior that gets to me. You know, stuff like squeezing acne treatment cream on the brand new carpet {it bleaches, by the way}, dumping an entire box of Cheerios down the furnace vent, throwing toys into a sink full of dirty dishes, squirting nearly 30 oz. of dish soap all over the kitchen floor. These are the things that only young children would do. I happen to have young children... NOT ADULTS. So why do I expect them to behave like adults? I just hope I can train that out of them. I'd sure hate for Ethan's wife to walk in the door from a long evening of grocery shopping and find Ethan standing in a puddle of dishsoap, guilty look on his face and bottle in his hand.

I guess, I can pretty much sum it up with:

Plan for kids. Kids happen. Every day. Every moment. Expect it and take each moment one at time.

Irritable Mom Syndrome, Pt. 1

2011-10-06T23:27:00.000-04:00

"Mom!"

"Momeeeeeeee!"

"Hey, Mom?"

That's it! I'm changing my name to Bob. If my name were Bob, and not Mom, then I could ignore every demand addressed to Mom, right?

I have a headache and a sore throat. It seems all I've heard all day is whining and fighting. If we had a dog, I'd literally kick him out the door. {It's probably a good thing we don't.}

The school day is only half successful. I do my best to teach Cherith while Ethan complains and whines because I won't give him a third glass of chocolate milk, let him carry around the entire, just opened box of cereal, draw on the table with a marker, drag more toys out of the closet to add to his already huge mess, or watch a "Mommy/Daddy movie".

I do my best to teach Cherith and deal with Ethan while Faith was climbing all over me and all over the table, pushing everything off the table, and closing Cherith's books while she's using them.

When Daryn comes over to tell me all about the new contraption he just made, I loose my patience and tell him he'll have to wait. The poor kid is visibly crushed as I suck all excitement out of him.

And that's when the guilt comes in. I give him a hug, tell him I am sorry for snapping at him, and ask him to tell me about his contraption. He says he forgot what he was going to say. I kiss him and say I am sorry.

I pull Faith off the table for the hundredth time and tell Ethan to turn off his whiner siren or he'll end up in his room by himself.

I turn to Cherith and tell her to read the words in her book. At this point, she is just as frustrated as I am and cannot even think straight enough to remember how to read.

I sigh and tell her it's recess time. We only accomplished five minutes of schoolwork in the past 45 minutes.

As she runs off to the living room and her siblings follow her, a heavy weight settles upon me. I am the most important person in their little lives right now. More than anyone else in the world right now, they need to know in their deepest of deepest that their mother loves them more immensely. I'm pretty sure I certainly did not demonstrate love to them in the last 45 minutes.

The thing is... this wasn't just a rare bad day. Days like these happen more frequently than I'd like. There's always something that makes me feel irritable with the very people I live for. I guess I have a case of Irritable Mom Syndrome.

In an effort to address this issue, I have to figure out the cause of irritability and acknowledge it for what it is. You can't solve a problem if you don't know what the problem is. {I was never good at the "x+y-z=15... Find y" stuff.}

But, we'll put that off for next time. :)

Busy Bag Issue Resolved

2011-10-04T17:59:00.001-04:00

I thought I should let all you know that the issue with the preschool busy bag swap has been resolved. The coordinator had several family issues come up which she had no control over. All the busy bag packages were mailed Friday, and several swappers have already received their box. Thank you, swappers, for your patience through all this.

Spelling Word Bling

2011-10-02T15:06:00.003-04:00

With Cherith being in the first grade this year, we're encountering the spelling word challenge. I generally do not stop to think about how difficult spelling can be for a kidlet who is still grasping the idea of reading. How do you know which long a words are spelled with an a and a silent e, which ones are spelled with the "two vowels go walking" rule (and which vowel plays the silent role), and which ones are spelled with ay?

Reading is decoding what's already there. Spelling is like reading inside out with very few clues.

In an effort to learn her weekly spelling words, we've mixed things up and used several different methods. We do the "say-spell-say" method, the "write it 3 times" method, the "rainbow writing" method, and... her most favorite so far... glitter glue writing.

It's hard to write legibly with glitter glue, but the idea is not to practice handwriting as much as it is to get her to focus on one letter at a time. So, in her head, she's thinking, "Ok. Now the word goat. Gggggggg. Oooooooo. Aaaaaaaaa. Tttttttttttt."

And of course, the boys wanted in on the fun. Their interpretation of glitter art was more along the lines of "let's see how big of a gooey, globby, mixed color pile of goop we can make on this sheet of paper." They completely drained all the glitter glue tubes.

When Motherhood is New {Guest Post}

2011-09-27T20:58:00.003-04:00

Hi! I’m Bridgette from over at Fables from PB. I’m the sister in law of Brenda. I’m going to be guest posting every so often when I can actually find time to process my thoughts and put them down on paper… er… on the screen.

You see, I just became a mom as of August 12, 2011. We welcomed home our precious daughter Hope after 19 long hours of labor. Becoming a mom has been the most surreal experience. I can remember filling out the “What I want to be when I grow up…” section of the school house books every year. For the longest time I put that I wanted to be a mommy. Growing up in the church nursery, I always said I wanted a bazillion kids.

While I have achieved becoming a mom, I think I’ll stick to having just a few kids vs. the bazillion. I love kids. I have babysat since I was 13 years old. So I feel like I know what I’m doing. But boy is it different when the kid you are caring for is your own. The one that you created. The one God entrusted to you. The one that will rely on you for the rest of their life. The one that stole your heart with their first cry and your first peek.

Ah, that sweet baby that you’ve always longed for. Becoming a mother hasn’t been difficult per say, but it certainly has been far different than I could have imagined. I have found myself wondering if I really know what I’m doing and mostly trying to trust my instinct without going all “first time mom” crazy.

So far we’ve been doing good. Catch another post by me on things like cloth diapering, breast feeding, and other new things along the baby journey. And feel free to check out my blog for pictures of the little sweetie.

-Bridgette

For Those With Do-It-All-itis

2011-09-26T22:51:00.003-04:00

photo credit

Have you ever noticed how women have this sort of expectation that we're supposed to do it all? It's evident everywhere.

For example, I decided to be brave last Friday and take all four of my young kidlets to Burger King for lunch and then to Walmart for new shoes. The men I ran into would generally comment, "You've got a big crew with you today" or "They look just like you" or "Here let me help you with the door." The women made comments like, "I don't know how you do it all with four kids!" or "How do you manage it all?"

See what I mean? Men see four kids and a mom. That's it. Period. Women see four kids, a mom, a house that needs maintained, meals that need cooked, groceries that need bought, bodies that need bathed and clothed, a social life that needs maintained... and on and on.

And for some weird reason, they seem to think I do it all.

Guess what? I don't!

Nah, if you were a fly on my shoulder for a day, you would laugh. Seriously. Most days, I feel like I live in pure chaos. It's not just because I have four kids, but it's also because I've yet to figure out that I can't do it all. I try. Everyday, I try.

I go to bed at night guilty.

Guilty of not being a patient, attentive mom. Guilty of not doing the dishes. Guilty of forgetting to take the clothes out of the washer and put them in the dryer. Guilty of being fed up with a cluttered house and not getting around to decluttering it. Guilty of drinking Dr. Pepper and not dieting. Guilty of forgetting to teach my children the value of hard work. Guilty of not getting enough work done. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty.

Why? Because I don't get anything done. Oh, don't worry. I start a good many things. I run wilding around my pie chart day, slapping each slice of pie, but never actually managing to focus long enough on one of them to accomplish anything.

Why? Because I try to do it all. I can't wash the dishes without feeling guilty for not playing more with the kids. I can't play with the kids without feeling guilty for not cleaning the house. And on and on.

But I think I'm slowly learning that it's ok to not do everything. It's ok if my mother in law washes my dishes. It's ok if I leave the messy couch untouched today. It's ok to occasionally have an "ignore the kids" day. It's ok to admit that I need help. It's ok to not be supermom. It really is.

Why? Because I can do ANYTHING!!! Well.... if I stay focused on that one thing. Whichever task I set out to do needs to be my focused task, no matter how many squirrels run by. I cannot allow myself to think of all the other things on my to do list {which, by the way, far surpasses the length of Santa's naughty and nice list}.

I need to just say to myself, "I can do this, but I can't do everything."

photo credit

And because I love music and lyrics, here are two songs that go beautifully with my current "God's lesson in session". (If you're like me and you hate music videos {totally ruins my mental pictures}, then tab back here while you listen. ha ha.)

Do Everything - Steven Curtis Chapman

Strong Enough - Matthew West

Road Trip USA - Delaware

2011-09-21T14:28:00.000-04:00

I mentioned before that we are using Erica's Road Trip USA cirriculum (Confession's of a Homeschooler) for geography this year. I think it's a bit advanced for first grade, but we're scaling it down and going at a slower pace. I think if I had an older child doing it with Cherith, we could keep the suggested schedule, because the older one would set the pace. But anyway, we are loving it, along with all the letters from you all! Thanks!!

This week, we've been studying Delaware. We did not know anyone from Delaware, so I requested a visitor's guide from their website. Cherith cut out pictures that appealed to her and put them in her state scrapbook, along with the provided coloring sheet.

Today's project was to make a suspended bridge. Cherith enjoyed the process and is superbly proud of the end product. (This project is definitely better with an older student, as I ended up doing most of it. But she enjoyed working with me.)

Gobble Gobble! Toe Sock Turkeys Tutorial

2011-09-20T22:48:00.000-04:00

Thanksgiving is creeping up on us, once again, and it's time to start thinking about fun crafts and decor for your cozy little home. Here's a repost from last year for ya!

Aren’t these adorable? I was walking through Walmart the other day when I saw a pair of toe socks in fall colors. Immediately, the word “turkey” popped into my head, and the socks jumped into my cart. I mean, everyone's got a sock monkey. There are instructions out there for all sorts of sock animals... sock elephants, sock dogs, and even sock bunnies. But a sock turkey... now that's different.

And even better than their uniqueness is the fact that they are super easy to make for just the cost of the socks (I found this pair at Walmart for $3), if you use what you have at home. If you do not have poly-fill in the house, drag that old pillow out of the linen closet that you haven't used in over 3 years. If you do not have plastic pellets on hand, just use a couple tablespoons of rice or lentils.

(Oh and yes. I’m aware that there is only one turkey in these photos. While a pair of socks will make a pair of turkeys, I have yet to get a chance to make the second one. sigh.)

Do you want some of these Tommy turkeys? Here’s how. It should only take an hour… maaaaaybe two, if you do not have little people “help”.

What You Will Need:

Fall colored toe socks
Foam ball (OR poly-fill)
Poly-fill
Plastic pellets or rice or lentils
Thread and needle
Sewing machine (optional, but recommended – unless you’re super good with tiny hand stitches)

Step One: Gettin’ Started 1. Cut your foam ball in half. I used a foam ball that somehow appeared in our house. Actually I probably rescued it, because I am sure it would have soon been bitten to death just as its block partner had. If you don’t have needy foam balls begging to be rescued, I’m sure you could get away with just using poy-fill. Your turkey just wouldn’t be flat in the back.

2. Stick one of the ball halves inside of one sock to determine where you should cut your sock.
3. I cut mine just at the bottom of the green stripe. You’ll want to leave about 1-1 ½ inches below the ball.

Step Two: The Body
1. Take a moment to look the photos above and laugh at my awful hand stitching ability.

2. Stuff the ball back into your sock and begin stitching up the bottom. You’re going to kinda wrap it up like a present, as show in photo 1 and 3.

3. When you have only one end open, pour a little of the plastic pellets (or rice or lentils) into the hole. Use your finger to stuff it in toward the other end and pour in more.

4. Spill the pellets all over the place. The kidlets will think it’s cool.

5. Keep going until you have about 2 Tbsp. in your turkey bottom. The idea is to have enough in there to make the Turkey bottom moldable so he can sit without falling over. Finish stitching it up.

Step Three: Those ‘Dorable Turkey Feet 1. Create a leg/foot pattern similar to the one above. It doesn’t have to be perfect. You can leave off the curved toes and just make a triangle, if you want.

2. Lay your pattern on the sock and cut. You will need a total of four per turkey, which means you should only have to cut twice (per turkey), because you’ll be cutting through both layers.

3. Lay two feet pieces right sides together. Stitch around the foot only… NOT THE LEGS. Repeat with the next foot.

4. Let your “helper” get a good look.

5. Turn right side out. A crochet hook or other similar object may be helpful. Just don’t jam it in too hard. You don’t want to poke a hole in your turkey foot.

6. Stuff each foot with a small amount of poly-fill.

7. Stitch up one side of the leg and down the other. Do not cut your thread.

8. Bend up the foot to create a right angle, and stitch the foot to the leg, so these cute little turkey feet can stick up and show off their cute little selves.

9. Repeat with the next leg.

10. Stitch the legs to the bottom of the turkey.

You should now have a two legged toe sock that sits.
Step Four: The Head

1. Take one of your remaining sock pieces. Cut out an oval. Eyeball it. Perfection is not needed, at all. This should give you two ovals… one for each turkey.

2. Thread your needle with a looooong thread. Make large loose stitches around the oval. Do not cut your thread.

3. Pull it up into a gathered pouch looking thingy. Do not cut your thread.

4. Stuff your little pouch with a small amount of poly-fill. Pull it tight. Do not cut your thread.

5. Stitch it closed. Do not cut your thread.

6. Stitch head about 3/4 up from the bottom of the turkey body. Tie it off. Stick your needle through the head. Pull it out the other side very tightly. Cut the thread. This should make your knot pretty much invisible.

You should now have a one headed, two legged toe sock that sits.

Step Five: The Turkey Beard

1. Cut a shape similar to the one pictured above from the cuff of the sock.

2. Do a quick whip stitch around your nice lookin’ turkey beard. Do not cut your thread.

3. Pinch the top of the beard together. Pierce it with your needle. Pull the thread through. Pierce it again and pull thread trough. Do not cut your thread.

4. Now stitch the beard to the bottom of his head. Tie it off... and now you may cut the thread.

Step Six: The Beak

1. Take the remainder of the sock cuff and fold it in half. Stick it in the sewing machine and stitch a small triangle. Trim about an 1/8 inch from your stitching.

2. At this point, you’ll probably want to put the beak up against the turkey’s head to check for size. I ended up needing to cut mine a little.

3. Stuff the beak a little.

4. Stitch onto the turkey’s head.

You should now have a one headed, two legged, beaked and bearded toe sock that sits.

Almost done!

Step Seven: The Eyes

You’re going to make the eyes by endlessly knotting double looped, black thread. Or you can do it the easy way and use embroidery thread, if you have some on hand.

(How to double loop: Take a long string of thread. Fold it in half. Thread the looped end through your needle. Pull it half way through. Knot the end. You should now have four strands of thread.)1. Poke your needle through the bottom of the beak and back up where you want your first eye.

2. Pierce the needle through the head, as shown in photo 1. Pull needle through.

3. Reach through the loop that is created. Grab the needle and begin to pull. (Photo 2)

4. Use the fingers from your other hand to guide your loop as you pull slowly and tightly. (Photo 3 and 4)

5. Repeat a bunch of times until you reach the desired size of eye.

6. Pierce your poor turkey again and come back up where you want your second eye. Repeat knotting process.

7. When you are finished with the last eye, poke your needle into the head and bring it back out under the beak. Pull it real tight and cut.

You should now have a two eyed, one headed, two legged, beaked and bearded… TURKEY!!! Gobble gobble gobble!

If you create an adorable turkey, I’d love to see it! Just post about it on your blog and leave a link in a comment over here.

*If you would like to share this tutorial, feel free to pass on the link, but please do not copy and paste these instructions into your own blog.

Most Loved Toys - Vol. 1

2011-09-20T20:58:00.000-04:00

This week's most played with toy...

Wooden Train Tracks and Vehicles

(Pardon the flash-erized photos. Our living room has terrible lighting,
and Photoshop is down. {insert sobbing face here})

Math and Reading Swap In Need of More Swappers

2011-09-19T22:10:00.001-04:00

If you missed the math and reading swap, a couple weeks ago, there's good news for you. We have run out of fill ins, and are in need of at 20+ swappers plus extra fill ins, should we need replacements in the next week or two.

If you would be interested in participating, please read the Math and Reading Swap post and fill out the form below.

You must be willing to pay the shipping charges as soon as a coordinator contacts you. You must also be willing to stick with the original deadlines she has set for her group. (Each group has about 2 wks to assemble and ship the busy bags.) If you do not reply to the coordinators email and pay the shipping, right away, you will not have time to participate in the swap.

You must also understand, that unless you are one of the first 20 to sign up, you are not guaranteed to be contacted by a coordinator, and thus be a participant.Loading...

Shipping Deposit Due for Math and Reading Swap

2011-09-16T20:45:00.000-04:00

If you have not paid your coordinator your shipping deposit, please do so as soon as possible. Most coordinators' deadline for the shipping deposit is this weekend or Monday.

If you do not pay your shipping deposit by the deadline, you will be replaced by a fill-in.

If you still have not heard anything from your coordinator, please email me right away {link in sidebar}, so I can get you in contact with her.

Math and Reading Swap Participants Have Been Contacted

2011-09-13T22:37:00.000-04:00

All swappers and fill ins should have received an email from me or their coordinator in the last few days. If you are a swapper, this email would have contained information about making your shipping payment. If you are a fill in, you should have received an email from me letting you know that you will be contacted when a spot opens up.

If you did not receive either of these emails, please look in your junk mail folder. If you do not see an email there, please email me (link in sidebar), and I will get back with you.

Wondering where K-2nd swap busy bags are?

2011-09-05T23:09:00.000-04:00

After posting the math and reading swap, I've had lots of people asking where their K-2nd swap bags are.

It generally takes about 2 weeks from the "mail by" date to turn around the swap. This allows about a week to wait for all the boxes to come in, time to create any fill in activities if needed, and get the busy bags all sorted and reshipped.

All that to say, your busy bags should be shipping out to you very soon. The packages for my group will be mailed out tomorrow.

Math and Reading Activity Swap Sign Up

2011-09-03T22:24:00.000-04:00

This Swap Is Closed

Please allow one week from the date the swap was closed (11:59 pm, Mon, Sept. 5) to hear from a coordinator.

So, fiiiiiiiinally, here's your chance to sign up for the math and reading swap. I know it would have be so nice to have this done before school started. I wish it had been.

So, here's the scoop...

This swap form will be open until midnight Monday (eastern time). If (due to the holiday weekend) not many people sign up. It may be extended.

1. READ THIS POST before going any further. (If you already read the new procedures, make sure you check out some changes in #9.) Still think you'd like to join the swap? Then move on...

2. Look through the following list of activities, and choose you top three choices. Activity assignments will be made on a first come, first served basis. While we will take your top three choices into consideration, there is no guarantee that you will be assigned one of them.

I did not have time to check all the activities to insure they are within a $1 per bag budget. Please price out your activity before starting. If it is going to put you over budget, let me or your coordinator know right away, and I will either help you fit it in, or assign you a new activity.

A lot of these activities are paper ones requiring printing and sometimes laminating. It's just the nature of school related activities. If you do not have a printer or access to a laminating machine, please let us know in the comments section of the form. Lamination is only required if the activity will be used for dry erase purposes. Please print non-laminated items on cardstock, unless otherwise noted.

Math and Reading Activities

Reading

Spin and Spell - any letter combinations to create any words
(Use a sharpie to label nuts with letters, rather than stickers and mod podge.)

Zap! Sight Word Game - sight words
(Scroll down. Third one in the list. Please include a container of some sort, such as disposable drinking cups, from which to draw the popsicle sticks.)

Sight Word Wheel - sight words
(Scroll way down, about half way down the page. Can use paper plates.)

Word Doctor - CVC words
(Print on cardstock. Lamination is optional. Supply tweezers, but skip the other props. Tweezers can be found in a 2 pack at Dollar Tree.)

Letter Tiles and Two Vowels Speller Cards - two vowels go walking rule
(Print only pages 6 & 7 on cardstock. Lamination is optional.)

Silent E Worksheets - silent e words
(Print only two pages. Laminate back to back, or put them back to back in a sheet protector. Or cover with contact paper. Provide a dry erase marker (packs of 4 at Dollar Tree) or a washable crayon.)

R-Controlled Four in a Row - r controlled vowels
(Print on cardstock. Lamination optional. Include a die.)

Contraction Camera Game - contractions
(You do not need to include the recording sheet. Print on cardstock. Lamination is optional.)

Silly Sentence Game - general reading
(Print on colored paper and laminate OR print on colored cardstock. [different color for the three sentence parts].)

CVC Donuts - CVC words
(Print on cardstock. Lamination is optional.)

Digraph Die - th, ch, sh, wh, tr, dr
(Feel free to diviate from the die template. Use can use small 3/4" blocks or foam cubes and write on them with a sharpie. Please use the following digraphs and blends: the, ch, sh, wh, tr, dr.)

Toss, Read, and Write - cl, bl, fl, pl, gl, sl
(Scroll about a quarter way down the page until you come to the photo of a muffin tin. You do not need to include a recording sheet with this activity. Just the muffin tin [or other such item, if it the foil muffin pans are too expensive] with the sections labled, and a pom pom. Please use the following sounds: cl, bl, fl, gl, pl, sl.)

Power Tower - ay, eigh, ow, ou, ew, ui, ei, igh
(Use 3 oz. paper water cups. Walmart has packs of 100 Dixie cups for under $4. You do not need to provide Pringles canisters. Please use words with the following sounds: ow [as in cow], ou [as in out], ew [as in new], ui [as in fruit], ei [as in reign], eigh [as in neigh])

Ah! Cute Babies File Folder Game - au, aw, and short o
(Printing on regular copy paper is fine. Use whatever file folders you wish.)

Making Words File Game - combining beginning, middle, and ending sounds
(Printing on regular paper is fine. Use whatever file folders you wish. I am unsure of the cost of the post its. You are welcome to come up with a different way, if needed.)

Math

Place Value Cups - place value
(Provide cups, counting items, and one recording sheet. The receiving moms can print more should they wish to.)

Fraction Action - basic fractions
(Purchase 3 large foam shapes per bag [circles, squares, or rectangles - check Dollar Tree]. Leave one whole and write the number one in the middle. Cut the other in half, and write 1/2 on each half. Cut the last shape in 1/4s and label each quarter with "1/4". Use these as teaching tools and also as puzzles, by asking the child to creat 3/4, etc.)

Felt Number Tiles - provides hands on equation building
(Please provide numbers 1-10 and the signs +, -, and =.)

Bankrupt! Money Game - coin values
(Provide popsicle sticks with plastic or paper [cardstock] coins glued on, and a container such as a disposable drinking cup from which to draw the popsicle sticks.)

Odds and Evens Game - odd and even numbers
(This link is a round about way to get to the directions. Scroll past all the photos. Click on the first sentence of the third paragraph under the photos. This will open a Word document with several math games listed. Odds and Evens is the first game on the list. Please provide counters [such as beans] and a pair of dice.)

Round It Game - rounding to the nearest ten
(This link is a round about way to get to the directions. Scroll past all the photos. Click on the first sentence of the third paragraph under the photos. This will open a Word document with several math games listed. Odds and Evens is the second game on the fourth page. Please provide a deck of cards [2 pk. at Dollar Tree] and a hundreds chart printed on cardstock.)

Add and Subtract Mat - addition and subtraction
(Please print board and pieces on cardstock. Lamination is optional. Paper counters are optional. you may provide beans or other small items in place of the paper counters.)

Bill Buster File Folder Game - quarters to dollars & dollars to quarters
(This is another file folder game. Print pieces on regular copy paper. Use whatever folder you wish. Contact me if you need help figuring out the assembling.)

Time is Up! Game - telling time, digital and analog clocks
(Please provide 2 game boards printed on cardstock and some sort of game pieces marked with digital times [can be squares cut from foam sheets or whatever else you can think of that fits in the budget]).

Measurement Journal - measuring
(Please provide measuring tool(s) [as many as you can fit in your budget]. Ideas: a ruler [check Dollar Tree for pacaks], measuring spoons, measuring tape, plastic measuring glass. Include a small notebook [look for packs of tiny composition books or spiral flip notebooks] for child to record what he measures and its measurement.)

Counting Coconuts - counting & beginning addition
(Scroll down until you see a felt coconut tree. Please provide a small felt board [a half sheet of felt glued to a half sheet of cardstock], a felt coconut tree, 12 felt coconuts, and 2 die [Dollar Tree].)

Shape Graphing - shapes & bar graphs
(Scroll down to the sixth photo. Print sheet and laminate [or cover with contact paper or slip into a sheet protector]. Create a shapes die using a small wooden block or foam cube. Use a sharpie to draw shapes on the die. Please also include a dry erase marker [Dollar Tree] or washable crayon.)

Egg Carton Shake It Up - equation practice
(If this activity is assigned to you and you do not have access to egg cartons, let me or your coordinator know immediately. We can assign you another activity. You may substitute the erasers for any small item, such as large beans.)

Dice Greater or Lesser - greater than, lesser than
(Print, laminate [or contact paper or sheet protectors]. Include dice {Dollar Tree] and a dry erase marker [Dollar Tree] or washable crayon.)

Reading or Math

Flippin' Cookies - any skill
(Print, laminte, cut out pieces. Please include a dry erase marker [Dollar Tree]. True laminatation works best for this activity. Please do not substitute contact paper as it is not stiff enough. If you are assigned this activity and do not have access to a home laminator, please let me or your coordinator know right away.)

Build a Sandwich - any skill
(Print, laminate, and cut out pieces. Please provide a dry erase marker [Dollar Tree].)

Fish for Knowlege - any skill
(Link provides the concept. To make it busy bag friendly: Create a fishing rod using an unsharpened pencil, yarn [string, etc.], and a strong magnet. Create simple fish shapes. Attach a paper clip. Laminate. Include a dry erase marker [Dollar Tree] or washable crayon. Parent writes words or equations, etc. on the fish. Student catches one fish at a time and reads the word or answers the equation.)

3. Fill out the form below. If you wish to simply be assigned an activity without listing your preferences, please select "other" in the activity drop down menus.

4. You will be contacted by a coordinator within a week.

Brand New Busy Bag Swap Procedures

2011-08-26T22:55:00.001-04:00

I don't know about you all, but I am loving all this swap stuff. It's so fun to see all the busy bags that you all create. Love the creativity that flows through your veins.

As the last three swaps have progressed, it has become apparent that some changes need to be made to the swapping procedures in order to make things run smoothly and ensure everyone has a fun and wonderful experience.

These changes will go into effect in future swaps. If you are in the middle of a current swap, please follow the directions given by your coordinator.

So, with no further ado....

_____________________________________________

Busy Bag Swap Procedures

This is a conjunctive group. The success of this swap depends on the success of each
member. The end goal of 30 different activities for each swapper is only possible so long
as each swapper creates 30 bags of the same activities and ships them to the coordinator on
time and maintains proper communication with the coordinator.

1. Sign up using the form on the swap post representing the desired swap. Be sure to
specify your activity preferences.

2. The form will be open only for as long as specified in that swap's post.

3. Once closed, those who signed up will be split into as many groups of 30 as possible.
The names remaining will be kept as fill ins should participants drop out as the swap
progresses. The swap groups are assigned on a first come, first serve basis. The sooner
you sign up, the more likely you are to be in a group of swappers.

4. Activities will be assigned to each swapper in each group based on a first come, first
serve basis. If there are four people all wanting to do the same activity, the one who
signed up first will be assigned that activity. If every one of a swapper's choices are
taken, they will be assigned a different activity. (If you have a problem with your assignment, please contact your coordinator right away.)

5. Each group of 30 will be assigned to a coordinator. The coordinator will receive their
swappers' names, email addresses, and activity assignments.

6. The coordinator will email everyone in their group, informing them that they made it in
to the swap. All the fill ins will be emailed informing them of their place in line.

7. Each swapper is responsible to make sure they receive all emails from their coordinator.
If you do not hear anything within a few days of the swap form being closed, you should
look in your junk mail folder. If you find nothing there, please email me (link provided in
sidebar).

8. Once you receive the email from your coordinator, you should reply acknowledging receipt. It is your responsibility to keep communicating with your coordinator so they know for sure that you are still participating.

9. You will have 1 week to send your coordinator $15.65, using Paypal's options in their personal tab (to avoid incurring fees), to cover the cost of shipping the 30 different busy bags back to you. $15.65 covers the cost of the large flat rate box and an extra 70 cents for delivery confirmation. Your shipping payment is your ticket into the swap. You will not receive your activity assignment until your payment is received.

Paypal's Person Tab:

*If you are joining us from Canada, please provide the amount needed to cover shipping from the U.S. to Canada. Just let your coordinator know you're from Canada and, together, you can choose the shipping method.

10. If you should need to drop out of the swap, please inform you coordinator as soon as
possible, BEFORE THE "SHIP BY" DATE, so she can find a fill in, and refund your shipping
payment.

11. If you should not have your busy bags to your coordinator on time, or drop out AFTER
THE "SHIP BY" DATE, your $15.65 will be used by the coordinator to fund a replacement
activity to make up for the absence of your activity.

12. Once you have received your activity assignment from your coordinator, you will have a
time frame for preparing your busy bags and getting them into the mail. This will be 2
weeks from the "send payment by" date, or as specified by the coordinator.

13. You are responsible to have your busy bags finished and mailed by the date given by
your coordinator. You will also be given a date by which your coordinator will need to
receive your busy bags. Please keep this date in mind as you choose your shipping method.

14. If your coordinator does not receive your busy bags by the date specified, she will
have to send out the boxes without your activity. Please make sure you have your package of
busy bags to your coordinator by the date specified.

15. Your coordinator will email you when the busy bags boxes have been mailed out to the
swappers.

16. Wait about 3 business days, and you should have a box of 30 activities waiting for you
and your children to enjoy!

Nutshell:

1. Form will be up for time specified (usually 2 days)
2. Cooridinator will email each participant (within a week of form closing)
3. Swappers paypal shipping payment to coordinator (1 week)
4. Swappers assemble and ship busy bags (2 weeks)
5. Coordinators receive and repackage busy bags and ship them out (2 weeks)

_____________________________________________

These rules will be linked on the Busy Bag page for easy finding.

And that's that. Any questions?

K-2nd Swap Enters Its Last Stretch!

2011-08-23T12:44:00.000-04:00

By now, the K-2nd swap groups should be reaching their shipping deadline, if they have not already. Make sure your package is mailed on time to your coordinator and arrives to them by the "have it to me" date they stated in their original email.

This swap is going so much smoother than the last, so far. Thanks to all my wonderful coordinators and their willingness to keep communication going with all the swappers. I know that equals to hours of emailing, but it certainly keeps things going smoothly.

Thank you, too, to all you swappers out there. You have done a marvelous job communicating with your coordinators. And the actvities I've seen come in so far, are absolutely great!

Notice to All Swappers

2011-08-16T13:20:00.000-04:00

Swappers:

PLEASE reply to emails from your coordinator, so we know you're participating, or you will be replaced.

PLEASE ship your busy bags by the date given: NO EXCEPTIONS.

PLEASE invest effort into your activities. **We really want this to be a fun experience for EVERYONE.**

K-2nd Swap Activity Assignemnts Sent to Coordinators

2011-08-08T15:46:00.000-04:00

FINALLY, after many hurdles along the way, the K-2nd swap is sorted and ready to go. Thanks to my marvelous husband and the many nights he stayed up until 2 am (and still got up at 5:45 for work), I now have a database that sorts the activities for me. With the exception of having to settle activity choice conflicts, the lists came to me all sorted out.

The activity assignments have been sent out to the coordinators and you should hear from your coordinator by Wednesday, Aug. 10th. PLEASE, respond to this email so that we know you are receiving emails. If you do not receive anything, check your junk mail folders. If there is nothing there, contact me.

The coordinators are Brenda P (myself), Marcia F, Natalie A, Jessica T, and Tracye G.

Please add my email address to your address book (brenners at the herd . us). If your coordinator does not hear from you, she will let me know and I will retry. If my address is in your address book, your email server should not put my emails into your junk mail folder.

Please contact your coordinator should anything come up. We are doing our best to make this an enjoyable experience for you.

K-2nd Swap COMING VERY SOON - PROMISE

2011-08-06T17:22:00.000-04:00

I super duper double promise that I am not ignoring, procrastinating, or dumping the k-2nd swap.

My toddler swap boxes are going out Monday. The preschool swap is now mostly drama free and I'm just waiting on the last 4 boxes to come in.

That being said, the K-2nd swap will begin very soon. I cannot wait for all these activities to come in. I'm super excited about this one.

K-2nd Bag Swap Delay

2011-07-27T20:36:00.002-04:00

This is just a quick note to let you know that I will not be sending out the activity assignments tonight. There are too many loose strings with the preschool swap that I need to tie up before I can take on more. Hindsight is telling me that perhaps four different swaps with multiple coordinators was a little much all at once. J I will be sending out the list of names and activities for each group to the coordinators very soon. It just won’t be in the timeframe I originally planned for. I am sorry for the inconvenience this may have caused you.

K-2nd gr. Busy Bag Swap

2011-07-20T10:51:00.005-04:00

This Swap is Now Closed.

There will be 5 groups of 30 and 28 fill ins. If you do not hear from your coordinator by Thursday, the 28th (this accounts for not working on the weekend), please check your junk and spam folders.

To keep your email service from sorting the swap emails to the junk folder, add my email address to your email address book.

brenners at the herd . us

This swap is for K - 2nd gr. ONLY. If you're looking for the toddler or preschool swap, they are closed. If you are looking for the Math and Reading only, it will be posted soon.

This swap will include 30 activities and 30 swappers + fill ins for each group.

Want to join this one?

Step 1: Please review the following list of activities. Choose your top three choices of which you would like to create, or let me know if you have another idea that is not listed here. Other ideas are welcome. (While we take your choices into consideration, there is no guarantee that you will be assigned one of your choices.)

You may need to be creative when you brainstorm your activity to make it fit into the budget or into your current stock of stuff around the house. It's ok to deviate from the original instructions.

Check out this list of good deals to be found at Dollar Tree, Target, and Walmart.

Reading/Language Activities

Sight Word Popsicle Stick Game

Letter Tiles and CVC Word Speller Cards
(CVC pages only)

Flippin Cookies

Letter Tiles and Long Vowels Word Speller Cards
(Two Vowels Go Walking [ae, oa, etc.] and/or Silent E pages only)

Math Activities

Fraction Action
(For each bag you will need 4 large foam circles, squares, or rectangles [great price at Dollar Tree]. Leave one whole. Write a big 1 in the middle. Cut the second one in half. Write 1/2 on each piece. Third one in 1/3s, and the last one in 1/4s. Child will treat the pieces as a puzzle. They must put them together to create 4 whole shapes.)

Paint Stick Number Line
(Number Line Stickers are at Dollar Tree in the teachers' section.)

Math Circles or Felt Number Tiles (with +, -, x, division, and =)(Unless you love to cut circles or have a 1.25" - 1" circle punch, you might not want to commit to the math circles, or maybe cut them in squares instead.)

Bankrupt! Money Game

Science Activities

What's Magnetic?
(A magnet and several small objects to test magnetity on. A chart to record findings)

Materials Scavenger Hunt

Backyard Boredom Flipbook

Other Skills

Shoe Tying Card

Art Dice

Just for Fun

Masking Tape Fun
(A roll of masking tape and a list of tape activity ideas)

Hardware Play
(Nuts, bolts, and other inexpensive hardware)

Chalk Games - Annihilation & London Calling
(Sidewalk chalk and an inexpensive water gun. Write words or answers to math sums or pics or anything on sidewalk. Parent (or other child) calls out words, math problems, etc. and player squirts the answer. Continue until all words, etc. have disappeared. London Calling instructions linked above.)

Pom Pom Shooters
(Only with pom-poms instead of marshmallows to avoid spoilage)

Balloon Paddle Ball
(About halfway down the page)

Stretchy and Activity Cards
(I'm unsure on the cost of lycra fabric. I don't know if this would fit a $1/bag budget.)

Snowflake Builder

Eye Spy Bottle

Memory Game (wooden discs & felt, fabric scraps, miniature, wood squares, recycle kids' books)
(These are just ideas. I was thinking something more substantial than paper... wood, ez felt, foam? I'm not so sure this age group would really get into just another paper matching game. The set should probably consist of at least 6 matches.)

Popsicle Stick Puzzle
(Can be smaller than 16 popsicle sticks. Perfect if you have lots of old magazines or calendars.)

Spooning Beads
(Parents can give their child and egg carton and maybe let the child rummage through the kitchen junk drawer for other things to play with along with the beads. My 6 year old really enjoys this. You could maybe include yarn, if it's in the budget, in case they want to make jewelry.)

Playdough and Playdough Mat(s)
(Lots to choose from!)

Egg Puzzles
(Made from similarly patterned paper [hard to differentiate] or from felt or cardstock of all one color with different cut patterns... to make it harder for big kids)

Ping Pong Basketball
(Could use plastic cups rather than containers. This could be played alone as well, and would not have to be so complicated... just try to bounce the ball in a cup. Two or three cups could be placed in a line so that the last is farther away. Each cup could be a different score.)

Felt Board and Felt Pieces to Create a Scene
(One sheet of felt glued to one sheet of cardstock OR half a sheet of EZ felt. The felt play pieces should be things they can use to build a scene... examples, but DO NOT SEW, do not include toys, and it doesn't have to be as elaborate - simplify it: construction and train, farm, dinos, castle, meadow)

Catapult
(This requires a small block of wood, like a 2x4. If you've got scraps lying around or are not intimidated by power tools, like some people {ahem}, then this might be perfect for you.

Pinchers & Small Items
(Salad servers or something like it [check Dollar Tree] and small items like pom poms [or anything else that would work]. Child uses the pinchers to pick up items.)

Step 2: Read the general overview of the swaps, if you haven't yet.

Step 3: If you're absolutely sure this is something you want to do, fill out the form below. This form will be taken down in 48 hours or when a "ridiculous" number of swappers is reach. (he he)

Filling out the form is not a way of expressing interest. It is a commitment to be a part of the swap.If however, you do sign up with full intentions of participating, but then realize that for some reason you are unable to continue, please let me or your swap coordinator know right away, so that we can contact someone else who would love to be involved.

Step 4: Wait patiently to hear from your coordinator. You should receive an email in 3 days or less (from the time the swap is closed) informing you or either your activity assignment or your standing as a fill in. If you do not hear anything after 3 days, check your junk mail folder or spam folder. If you still hear nothing, email me.

Heads Up On Busy Bag Deals at Dollar Tree, Target, & Walmart

2011-07-18T22:34:00.001-04:00

I scouted things out at Dollar Tree today. Here's some things that might come in handy for the current swaps or those coming up...

Dry Erase Markers, 4 pack
Popsicle Sticks, 125 pack
Large Foam Shapes, 24 pack
Tweezers, 2 pack
Number Sticker Strip, 75 pack (I think. It's in a roll in the teachers section.)
Small/Medium Food Storage Containers, 4 pack (if I remember right)
Clothespins, 36 pack (I think)

Those ice cream bowls pictured in the spooning bead post by Walking By the Way. Don't know how budget friendly they would be for a swap, but they're cute.

At Walmart...
Pancake turner spatulas for 88 cents

At Target...
Dice, 10 pack (in the dollar spot section)

2011/2012 School Year's Cirriculum (1st grade)

2011-07-17T01:09:00.002-04:00

I'm so super excited. Friday, I found a good sized brown box sitting outside my front door. When the kids and I brought it in and tore it open (because that's how all packages are treated in our house), we found school books hiding inside.

I asked Cherith, "Do you want to start 1st grade today?" She thought for a minute and then replied, "How 'bout tomorrow!" Ha. Ha.

So here's the cirriculum scoop for the year...

Language Arts, Reading, Writing, Math, and Science (?):

A Beka - My mom passed on a lot of the text books she used with my younger siblings... you know, like 15+ years ago. So I am able to use a lot of what she passed on and just add the workbooks, new teacher's manuals, and a few readers we were missing.

Geography:

Erica's (Confessions of a Homeschooler) Road Trip USA cirriculum - This looks so incredibly fun. I can't wait to get started. I'm also trying desperately to get someone from every state to write a letter to Cherith with fun things about them, their family, and where they live. Not sure if that will be possible or not. The nice thing is that I know someone from Hawaii and someone from Alaska, so the two hardest states are already covered.

Bible:

Songs for Saplings' Q&A, Vol. 1 - We will cover one song (theological point) per week. I am in the process of creating a workbook to go along with this.

I seriously cannot wait to get started. But I have a lot of must do's on my list before the school year starts up, though, so I better get busy.

(If you're waiting on the K-2nd and Math & Reading swaps, I promise they're still coming. My ever so intelligent husband is designing a sweet database for me, in order to eliminate the headaches associated with processing over 500 names at once.)

Preschool- Young K (adv. 2's-young Ks) Busy Bag Swap

2011-07-10T15:14:00.008-04:00

This swap is now closed.

There will be 12 groups. Each group will have 2-3 fill ins. Your coordinator will contact you in the next few days. (There were 368 people, so please be patient. It will take me a while to group them all.)

If you have not been contacted, check your junk mail folder or spam folder.
If you cannot find an email from your coordinator, email me.

This swap is for Preschool- Young K ONLY. If you're looking for the toddler swap, it is re-opened! If you're wanting to join the K-2nd or the Math and Reading swaps, they are coming soon.

This swap will include 30 activities and 30 swappers + 5 or so fill ins per group.

Want to join this one?

Step 1: Please review the following list of activities. Choose your top three choices of which you would like to create, or let me know if you have another idea that is not listed here. Other ideas are welcome. If you participated in the swap last May, the activites will be very similiar to last time, but you are welcome to sign up again if you like.

You may need to be creative when you brainstorm your activity to make it fit into the budget or into your current stock of stuff around the house.

Shapes & Colors

--Shape Hunt & Sort

-- I Have, Who Has Game
(That's a lot of printing, but the game looks so fun. Wonder if you could play the game with just half the number of cards?)

--Double Trouble Shape Match

--Popsicle Color Match
(Make it with felt rather than paper to make it withstand the use of small children)

--Pom Pom Patterns

--Roll-a-Cise

Numbers/Counting/Early Math

-- Number Wheel

--Five Fabulous Frogs
(Can use any object and you can make your own sorting mats on smaller sheets of paper)

--Measure It

--Laminated Numeber Tracing Cards and a WASHABLE crayon or dry erase marker
(To keep the cost down, maybe you could just do one page, the numbers 1-12. If you use a crayon, it must be a Crayola washable crayon or it will not wipe off.)

--Felt Number Tiles and Bug Counting Cards

Alphabet

--Any of these alphabet activities from Confessions of a Homeschooler

--Felt Letter Tiles and Alphabet Tile Cards

Just for Fun

--Playdough and Play Mat(s)
(Some ideas: Number Mats, Letter Mats, Shape Mats look under "shapes", Berry Pie Mat, Carrot Planting, Facial Expressions, Feeding Giraffe, )

--Felt Cupcake Decorating

--Clothesline

--Spooning Beads

--Felt Snowflake Builder
(For the board, you can simply glue a sheet of felt to cardstock)

--No Sew Felt Fishing Game

Step 2: Read the general overview of the swaps, if you haven't yet.

Step 3: If you're absolutely sure this is something you want to do, fill out the form below. This form will be taken down Tuesday night or when a "ridiculous" number of swappers is reach. (he he)

Step 4: Feel free to invite your blog readers or friends to join in.

Filling out the form is not a way of expressing interest. It is a commitment to be a part of the swap. It is not fair to the other swappers if a handful of half hearted interest people sign up, only to flake out at some point. That would mean that many people spent time and money assembling 30 activities, but would not receive 30 in return. If you're not sure if you can handle the expense or the time investment at this time, then maybe you should pass this time around. If however, you do sign up with full intentions of participating, but then realize that for some reason you are unable to continue, please let me or your swap coordinator know right away, so that we can contact someone else who would love to be involved.

Young Toddler (1-2 yrs.)Busy Bag Swap

2011-07-07T11:30:00.011-04:00

This swap is now closed.
There will be 2 swap groups of 15 with 5 fill ins for each group. You swap coordinator will contact you in the next several days.

If you have not been contacted, check your junk mail folder or spam folder.
If you cannot find an email from your coordinator, email me.

Alrighty... here we go.

This swap is for young toddlers (about 1-2 yrs.) ONLY. If you're looking for another age group, be patient; it's coming.

This swap will only include 15 activities (or however many activities people brainstorm), rather than 30, due to the lack of variety of simple activities for itty bitty critters.
Want to join this one?

Step 1: Please review the following list of activities. Choose your top three choices of which you would like to create, or let me know if you have another idea that is not listed here. Due to the limited number of simple, non-choking hazard activities for little fingers, we will probably end up with fewer than 30 activities for this swap. I will split up everyone who signs up into groups of 15 (or however many activities we end up with) rather than 30.

You may need to be creative when you brainstorm your activity to make it fit into the budget or into your current stock of stuff around the house. For example, the clank can really does not have to clank. It can be a sour cream container or cheap dollar store food storage containers. It does not have to be large, as it will not fit well into a box when it comes time to ship all 15 to your swap coordinator. You can use anything to insert in the slot, so long as it is not a choking hazard.

1. Pom Pom Bottles

2. Velcro Matching Rods -
(Set of 3 matching rods is sufficient. I'm finding it a challenge to make this fit in budget. If anyone already has supplies on hand, it may be more doable.)

3. Easter Eggs in an Egg Carton
(Half dozen is sufficient. You can cut an egg carton in half.)

4. Sponge Curlers

5. Swim Noodles on a Dowel or Rope
Someone creative enough to figure out how to attach a small length of dowel rod to the end of the rope to use as a "needle"?

6. Texture Cards

7. Pipe Cleaner Bottle
(Can substitute straws for pipe cleaners)

8. Pom Pom Stuff It In

9. Sponge Lacing

10. Clothespin Drop

11. I Spy Bottle

12. Laminated Flip Book

13. Clank Can
(Another picture here, at the bottom of the post)

14. Button Snake

15. Mini Felt Board (mid way through post)
(Glue two half sheets of felt to either side of a half sheet of card stock. Cut scrap felt in simple, larger shapes or shapes of common objects - cars, apples, etc.)

Step 2: Read the general overview of the swaps, if you haven't yet.

Step 3: If you're absolutely sure this is something you want to do, fill out the form below. This form will be taken down in 48 hours or when a "ridiculous" number of swappers is reach. (he he)

Filling out the form is not a way of expressing interest. It is a commitment to be a part of the swap. It is not fair to the other swappers if a handful of half hearted interest people sign up, only to flake out at some point. That would mean that many people spent time and money assembling 15 activities, but would not receive 15 in return. If you're not sure if you can handle the expense or the time investment at this time, then maybe you should pass this time around. If however, you do sign up with full intentions of participating, but then realize that for some reason you are unable to continue, please let me or your swap coordinator know right away, so that we can contact someone else who would love to be involved.

How the Busy Bag Swaps Will Work

2011-07-06T23:10:00.014-04:00

If you have not heard from your coordinator and it has been more than 3 days since the swap you signed up for closed, please check your junk and spam folders. If you still cannot find something, email me. There are a lot of people not receiving their coordinator's email.

(If you would like to be notified of future swaps, please visit the Busy Bag Swap page.)

What is a busy bag? A busy bag is a ziploc bag containing an activity that would give your child something to keep them busy, either with you or without you. Visit the previous swap's post for more information.

There was so much interest in the last swap, and so many more people have expressed interest since then, that I decided to do more swaps. The busy bag swaps will be grouped by the following categories.

Toddlers (ages 1-young 2s): very simple activities focusing on "in and out", "poking", "open and close", etc.
Preschool-Young K (Adv. 2s-Young Ks): activities focusing on shapes, colors, alphabet, numbers, and just plain fun
Kdg-2nd gr (those gaining reading skills): more advanced activities encouraging reading and math skills, but also lots of fun
Reading and Math Activities Only (kdg.-2nd gr.): games and activities centering around basic reading and math skills

Each category will have its own blog post where you can sign up to join in the swap. Choose which swap (or swaps) you want to join and make sure you sign up in the right blog post. (I am working on getting each swap posted and will come back here and post a link in this post as I get them posted. If you don't see your swap category posted yet, be patient.)

Toddler Swap is now closed.

Preschool-Young K Swap is now closed.

K-2nd now posted.

Math & Reading coming soon.

What the difference between the K-2nd and the Math and Reading Only?

The first (k-2nd) is a set of activities that are mostly just fun (but may have hidden education in it). These are activities you can hand your child and let them entertain themselves for a while. They should be (hopefully) things that the child will want to do on their own. The goal is not so much to teach them as it is to give them something constructive to do.

The second (math and reading only) is for the sole purpose of teaching your child. These are games or activities that you can use in your homeschool or to reinforce what they are learning in school. They are not so much made for the purpose of giving your child something fun to do when they're bored as they are to make what they HAVE to do a bit mroe fun. The activities will be centered on math and reading only. There will be no "just for fun" stuff.

There are no people count limit (unless it gets ridiculous). We will just take all the people who sign up and split them into different swap groups. For example, if 90 people sign up for the preschool swap, we will split those 90 into 3 groups of 30 people. So we would have 3 preschool swaps going on simultaneously. Did that make any sense?

There have been a few people who volunteered to be swap coordinators. These people will be assigned a swap group to coordinate. They will sort through the top three choices of each swapper and assign activities. They will be responsible to keep in contact with the swappers throughout the swap, should they have questions. They will receive the busy bags from the swappers, compile them into sets for everyone, and then mail them out to each swapper. If you would be interested in coordinating a swap group, please email me (link in sidebar). Judging from the last swap, the activity sorting may take a couple hours, and the busy bag divvying and packaging will take about 4ish hours of your time one afternoon and a trip to the post office.

Here's how you become a swapper and how the swap will work:

1) You visit the blog post of your choice of swap category (or categories). Read the instructions, choose your top three choices for an activity to assemble, and then fill out the form. The form will be up and the swap open for 48 hours, unless the number of swappers becomes unmanageable.

Filling out the form is not a way of expressing interest. It is a commitment to be a part of the swap. It is not fair to the other swappers if a handful of half hearted interest people sign up, only to flake out at some point. That would mean that many people spent time and money assembling 30 activities, but would not receive 30 in return. If you're not sure if you can handle the expense or the time investment at this time, then maybe you should pass this time around. If however, you do sign up with full intentions of participating, but then realize that for some reason you are unable to continue, please let me or your swap coordinator know right away, so that we can contact someone else who would love to be involved.

2) I will sort through all the swappers, group them into swaps, and notify the coordinators. Each group will have 30 members and a list of 5 "fill ins" should someone drop out (to try to keep it at 30 people). These five will be taken from those who signed up last, so the sooner you sign up, the more likely you will for sure be a swapper.

3) Either I or your swap coordinator will contact you within about 3 days' time with your activity assignment.

4) You then have 2 weeks to assemble your busy bags (30 of the same activity). You need to have them in a box and in the possession of the U.S. Mail service exactly two weeks from the day you were contacted by me or your swap coordinator, or by the date stated in that email.

5) You should invest no more than about $1 per bag. We're not wanting to spend a fortune here. If you're having trouble sticking with the budget for your activity, please contact me and I will help you figure it all out.

6) Once you have your 30 bags assembled, you would pack them up in whatever size box you like and ship them using any shipping method you prefer to your coordinator.

7) ~~But before you seal the box, visit~~ ~~USPS.com~~ ~~and print a shipping label with postage for a large flat rate box ($14.20).~~

Shipping change

I talked to the post master at my local post office about the mailing date that is required when printing a label. He was very kind and helpful, and assisted me in thinking through the best option for dealing with shipping the busy bags to you.

For legal liability reasons, a package must be mailed the day the shipping label says it was. Since the drop down on the Click-N-Ship label form only gives four days to choose from, there's really no way we can post date the shipping labels late enough to give the swap coordinator time to divvy the activities, package them up, and reship them. It also would not allow for any unexpected delays.

For this reason, it would be best for each swapper to include a check or money order, made out for $14.95, in their package of busy bags. Your swap coordinator will let you know who to write the check out to when she informs you of which activity you will assemble.

Please also include a 3x5 card (or equivalent sized paper) with your name and address clearly printed on it. Your swap coordinator will use this as a mailing label.

8) Remember, you need to have them in a box and in the possession of the U.S. Mail service exactly two weeks from the day you were contacted by me or your swap coordinator.

9) I or your swap coordinator will sort through the bags, divvy them up so everyone has one of each. If we do not receive your package by the date we previously stated in our email to you (when we assign the activity), we will contact a fill in and see if they would like to jump in at the last minute. If you take the time to assemble the bags, please make sure you send them on time.

10) Once the bags have been sorted and divvied, we will ship them to you, and we then each have a collection of about 30 activity bags to pull out when needed!

(If you would like to be notified of future swaps, please visit the Busy Bag Swap page.)

Two Homemade Fun Things for Toddlers

2011-07-06T11:41:00.000-04:00

You know you've run across a great thing when your 1 and 2 year old sit occupied for a long length of time.

The first is rather simple. Take a juice bottle or container or yogurt container or other similiar contianer and fill it with pom poms. It's just a good ol' game of fill and dump.

Apparently, it's a good activity for my 6 year old too.

I've made a few laminated flip books and have been surprised at how much my 1 and 2 year olds enjoy them. Perhaps, for my 1 year old, it's the fact that the pages are super simple to turn.

One is made from the Letter Factory Flashcards made by Jessica over at Running With Scissors. Another is made from my All About Firemen printable found on my printables page. And the animal one was made using picture from a calendar.

Just find the photos you want to use, put two photos back to back for each page, laminate, punch holes, and hook them together with key rings.

No Sew Felt Fish

2011-06-29T22:43:00.003-04:00

My kids love fishing with those magnetic fishing sets. Thing is... they never last long. The paper fish get ripped in half and the paper clips pulled off. I often find the clips all unfolded and poking up out of the carpet just waiting to snag its next victim.

I've found a lot of super cute felt fishing sets out there, like these from whipup.net or A Little Learning For Two or Sewing Stash Challenge or Shannon Makes Things or my favorite from Just Another Day in Paradise.

But they all require sewing and stuffing and other time consuming stuffs like that. I think it would be incredibly fun to make them. I just don't have the time to drag out the sewing machine and polyester stuffing. And if one was going to make them for a busy bag swap, I highly doubt anyone would want to spend time sewing up 90 fish.

So here's my rendition.

I made ten of these little fishies in about 10 minutes' time with just some felt, some washers, and a hot glue gun. The rod was made by one of the moms in our last swap, using an unsharpened pencil, a length of yarn, and a magnet.

Here's how I put the fish together...

First, I doubled up felt sheets of the same color and cut out simple fish shapes through both layers at the same time. Cutting through both layers insures that both sides of your fish are the same shape and size.

Next I glued the two layers of fish together with a washer in between the layers. I found it easiest to glue the tails together, lay the washer in, and then put a line of glue around the edges of the fish body and seal it up.

You could end it here, or you could add details with puffy paint or marker or what have you.

There you have it... it's quick, it's colorful, and most importantly, it's durable.

On the Cheap (collect no junk) Letter and Number Tiles

2011-06-29T15:49:00.003-04:00

I've been scouring the internet for $1 per bag swap friendly ideas for the upcoming busy bag swap, which by the way, I hope to have organized and posted by next Monday night. I'm
finding a lot of ideas. However, some of them require recycling "junk"... bottle caps, milk
lids, egg cartons, juice cans, etc. This works great if you're making one set for yourself,
but multiply that by the number of bags for a swap, and it would take you years to collect
enough junk.

Take for example, these very clever milk cap letter tiles from Totschool. Very awesome idea to reuse
something that you would otherwise throw away. But you would need 26 caps for the entire
alphabet. Multiply that by 30 sets, and you would need 780 milk caps. If your family goes
through two gallons of milk a week, it would take you 7 and a half years to collect enough
milk caps for a swap.

So I racked my brain for a better idea, and here's what I came up with...

For 30 sets, you will need:
8 EZ Felt Sheets (for alphabet tiles) OR
6 EZ Felt Sheets (for 1-20 number tiles)
4 (?) small bottles of white Puffy Paint

The EZ Felt is a very stiff felt that comes in 12x16 sheets and costs 79 cents a sheet at
Hobby Lobby. You can get 108, 1.25" tiles from each sheet. That's a little over 4
alphabets or a little over 5 number sets (1-20) per sheet.

I love the look of circles, but knowing that, if I were cutting 30 sets of tiles, I'd rather
not have to cut all those circles, I decided on 1.25" squares.

I tried to use my little Fiskars paper trimmer to cut the squares. The blade was not long
enough to cut all the way through, but it did an awesome job scoring straight lines. I
barely had to open and close the scissors... just slide it along the scored lines. If you
have a more heavy duty paper cutter, I'm sure it would slice right through the felt nicely.

Once I had my squares cut, I got out my puffy paint and started handwriting class all over
again. You may want to practice a tiny bit on a sheet of paper before you dive in, just to
get a feel for how fast the paint will squeeze out.

You'll want to lay these out in a place where you can leave them for several hours (or
overnight) to dry.

Once completed, try not to stack them puffy paint to puffy paint, as it will take several
days for the paint to cure completely, and you don't want them sticking to each other.

So there you have it, alphabet and number tiles inexpensively created without having to
save milk caps for the rest of your life.

You can use these tiles with the printable alphabet, counting, and spelling cards available on my printables page, under "Busy Bags".

Parenting - Past and Present, Part 2

2011-06-27T23:17:00.002-04:00

Parenting - The Past
(Specifically Speaking)

I want to preface this installment with the hard dry facts of my reasons for writing all this.

First, a list of the reasons that are not mine...

1) I am not attacking my parents. I love them. The past is forgiven. We're on good terms.

2) I am not whining "poor me". I realize there are children out there who are seriously physically abused everyday. Their parents are druggies, drinkers, and hard core angry at the whole world. I realize that I am very fortunate to have parents that love me.

3) I am not trying to add my name to some sort of virtual list of "survivors". We all have issues from our past. We're all survivors of childhood.

4) I am not claiming to have all the answers. I am not claiming to be a perfect parent.

Here's why I am writing this...

1) I've realized for a couple years now that something's not quite right with my parenting methods. I'm not confident at all. I second guess everything I do, and spend nearly every night feeling guilty for not being consistant or for losing my patience or for not sticking to my guns.

2) I've tried many different things to try to fix this. One of them was desperately trying to get organized. Total flop. Everything I've tried comes falling to the ground in a heap of mess.

3) I've been praying about this for a couple months, desperate to know how to be a confident and happy mom with children who are confident in my love for them and, more importantly, God's love for them. I've realized I can't do this. I've tried to reach this lofty goal. Doesn't work. I need God to show me the answers.

4) In my recent searching for answers, God has brought a lot of memories to my mind. I'm realizing that I need to figure out what I think at the core and why and how this affects my parenting. I think my childhood (teen years and early adulthood, especially) hold the key to the base of this semi-unconscious belief system.

5) I believe in an absolutely sovereign God. My childhood and early adult years were what they were because God orchastrated them... the good, the bad, and the ugly. He used every minute of those years to shape me and mold me. But I am not a finished work, and I need Him to sand down the rough edges left from those years.

6) I am documenting my journey because I know a lot of friends who have similiar backgrounds and are on the same quest. If any of this helps even one of them, than it was worth writing.

7) The words of Sanctus Real's "The Redeemer" says it well:

Sometimes I just want to start over, 'cause everything looks like a wreck
And I need the courage to carry on, 'cause I can't see what's ahead
And there are places I've wished I could be, battles I've wanted to win
Dreams that have slipped through my hands
I may never get back again

But I'm still a dreamer, a believer
Oh, I've lost my faith in so many things, but I still believe in You
'Cause You can make anything new

Sometimes I just wish we could say all the things that are easy to hear
Ignore the injustice we see and explain every unanswered prayer
But I'd rather speak honestly and wear a tattered heart on my sleeve
'Cause in the middle of my broken dreams, redemption is here

And I'm still a dreamer, a believer
Oh, I've lost my faith in so many things, but I still believe in You
'Cause You are the answer, the redeemer
Oh, I've given up on too many things, but I'm not giving up on You
'Cause You can make anything new

I don't have every answer in life
But I'm trusting You one day at a time
'Cause You can make a weak heart stay alive forever
this is where Heaven and Earth collide
I lift my hands and give my life
This is how my weary heart stays alive
And I'm still a dreamer, a believer
Oh, I've lost my faith in so many things, but I still believe in You
'Cause You are the answer, the redeemer
Oh, I've given up on too many things, but I'm not giving up on You
'Cause You can make anything new

__________________________________

I'm not really sure how to describe my family, during my "at home with the parents" time. It's kinda a weird mix of things. I remember well when my parents were not Christians, when they were divorced, and when it was just my older brother and I. I also experienced a time when they were Christians, and we lived a very normal Christian family life (complete with hidden family drama). My four younger siblings, on the other hand, probably remember nothing but the last stage, the IBLP days. (Well, last stage for me anyway. After I was married, they went through my parents' second divorce.)

My dad rolled around on the floor with us, teased us, hugged us from time to time, laughed with us, and ripromanded us when he finally had enough of our nonsense. There are very few times that I remember my dad seriously disciplining me or any of the other kids. The times that I do remember, I knew it was because Mom asked him to.

Based on the stories he's told of his childhood, I think he and his siblings pretty much were allowed to run free and wild, with minimal parental direction. They had chores, rules, etc. but their free time was their own to use however they pleased. Perhaps this was why he was there for us to talk to, play with, and work with, but gave little direction as far as rules and discipline.

My mom was pretty much opposite. So long as I did not make her mad, I knew we were friends and I was confident in her love. But I lived in constant fear of her anger and felt the weight of the shackles of her constant control. I don't remember very many times when she disciplined calmly. From a very, very tiny age, I saw it as my job to make sure she did not get mad. If that meant I lied and took my brother's punishment, I did. If that meant I never "tattled" on my younger siblings when I babysat them, I didn't. If that meant I pretended to believe in conservative standards, I did. I also saw it as my job to protect my younger siblings from her anger. I always felt sick to my stomach and guilty when one of my siblings were "in trouble".

Just like my dad, her way of parenting reflected the way her father dealt with her. Anger was discipline, and until just recently, she thought this was the loving way to parent... to have an iron fist... to strive to be in control of the will of the child. She has realized the error in this thinking and has asked forgiveness.

My mom, I believe, had the very best intentions of raising us the very best that she could. In the last half of my years at home, she had great dreams for us to be godly pure leaders of America (or we girls be the mothers of future leaders). It's what she wanted because she thought that's what God wanted. And she tried her best to accomplish those goals in us by strict standards, high expectations, and constant survailence.

That established, the journey of the family into the center of the conservative earth began when Mom decided she wanted to homeschool. I guess my brother had a bad 5th grade teacher. She did not want to repeat the same thing over again with me going into 5th grade the next year. She had heard of homeschooling and decided she'd like to give it a swing with my older brother (entering 6th), me (entering 5th), and my younger brother(entering kdg). She did a tremendous job of it that year too - which I consider simply amazing considering she gave birth to her sixth child that September.

It was not the act of homeschooling that took us into the conservative group. It was who we met in the homeschool group...... (to be continued)

Conclusions:

1) Just as is the case with everything else in life, balance is key.
a) I cannot be just fun friends with my children. They also need to see me as the authority God ordained me to be in their young years.

b) A parenting method of controlling behavior given to bouts of anger is not a method of the love God has called me to.

2) I love my memories of the first year my mom homeschooled us. She knew it was what she wanted, so she did it good. She did not pull out any stops. She sacrificed her time, her energy, her sleep, and I'm sure a good bit of money to give us a good education. I've thought about this a lot this summer. I need to stop thinking I'm doing this homeschooling thing as a half hearted experiment. If it's what I want to do, than I need to do it and give it all I got. Then, if it does flop, at least I know I gave it my best shot.

(And in case you're wondering... that's pretty much the main reason I am homeschooling... because I want to. I enjoyed being homeschooled, enjoyed teaching my younger siblings, love teaching children, and adore coming up with fun ways to learn.)

Busy Bags - Yay!

2011-06-20T23:20:00.001-04:00

So, I've been sorting through the survey results and planning the next swaps. I'm thinking this is going to be pretty fun. I so appreciate those of you who participated in the last swap. Improvements will be made based on your responses to the survey.

After reviewing the results of the surveys, I will be hosting swaps for the following age groups:

Toddlers (ages 1-young 2s): very simple activities focusing on "in and out", "poking", "open and close", ec.

Preschool-Young K (Adv. 2s-Young Ks): activities focusing on shapes, colors, alphabet, numbers, and just plain fun

Kdg-2nd gr (those gaining reading skills): more advanced activities encouraging reading and math skills, but also lots of fun

Reading and Math Activities (kdg.-2nd gr.): games and activities centering around basic reading and math skills

I will be getting the details together for these soon. In the meantime, if you'd like to be contacted when the details are ironed out, just pop in your email address over here, if you haven't yet.

I will shoot for groups of 30. If there are, say, 90 people interested in the toddler swap, there will then be three seperate swap groups. If any of you are interested in playing swap hostess, please shoot me an email.

Blogger Commenting Issue

2011-06-17T23:40:00.000-04:00

Not sure if any of you other bloggers have this issue, but I have been annoyed outa my socks that I can sign into my blog and access all my posting and editing stuffs, but canNOT log in to comment. I finally got annoyed enough to research it.

Apparently, Google is still working on it... I guess it's not super high priority since it's been many weeks. Anyway, one of the things they suggested to get around it was to uncheck the "remember me" box (or whatever it says there) before signing in to comment. I tried that, and it worked for me.

Here's a link to google's help forum with a list of possible go arounds. The only one they left off was:

Stick your left big toe into your right ear. Stick out your tongue, and repeat these words: "Google is the great and mighty internet master."

Parenting - Past and Present, Part 1

2011-06-17T22:16:00.000-04:00

Parenting - The Past
(Generally Speaking)

I'm pretty sure that most of us can look back on our childhood and our parents' involvement in our lives and find things that were not perfect. Parents are fallible human beings. We sin. They sinned. Parents fail. Parents make choices that children sometimes do not like. It's inevitable. I get that. I understand that. However, I'm blogging today about parents who believe(d) that they are(were) the absolute authority in their childrens' lives and never felt it necessary to own up to sin or to try to heal wounds they caused in their children. Perhaps they do not(did not) realize how much of their child's soul they were killing.

There are certain groups of Christian families that were/are under the influence of ministries such as, IBLP (Institute in Basic Life Principles), ATI (Advanced Training Institute), Vision Forum, the Pearls, the Ezzos, and other "conservative" ministries. The main tie in all the teachings of these ministries being that the parents (fathers, especially) are authority supreme to their children. They are the go-between, between the child and God. Children, even unmarried adult children, were expected to have their parents make their decisions for them.

Mr. Gothard (IBLP/ATI) taught that parents were God's messengers. Unquestioned obedience was mandated, regardless of age. In his Advanced Seminar, he gave the example of a couple who wanted to marry. One set of parents did not think it was a good match. Therefore, if the couple did marry, they were disobeying. This would place them out from under the "umbrella of protection" and satan would rain "fiery darts" upon their lives. More than likely, their marriage would end in divorce, and the parents would say, "I told you so." He insisted that God speaks to parents, and adult children should listen and obey or a life of failure would certainly ensue.

(Now, I certainly think it's smart to consult wise parents in major decisions. Adult children then take what their parents think and weigh it with their own thinking skills and go from there.)

These ministries also teach that girls have pretty much no other use than to produce babies, cook, sew, and homeschool their own children. Their was no reason for college for either genders. "Good character" was enough to gain success in the world.

Several of these ministries also encourage strict disciplinary measures. Parents are to conquer the will of their child and keep it conquered forever. Many, many parents take this to the extreme... to the point of child abuse.

Parents enforce a strict code of "standards" (outward evidences of supposed spiritual maturity) on their children, and teach them that this is the Biblical standard - the way to please God and do His will. For many children, questioning the "code of conduct" was a way of getting yelled at, slapped, "spanked", sent off to Mr. G's training centers to have their "mind renewed", or even excommunicated from the family.

My family (the one I grew up in) fell in here somewhere. And while I am NOT on a hate fest for conservative ministries... I will say that the "parental interaction" I received during this stage of my "childhood" (13-26 yrs.) has had some long reaching effects on my thinking, leaving me extremely confused on my responsibilities as a parent. This series is my effort to part through the jungle with the machete of thinking out loud.

My Obsession With Motherhood Perfection

2011-06-03T17:11:00.000-04:00

It's 11:00 p.m. and once again, I'm lying in bed reviewing the day and just my life in general. Like a heavy weight on my chest, confusion, frustration, guilt, and hopelessness settles in. I know I am not the perfect mother, and that bothers me. I want to be perfect. I just do. I know it sounds conceited, perhaps even stupid, but I really, really want to be perfect at this whole motherhood thing.

Let me just paint a picture for you of what I perceive to be the perfect mother.

The alarm goes off at 6:00 a.m., and rather than roll over and go back to sleep as Aaron gets up, I smile at him and get out of bed with him. I spend the next half hour cheerfully helping him get ready for work... fixing his lunch, getting him breakfast, etc. I kiss him good-bye at the door, then sit down with a glass of tea and my Bible for at least 15 minutes before I jump into the shower. I take the time to dress nicely, do my hair, and put on make-up.

As my children wake up, I cheerfully greet them, tell them how wonderful they are, and feed them breakfast. After they've all eaten, I cheerfully and patiently walk them through their morning routine charts, helping them get dressed, brush their teeth, and do the girlies' hair in some cute way. I make sure each of them do a small morning chore to teach them the importance of sharing the work load as a family.

During all this time, I take time to praise them and tell them just how much I love them. I do not get frustrated or irritated when the milk is spilled three times, or when they forget why they're in the bathroom, or when they mess in their diaper right after I change it. I never lose my smile when they protest to the morning routine. Every wrench thrown into the gears of the morning are viewed as opportunities to bless my children.

All the kids and I spend some fun time learning about God together every morning. These Bible lessons are complete with activities, games, and hands on projects. I would then put Faith down for her nap, and get the boys started on fun activities. The rest of the morning, Cherith and I just have fun "doing school". It would be fun, because I took the time to plan well. I've spent hours on the computer, putting together fun and educational cirriculums that are sure to teach and satisfy the curious minds of my children. I would spend special time with Daryn in the afternoon, nurturing his curiosity in reading. I would, at some point in the day, spend one on one time with Ethan, doing whatever his little 2 year person desires at the time.

I would prepare healthful and delicious meals for my family. My children would happily eat every last bite, and I would rest assured that all their nutrient needs are being met.

I would keep my home neat and tidy at all times to fuel their creativity and reinforce good organizational skills.

I would always be happy and full of joy that bubbles into lots of laughter.

I would never yell. Never harshly reprimand. Never ignore their ceaseless chatter. I would always shine love on them at all times. I would always train them and correct them with a kind and gentle spirit. I would always set aside what I am doing and listen to them with my undivided attention.

When they say, "You're the best mom ever!", I could smile and know that they were absolutely right.

Friends, this is what I want... really, really want. But why? Why would I want such perfection? I don't really know. Perhaps part of it is a built in "judgement system".

As a kid, teen, and young adult, I remember critiquing the mothering style of every mother I'd meet. What did they do right? What did they do wrong? As a pregnant woman and then as a mother to my first baby, I had parenting all figured out. I know just what I would do and what I wouldn't, because I knew how to be the perfect mother. Other moms who did not live up to my set of perfect standards lacked mothering skills and had things to learn. The mother at the grocery store with the screaming toddler needed to reevaluate her discipline methods.

With all this judging and critical critiquing, I've found that even I cannot live up to my own standards of what makes a great mom. I judge myself. Tell myself what I need to change, and then expect myself to change those things over night and to get it right from that day forward.

I've completely changed my attitude toward other mothers. Now that I've had four children, I know that it doesn't matter how "perfect" you are, there are just bad days. Kids get tired, grumpy, disobedient, and just plain unpleasant. Diapers explode, laundry gets forgotten, cheerios fly across the entire house miraculously, the bathroom floor gets peed and pooped on. Babies get snotty noses and fuzz on their necks. Moms can seriously get overloaded, tired, worn out, frustrated, and just plain "done with the mommy thing". It happens. It's life, and in this life there will be trial and tribulations.

But when it comes to me, I have a hard time being ok with not being perfect. And I'm not sure how to undo that thinking.

Alphabet Flashcards for Leapfrog Letter Factory

2011-06-02T09:45:00.001-04:00

All my children enjoy the Leap Frog DVDs. Cherith learned all the letter sounds from Letter Factory, and now Daryn is working on it too.

I came across some flashcards that Jess (Running With Scissors) designed to go along with the DVD. I printed them off and laminated them, punched holes, and used rings to put them together like a book.

Daryn likes to hold the book and flip through it as he watches the DVD. He is also able to recall the sounds of several of the letters while looking at the cards, because he can recall the clues from the DVD.

If your kids enjoy the Letter Factory DVD, and you think these cards could reenforce what they're learning, you can download your own cards from Jess's blog.

Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel giveaway!

2011-05-31T21:25:00.000-04:00

Erica, over at Confessions of a Homeschooler, offers a great review on this super cute game. The Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel game sounds like incredible fun. I know my kids would love it. Go on over and enter to win a game for you and your kidlets.

The Little Faries and I

2011-05-28T19:29:00.001-04:00

One rainy spring day

Toward the end of May,

The little faries and I

Hung up the leaves to dry.

We hung them up one by one

And thought it was a world of fun.

But as we hung them, we found

The longer they hung there off the ground,

Dry they did not.

But the wetter they got.

The days crawl by, but the years... they fly.

2011-05-28T16:44:00.000-04:00

I can't believe it! My little girly is one! It really is true that the youngest baby grows faster than all the others. I'm not just talking about it seeming like they grow faster. In this case, she really did. She was sitting up at five months, crawling at 6 months, standing at 7 months, and walking at eight. Since then, she's been following her siblings around her every waking minute. She sees no reason why I should not let her climb up the 2 story play place at McDonalds along with her siblings.

I love that little girl. I love her smile. I love her curls. I love her giggles. I love her adoration for her brothers and sister. I love her dependence. I love the moments when she is not so dependent and wants mommy attention. (Ok, so I usually love those moments. I'm not fond of them at certain hours of the night.) I love her devotion to her daddy. I love her curiosity. I just plain love her.

Happy birthday (nearly a month late) to my baby girl!

Busy Bag Swap Q&A

2011-04-30T19:23:00.000-04:00

If I did not receive an email, am I to assume I am not one of the 30 swap participants?

If your email is not listed in the below post, then you are not one of the thirty. If your email is listed, but you did not receive an email from me, please let me know.

Are you going to coordinate another swap for those of us who were not the first thirty?

Short answer: I don't know.

Long answer: I would love to. I think it would be fun to do another according to age, including young elementary (reading/math activities, etc), so that each age group would have their own swap. However, I am not committing myself to it at this time. I will have to see how this swap goes, work out any kinks and maybe give it another go. If you are interested in an age sorted swap, you could shoot me an email and I will file it. That way, should I decide to do such a swap, you could have first dibs on a spot in the swap.

Do you mind if I try to coordinate a similar swap on my blog?

Nope. Not at all. It's not my patent idea. :)

Busy Bag Swappers

2011-04-29T22:38:00.000-04:00

Thank you all so much for your interest in the busy bag swap. With a total of 92 moms who signed up, I would say there is certianly a lot of moms in the same boat as I... needing quality occupation for little ones.

The first thirty people should have all received an email from me. If your email name is listed below and you have not received your email, jot me an email real quick, using the link in the sidebar.

moneysavingmom

littleetain

laura.anns.email

laurenkellerman

Jessica52882

kalibali04

cassie.michael

tarapwin

rodang36

mommie.wright183

ldsmom2201

kara.nevarez

missprincess18505

kimbulgrien

tlgoad

tonyds_

jnjjacob

pandi7546

jensplc

Meganm111

christopher42089

beanabelle

jpritchard2003

cnyda

sunnywilderman

iloveecuador

shepherd76

neclifton

spoonball

I look forward to hearing all the ideas that come in.

Toddler/Preschool Busy Bag Swap

2011-04-28T11:59:00.005-04:00

Swap Closed! It reached 87 people in a mere 1 1/2 hours. :) If this works out well, maybe we can do another, perhaps by age and level. I will notify the first thirty people soon.

Update: Someone pointed out that there's no way the $5.20 flat rate box will be big enough. Please include $14.95 when you mail your bags to cover the shipping costs of the large flat rate box. Should I be able to make it all fit in a medium box, I will return the extra.

I understand if this is too much. If you'd like to be removed from the list, please email me (link in sidebar) and I will remove you from the list.

As I've been looking at many activity ideas for my kidlets, I came across the wonderful idea of busy bags (or activity bags). A busy bag is a ziploc bag containing a simple, sometimes educational, activity for your child to do either with you or while you need to get other things done.

This bag idea can be found at Walking By the Way.

I found an incredible endless supply of ideas at My Delicious Ambiguity (scroll past sequencing cards). I got so excited about the possibilities that I decided to create a few, only mine never made it into bags, because I've put them together at the moment my kids did them.

As I've tried to put a bit more structure into my chidren's days, I've added an activity time to the morning. This has been wonderful for Ethan, my two year old michevious, mind of his own, mess maker. Starting his day off with structured creativity has decreased his mess making trouble during the rest of the day. These activity bags are perfect for that.

I got to thinking that it would be nice to have a bunch on hand to pull out when needed. It would take a lot of time and work to create a lot of different bags. So why not do a swap?

Wanna join me?

Here's how it would work:

1) You fill out the form below. Once 30 women have signed up or Friday afternoon hits (which ever comes first), the form will be taken down.

2) I email you Friday to let you know you made it into the swap.

3) You reply by noon on Monday with your top three choices or activity bags to create, because I know a lot of you are super creative). Or reply and let me know if you just want one assigned to you. Look around online for ideas if you need them.

4) I will make sure we have no repeats, then email you all back Monday night telling you which activity you will do.

5) Each of us would assemble 30 bags with one identical activity in each bag. (Ex. I would make 30 bags with lacing supplies. You would assemble 30 bags with pom pom sorting supplies.) You may find Oriental Trading to be a good resource for bulk supplies.

6) You should invest no more than about $1 per bag. We're not wanting to spend a fortune here.

7) Mail your bags to me by Wednesday, May 18th,using any shipping method you prefer. Please include $14.95 to cover the return shipping (the cost to ship one large flat rate box. If I am able to ship 30 bags for less, I will return the extra.)

8) I will sort through all the bags, divvy them up so everyone gets one of each, and mail the collection to you on Monday, May 23rd.

9) We then each have a collection of about 30 activity bags to pull out when needed!

You think this might help?

2011-04-27T21:50:00.000-04:00

Sarah has written a new ebook called 31 Days to Clean: Having a Martha House the Mary Way. (She's actually giving away free copies today.) I'm extremely curious if it'll give me some good tips on my housekeeping problems.

Have you been wondering what has happened to OYOL?

2011-04-27T21:42:00.000-04:00

Me too, actually. ha.

Things have gotten incredibly hairy here. The house was in such a state that there was walking room only, the floors were nasty dirty, toys all mixed and everywhere. But hey... our new bedroom is loverly (pics coming one day... some day, maybe) and the kids' room is recarpeted with new beds.

I was/am extremely overwhelmed by it all. We sent the kids to grandma and grandpa's for a sleepover/hang out time, just so I could get the house semi-clean in their absence. I got the toys mostly all sorted and put away. The kitchen and living room floors are now mostly cleared. There's room to live now.

But it frustrates me to no end that I can't "get done". There's still a kitchen full of dirty dishes. A huge pile of clean laundry behind the couch. The kids' sleepover bags are still in a heap in the dining room. There's still surface clutter everywhere. I just want to have a clutter free, clean house.

Anyway, things got so overwhelming, I had to set aside all computer time to get to it. I don't know if I will resume the OYOL challenges or not. My goal is still there... be more organized by the end of the year than I was at the beginning. But I can't let the plan get in the way of the outcome. And right now, it is.

All that to say, if you've missed it, that's why. Sorry.

Of Toys, Workboxes, and Directed Play

2011-04-12T22:30:00.002-04:00

"We have a one toy set at a time rule. One set has to be put away before another comes out."

"We have toy clean up three times a day. They don't eat unless they pick up."

"We keep all our toys in a separate play room, sectioned out like a preschool classroom."

I've heard these types of comments numerous times, and each time, the rebel mom in me cringes.

Where's the creativity in one toy a time? I remember building huge towns out of blocks, legos, and lincoln logs. Then using cars and little people to play in the town.

And toy pick up three times a day? What if the kids are still playing? Why should I make them destroy their imaginative creations or put away their stuffed zoo when they may want to come back to them? And seriously, I don't have the time or want to to get down on their level and "enforce" pick up time three times a day.

A large playroom with separate play areas? I'd love that, trust me I would. In fact, I spend more time dreaming up awesome playrooms than I do dreaming up the perfect kitchen or bedroom. But let's face it, we have four kids in one bedroom (or will in a couple days), with no extra rooms to spare. I'm just glad we have a large living room.

January's Toy Sort
(Yes, that black bag is full of trash
that was mixed in with all the toys)

But here's the thing, more often than not, the living room floor is covered in mixed up toys. Once it gets to that point (easily happens in one or two days), the kids are unable to pick up. It's too overwhelming. They don't know where to start or where to put things, even though each has a particular home. I don't blame them at all. I'm the same way... just ready to scoop it up and throw it in the dumpster. About every 2-3 months, I have to drag out every box or container that is supposed to contain the toys and sort through the entire toys stash.

When the floor is cluttered, the kids are bored and can't find anything to play with. When Cherith and Daryn get bored, they spend a lot of time watching TV or pestering their siblings or fighting about something. When Ethan is bored, he goes from one thing to another, just making messes and getting into things... like throwing dry oatmeal into the air, climbing on the kitchen counter and swallowing half a package of gum, running into the bathroom and stuffing toilet paper down the sink drain... all of this in a 15 minute span.

For the past couple years, I've known that I need to figure something out. It's just not working. Thing is, on Aaron's school nights, I'm just too tired to do kid pick up time, so more often than not, we skip it those nights, then before I know it, it's a total wreck, too cluttered for me or the kids to handle in a quick pick up, and then we just live with it for days.

So, anyway... I've been throwing around an idea that I think I'm going to try. But I'd love feedback on it.

Truth: The kids are more creative, more happy, more kind, more pleasant to be around, when their play area is cleared and organized.

Truth: My stress level is incredibly lower when the living room is clutter free and the kids are pleasant.

Truth: Ethan seems to thrive on some sort of loose structure. His attention span is short, but if it is not directed, it gets him into trouble as he "mess hops".

So, what if...

1) I put away all the toys in our universal/toy closet. There would be no toys out in the living room except kid books.

2) At night, after the kids are in bed, I would choose two sets of toys for the next day and put them out on the shelves in the living room.

3) I would also assemble 2-3 workboxes (educational activities in a box) for Daryn and Ethan to do while I help Cherith with her school in the mornings. I would be available to help them a little with their workboxes, but the activities would be simple enough, yet intriguing enough, to not require my 100% attention.

4) During the morning, we would have school/workbox time, then the rest of the day, they can play with the two sets I previously chose or...
     play outside,
     play computer games (limited)
     read
     draw, color, crafts
     playdough
     imaginative role play

5) At the end of the day, those two sets would be put away in the closet. After the kids go to bed, I would then restock the workboxes and the two sets of toys.

That's the reasons and the idea. Here are the "buts"

But....

I'm pretty lazy. What if I don't stick to the rules? What if one night, the two sets don't get picked up?

Is it too much structure? Am I turning my kids' day into a daycare type day?

What if the kids complain all the time?

How on earth do I think of things for the boys to do in their workboxes?

I guess it's kinda like: I'd love to give it a try, but I'm afraid of failure. And afraid that maybe it's the wrong solution.

Thoughts? Cause I'd love to hear 'em.

One Year to a {More} Organized Life, Week 14

2011-04-11T22:18:00.000-04:00

I don't know about you, but actually decluttering an area feels good. It's motivating, especially if I can manage to keep it decluttered.

I'm thinking of hanging a little sign on my kitchen cupboard door. It would have a picture of the after look of the counter and a reminder to:
1) Throw away trash right away.
2) Put away food packages.
3) Rinse the dishes.
Because if I don't, I'll wish I had.

This week's assignment is to choose one more of those stress causing clutter spots and dive in. Put away, give away, or throw away. And let the stress roll away. Happy decluttering!!

Link up before and afters...

OYOL, Week 13- Before and After

2011-04-08T23:00:00.002-04:00

I have a LOT of stress causing clutter spots in my house, but probably the one that is most frustrating is my kitchen counter. It's kinda hard to make dinner when there's canisters strewn across the work surface, along with cereal boxes from breakfast, sippy cups from who knows when, dirty dishes overflow, stray receipts, odd toys (no idea why they're there -except some kid put them there), and just about anything else you can imagine.

So that's the clutter spot I chose for this week.

Here's the two befores...

Now this is a bit drastic. It was the morning after shopping day and I still had groceries I hadn't put away yet. This is not what it looks like on a typical day, but it is what it looked like when I started to declutter it.

Here's what it looked like after I awoke from a nap and found that my husband had put away the left over groceries for me. That was nice. He gained cookie points for that one. This is what it looks like on a typical day... not very functional at all. It's so aggravating to have to move junk out of the way to cook.

And here's the after. It's not as perfect as I like, but it's much, much better. It took me 2 1/2 days, and I've been trying very hard to keep it clear. It's amazing how quickly things get put back on it... like a matter of minutes, and it's like... "Where did that come from??"

(The razor is there because our room is completely empty, due to remodeling, and we do not have a bathroom counter (well, ok so we do.. it's only like 2-3" beyond the sink), so it's currently living in the kitchen until we get our bedroom back.

Here is the fire hazard counter I decluttered during my two week blog sebaticle. I do not have a before picture. I didn't think to take one before I started, but if you've ever visited my house, you probably know what it was like. Here is the side of the fridge before. I did manage a picture of that before I cleaned it up.

The counter and side of the fridge right after I decluttered it. It almost looks exactly the same today, except I got a laminator since then, so I laminated the routine and laminated our menu schedule planning chart thingy, so it's hanging up there too.

And this is my favorite organizing tool so far... the "If I accomplish only one thing" paper, not the cute kids in the photos. I found it Baca Creative. I laminated it so I could write in my #1 task for the day every day. As you can see here, I tried to put two on there. Didn't make a difference. I still only accomplished one of those.

The reason it is my favorite is because Aaron looks at it every day, and if I haven't gotten to that one thing yet, he helps me, if he can, by either doing it or making it possible for me to do it. Isn't that nice? If only I had known that all I had to do was write it down in his plain sight. ha ha.

Like Flies in My Head

2011-04-06T23:27:00.002-04:00

There are certain thoughts that turn into ponderings. These ponderings stick around and fly wildly around in my head at will. And they continue to do so until they hit a wall hard enough to die.

My recent flies...

1) I love, love, love the results of a home improvement project. I hate the clutter it causes.

2) I need to be a more loving mom. I need to spend time with my kids, instead of shrugging them off. I've noticed lately just how often I say, "Not right now. I need to ______________." Why can't I just say, "Sure!" and let the next load of laundry or the whatever it is wait a few more minutes?

3) I'm wondering about some major things I may need to deal with that I thought I was ok with. I mean, there are issues I've just come to accept as part of my past life. I'm not angered by them. I don't really hold it against the people involved (I don't think). But I'm beginning to wonder how much of that really affects me and who I am. What areas in my life do I need to change as a result of that? Am I harboring a state of unforgiveness without even realizing? Is my callousness just a cover up to what's truly in there?

I'm thinking God has some big lessons in store for me, and while I always love the "draw close to Me"-ness such lessons bring, I'm a bit not looking forward to the hardness of it. It's not going to be fun.

One Year to a {More} Organized Life, Week 13

2011-04-03T23:28:00.000-04:00

Well, it's been two weeks since I have written and OYOL post. I hope you all have been able to maintain all your hard wok.

In my absence, I managed to keep a routine about as well as a roller coaster is able to stay at the top of the loop. However, I did succeed in a few other organizational feats. I de-cluttered my fire hazard counter next to my stove. I put away all the fabric that has been out for sewing projects for the last two months. And.... I've put together a home management book, which I will post about soon.

I have this terrible, terrible habit of always being disappointed in myself and what I did not get done, no matter how many things I accomplish. So while this list of accomplishments may sound fabulously busy body, I can supply you with a list 1,000s longer of the thousand things that desperately needs to be done that hasn't.

Now for this week's challenge...

The Chaos of Clutter

I'm realizing more and more that my house can only be as clean feeling as the clutteriest spot. My living room floor can be spotless, vacuum lines bearing the evidence of cleanliness. The bookshelf and TV stand can be dusted and the windows sparkling. But it the books on the shelf are falling every which way, the desk is a mile high under papers and junk, and the couch is cluttered with half done laundry and coats that were not hung up, then the entire room feels like a pig sty.

Clutter causes a feeling of chaos and unrest. Life is unable to function in a well working manner. It's kinda hard to get to church on time when you're digging under the couch for shoes. It's frustrating to try to find the bills you need to pay somewhere in the mountain called a desk.

Some clutter prone areas affect us more than others. These areas can us so much mental and emotional stress that we have a hard time responding to life with the right attitude. Yet when they are free of clutter and resemble a sense of simple orderliness, we immediately feel a weight lifted. We feel light hearted and empowered.

The goal, then, would be to identify these areas that cause the most stress when cluttered. Then to de-clutter them and keep them that way.

This week's assignment...

Take a walk through your house, listing all the clutter prone areas.
Indentify the top three most stress causing areas.
Choose one and declutter it this week. Just spend 15 minutes a day, if it's too overwhelming.
Take before and after photos, if you can. Post about it on your blog and link up here.

Cock-a-Doodle-Doo!

2011-04-03T22:40:00.000-04:00

Big Stretch.

Yawn.

"I'm awake. I'm awake."

Blog hibernation is an interesting phenomenon. The break is refreshing. One less thing on the plate. But it causes such a huge dam of pent up thoughts longing to be written. There is no way under the sun that I can go back and write all that I've wanted to over the past month. I just can't... well, unless I were a stay-at-home-not-mom and had nothing to do but clean the house and blog... cause you know the house would stay clean for the most part in such a situation.

I'm sad that I cannot go back and write the thoughts that have passed.

I love to write.

It helps me process my thoughts. It helps me find my flaws when I lay it all out. I can scan the words and pin point the problem.

Writing forces me to see the blessings in my life when all I want to do is yell, "I hate my life right now!"

When I'm bubbling over with joy, writing gathers up the dancing, glimmering sparkles of happiness, inflates them, and sends my soul floating up to cloud nine.

But in the last month, I've had more time to play with my kids and try my darnedest to get a handle on this messy thing we call home... which brings me to another subject.......

Do you ever feel like it's just useless and hopeless? Do you ever feel like it just doesn't matter how hard you work at it, nothing ever changes? No matter how much time you invest in cleaning up the house, it still maintains the same continuous messy state. No matter how hard you try to be more patient and less stressed, your shoulders get tighter and your hair thinner?

Will life ever be carefree and happy, as a general rule? I'm not talking about the opposite of depression. I'm talking about the absence of the continual stress of dishes, laundry, whining, crying, diapers, toys everywhere, cloudy days, lost shoes, moldy milk cups under the bed, babies crying in the night.... you get the idea.

It's not that I want no kids or no dirty laundry. I just want laundry that's all washed and put away. Dishes that are in the cupboards where they belong. Floors that are vacuumed and clear of toys. So that I can gather up my sweet kidlets and dance in the sunshine all day.

I want a picnic full of little laughter, not whining about whose sandwich is bigger or wanting juice instead of water. I want to see sparkles in my children's eyes. I want to see the sun streaming through their hair as they chase each other in a grassy field. I want to kiss their cheek and hug them tight when they offer me their prized dandelions.

I know I can set aside the house chores for this. I know I can snatch the kidlets, lock the mess in the house, and have a fun day together. And I have and do. But I just want it all.... fun with the kids and a clean house.

I don't know. Maybe I'm just severely sick with spring fever.

One Year to a {More} Organized Life, Week Twelve

2011-03-21T23:52:00.000-04:00

No, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. But I sure feel like it. It just feels crazy here and busy, yet I can't really lay my finger on a particular big why... just many little ones.

I am however, staying more caught up on the dishes. (I said more, not completely.) I also no longer have a huge long mountain of laundry along the living room wall.

Nope, instead I have a bedroom that is completely empty, but has new paint on the walls, thanks to my hard working man. Instead, I have an entry way filled with laundry baskets of clothing from our closet and bedding from our bedroom. Instead I have plastic drawers stacked in the bathroom, which apparently made great props for my 2 year old son's Noah reenactment this morning.

This kids are going crazy being in a house that is crowded and wanting to be in on all the "fun" of the room redo. But JOY OF ALL JOYS!!! The weather is certianly turning a new leaf and the hint of spring is often in the air.

I will post one last post on food related stuffs, and then I think I'm going to take a 2 week break. I need some time to catch up and to focus more on getting this routine thing established. So, if I'm completely silent for two weeks, don't panic. I'll be back. (You can panic then. ha ha.)

The Shopping List

I am of the opinion that shopping is only as easy as your list is organized. You can go in uprepared and spend longer than you want wandering around in a confused bubble, or you can run in and run out with the peace of mind that nothing is forgotten. (Unless you're like me and forget things that are right there on the list. Squirrel Syndrom.)

I have a list made in Excel with catagories listed in the order in which I encounter them at the store I most often shop at, which happens to be Walmart. Our store recently went through a remodel, so I had to totally revamp my list.

I love having my list in the order of my store, because it keeps me from running back and forth and around in circles. It also has greatly reduced the number of things I forget.

If I have items that I need to purchase at another store such as good deals at Kroger, I list them on the back of my shopping list in the order in which I would encounter them in the store. This works for me because I rarely have more than 10 items to purchase at another store other than Walmart.

The shopping list is half paper size, making it easy to handle at the store.

I print several of these and pin them to my wonderful bulliten board. When I (or my husband) think of something I need to purchase, I write it on the list right then. Then when grocery list makin' day comes, all I have to do is add the ingredients from my menu, rather than try to remember everything I ran out of that week.

If you'd like to take a look, you can download it in it's original spreadsheet format. Feel free to make changes to it, if you think it might work for you. (Not sure if I did this link right or not. I think it should open for ya.)

Do you have a method to the madness of the shopping list? I'd love to hear about it.

Busy, Busy, Busy... and Totally Random

2011-03-14T22:21:00.001-04:00

Life is running. Time is flying. It seems the days are in a race to see if they can end sooner than the one before... yet, winter is still here. SIGH.

We have started a bedroom remodel in our room... carpet, paint, new bed, perhaps nightstands (instead of cardboard boxes). We will also replace the carpet in the kids' room and get a bunk bed for the older two. Yup. They all sleep in the same room. It's what we got. So, yeah... fun stuff, but makes for craziness... oh and sleeping on the couch.

It seems like I am almost always worried about at least a handful of things about the kids... diaper rashes, teeth, attitudes, moods, discipline issues, ways I've hurt them. Will it always be this way? Will there always be that constant state of concern?

And will there always be that thought in the back of my head that I am some way going to ruin their lives? I was such a perfect mom, before I had kids. But you know what? My kids have a sinner for a mother. And I don't like that. I'd rather they have a 100% perfect, always loving mother.

It's Mommy date month again. Last week was Daryn's turn. Today was Cherith's. I love Mommy dates. I just like focusing on one kid at a time. As I watched Cherith giggling over her chicken nuggets and happy meal toy today, I had to smile. She's is really growing up into such a lovely, beautiful girl. And I wondered how could such perfection, such joy, such delightfulness come from me? Man, I love my kidlets. My husband and I make some pretty good ones, if I do say so myself.

P.S. Have you heard Francesca Battistelli's song, This is the Stuff? I love it, not because it's the greatest sounding song out there, but because it stikes a chord with me. It's not the key loosing or the speeding, but the tiny little daily things... spilled juice, Desitin on the couch, buckets of toilet water dumped on the floor, hearing "mom" a thousand times in a 15 minutes period, whining, kids bickering, crumbs under the table, newly folded laundry dumped, dirty dishes, toys everywhere... yeah, this is the stuf He uses in my life.

One Year to a {More} Organized Life, Week Eleven

2011-03-14T22:11:00.000-04:00

Menu Draw Pile

I have a nasty habit of preparing the same meals over and over again. I don't like it, but seriously, I physically and mentally cannot come up with meal ideas 95% of the time. I'm not good at it. At all. Period. The End.

I keep thinking I should come up with a draw pile, per se... a list of meals I know my family enjoys (not counting the picky one who simply eats because she is commanded to... well, ok, so it's not that bad, but some days it feels like it).

Reagan... I love that name; reminds me of the Reagan I went to first grade with... anyway, Reagan commented about the 30 Meals plan.

Basically you pick out 30 of your basic go-to meals. You put them all together, make a master list of ingredients & then keep your pantry stocked with those items so that you can make any one of those 30 meals at any given time. The most brilliant part of this for me was that then I only had to look for coupons for those items. I didn't worry about cutting all the coupons or even going through & cutting what I thought might make a good deal. Just stick to the ingredients on your master list. If you find coupons for those items.....bonus! Makes couponing, grocery shopping, menu planning & spontaneous meal making so much easier.

I'm really thinking of doing this. It would still require the work of menu planning and grocery shopping (darn!), but it would be simplified because I would have a pool to fish from for ideas and it would keep me from getting into a rut.

I'm also throwing around the idea of monthly cooking, such as Jackie posted about. But I'm not so sure I'm ready for that yet. The result sounds inviting, but the process is freaking me out. Seriously. I hate being in the kitchen all day. I hardly have 30 minutes of uninterrupted-by-kids time to fix dinner. One long day of cooking sounds painful... not to mention the planning. How would I know how to do it? Maybe I'll save that for a summer project when the 3 older kids will spend most of their days outside.

Anyway....

This week's assignment is to begin to create a list of meals your family enjoys. This may be something you might have to continue to add to as time passes. If you already have a running list, what are your family's top five meals? I'd love ideas.

If you're really wishing for an orange based sheet to list them out on... here ya go.

One Year to a {More} Organized Life, Week Ten

2011-03-07T22:33:00.002-05:00

Menu Planning

I used to be opposed to the idea of menu planning. I did not at all like the idea of being tied down and commited to a list of meals. Where is the creativity in that?

But I have learned that to be planless is not license to creativity, but rather license to chaos.

If there is no meal plan, there is no rhyme or reason to grocery shopping. Trips to the store are far too frequent. Money is wasted on last minute purchases. The grocery store becomes a dreaded place.

If there is no meal plan, the temptation to eat out or bring home fast food is given into far too frequently. Money falls like sand through the fingers with every order placed. The family's health is compromised with every burger eaten.

If there is a plan mapped out, there is one scheduled trip to the store. All ingredients are purchased on that day (unless you're like me, and forget them, even when they're on your list), and the temptation to eat fast food is much easier to turn down.

But sometimes, actually planning a menu can be overwhelming. Here's how I generally plan a weekly menu (or try to, when I don't save it all for the very last minute, when I should be heading out the door)...

1. Check Inventory:

I look through my freezer, refridgerator, and pantries and make a list of the major things I already have on hand. I do not list spices and the main cooking staples, like flour or sugar... just the main bulk items of a meal. This would include meats, dairy products, dry pastas, eggs, produce, canned goods, etc.

2. Check Sales/Coupons:

After checking what I already have on hand, I scan through the grocery ads to see what is one sale. I try to find items that fill in the gaps with what I already have on hand. For example, if I have pasta on hand, I'll look for items that would complete a pasta meal... spaghetti sauce, italian sausage, ricotta or cottage cheese, etc.

I also like to check out Money Saving Mom to quickly find the good deals at my Kroger store for that week. Sometimes there are items which I can get for free or a little of nothing that I don't nessecarily need to complete a meal with what's on hand, but at the price, it's a good time to stock up.

Cassie, from Pursuing Godliness, also recently introduced me to Soutern Saver, another great site to find good grocery deals. I like the way they have their grocery deals listed.

I am not a big time couponer. I do not clip every coupon I come across. I do not gather as many coupons as I can find for one particular item. I just like to keep my eyes on the deal websites and print or clip the coupons I need to create the deal. I would love to get the savings of a die hard couponer, but I just don't have the time for all the work it takes. Maybe when the rest of my life is organized. BAhahahahahaha!

3. Write out the menu:

Once my investigating is done, I have a pretty good idea of what meals I can make out of all that I found. I then assign which meals are for which days, loosely based on this theme schedule (changes with every school quarter). The schedule below is just for dinners. I don't really plan breakfast and lunch too much, other than make sure we have stuff on hand.

Monday (Aaron's school night): Fast and easy
Tuesday (Aaron home): Meat as the main course (or a main ingredient in a dish)
Wednesday (Aaron's school night): Fast and easy
Thursday (Aaron's school night): Fast and easy
Friday (Aaron home): Something new
Saturday: Leftovers, stir fry, or pantry pickin's
Sunday: Crockpot meal

Worksheets to Make the Process Easier

Of course, I have nifty little papers to use for this process.

There are, of course, a LOT of neat menu list options... Google reveals more than you'd ever want. So, if these do not fit you, you might search for some others.

This week's assignment is begin a menu making system. As the weeks go on, revise it to your needs and make it your own. If you already have a system going, share with us. You rmethod may just inspire someone else.

Continue working through your routine. I am finding that I need to focus on just a little at a time. As I get the morning routine going smoothly, I'll begin to add in the afternoon and evening. Taking it small is the only way this is going to work for me. And thats ok. We have a entire year, after all, to make changes.

OYOL Post Late Again

2011-03-06T22:56:00.000-05:00

Sorry, folks. I procrastinated again, but can only stay up for so long. Tomorrow's shopping list is only half done. I stopped working on it, so I could work on the OYOL post, thinking I'd get it done tonight. Ha. Guess that didn't happen. It's only half done too.

I have so much I want to blog about... a thousand thoughts running through the head, but it just seems I don't get a chance. Part of it, I think, is that I get distracted when I do come to the computer. I open it up and think of every teeny tiny thing I "need" to do on it, and never get the the reason I came there in the first place.

Tootles and to all a good night.

OYOL Report, Week Nine

2011-03-04T21:21:00.000-05:00

Wow. This routine thing... it's hard. Seriously. But not hard in a "maybe a routine is just not right for me" sorta way. It's hard in a "this is my lifesaver and a must, but it's just so hard to change" sorta way.

I have decided to just focus on establishing a morning routine right now, for both me and the kids. If we can go an entire week, keeping to a good morning routine, we will be doing good.

Its just so hard to actually do anything besides doze in a chair at 6:30 a.m. while your kids veg in front of Oswald (which I find stupid), Little Bear, and Little Bill. Not when you're seething with anger and self pity at only getting 3... maaaybe 4... good hours of sleep that night.

You see, my "night's sleep" can really only count the hours I get before Faith wakes up for her night feeding. (No, I haven't trained her to sleep through the night yet... I'm needing those night feedings to ensure that baby G does not make its appearance)} So, for example... I went to bed at a decent 10:00 last night. Slept from 10:00 to about 3:00 a.m. That was a good five hours. The best I've gotten in a loooong time.

But Faith decided she wanted to be awake for the day. She played and giggled and cooed through her nursing session. I put her in bed. She cried. I let her go for a while, but then decided neither of us were getting any sleep. Got her up, did the whole go-back-to-sleep routine, put her back in bed. Repeat with the cry, etc. a few times.

At 5:00 a.m., my little girly was finally asleep and I crawled back into bed, knowing Aaron's alarm would go off in 45 minutes. Sure 'nough it did, and wouldn't you know... this would be the morning he did not turn it off in the first milisecond. It had to sing through its song much longer than I wished to hear it. Then came the interruption of his getting out of bed, his little noises as he got ready for work, his opening and closing the back door, his truck backing down the driveway.... aaaaaaand half a second later, the kids come spilling out of their room. See what I mean? Nothing counts after Faith wakes up.

And even though I got a good five hours, I am so far behind on sleep that it makes no difference at all. In fact, "good nights" like that only make it worse. Its like a tease to my body. It gets all excited that I'm going to give it the loooong 18 hour sleep it craves, and what do I do? I break its little heart.

Hmmmm... where was a I going with all this? Oh, yeah! The morning routine thing. So, yeah, we're doing good if I can drag myself around the house before 9 a.m. And yes, my routine does not have a time assigned to each task, but I really don't like letting the tv babysit my kids while I snooze. And I really should actually feed my kids a good breakfast instead of throwing an apple or banana or dry cereal at them while they're vegging on the living room floor. If I don't start the routine first thing, it doesn't happen.

So, that's my goal for now... focus on the morning routine.

I seriously canNOT wait for spring. The kids will play outside nearly their every waking hour. They will fall asleep the moment their heads hit the pillow, and they will sleep until 7:30 or 8:00. Sounds like heaven to me.

It's a Dr. Seuss Giveaway!!!

2011-03-02T15:15:00.002-05:00

One lucky winner will receive a Can You? Combo of Dr. Seuss books sure to please any little tot.

Horton Hears a Who! Can You? comes with a plush hand puppet.

This Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You? is the board book version for little hands.

All you have to do to win this set of Can You? books for your tot is leave a comment sharing something you love about Dr. Seuss, or what your favorite Dr. Seuss book was as a kid, or even your child's favorite Dr. Seuss story.

You can earn an extra entry by sharing this giveaway on your blog, facebook, or twitter. If you blog it, please leave a link in your comment, so we can browse your blog.

Giveaway closes Monday, March 7th.

(For a little history about the man behind the name, take a look at this short read. Or print this Green Eggs on a Plate game and have some fun with the kidlets.)

Trivia question of the day!

2011-03-01T22:32:00.001-05:00

Who is this? And what is he doing on my blog?

Hints:

You probably know his characters more than him.

He is a household name.

Even very young children quickly recognize his name and his work.

Your parents loved him. You loved him. Your children love him.

They call him Dr., but was he really a Dr.?

If it weren't for this man, Cindy-Lou would not dear our hearts at Christmas.

Figured it out yet? That's right! It's Dr. Seuss.

This one man has been entertaining children since 1937, when he first published And to Think I Saw It On Mulberry Street. (Did you know this manuscript was rejected 29 times before he found a publisher?) He wrote some 40-50 books. His last being Oh, The Places You'll Go! published in 1990.

Dr. Seuss' real name is actually Theodor Seuss Geisel. He was born in 1904 in Springfield, Massachusetts. To attempt to fulfill his father's wishes, he traveled to England to attend Oxford University, but soon tired of studying and took to touring Europe. Upon returning to the States, he began to his career as a cartoonist. During World War II, he joined the U.S. Army, serving in Frank Capra's Signal Corp, making training movies.

His interest in children's literature started when he was asked to illustrate a collection of children's sayings, Boners. After getting great reviews for his illustrative work, he began work on his first book, And to think I saw it Mulberry Street. And the rest is history.

If Ted Geisel were still alive today, he would be 107 years old.

In honor of this great man and his impact on childhoods everywhere, feel free to download the Green Eggs on a Plate Game, and party with the kidlets!

{While you're there, you might want to check out some of the other printables I put up over the weekend.} --Yes, that was a shameless plug. ha ha ha.

One Year to a {More} Organized Life, Week Nine

2011-02-27T21:51:00.001-05:00

Wow.... week nine... the very last week of the cleaning/routine section of our quest to a more organized life.

By now, we've all had a week or two to attempt following a routine. I'm finding it both helpful and frustrating. Helpful because it's a push in the right direction, keeping me focused in my "squirrel" filled days. Frustrating because I have yet to have a perfect (according to the routine) day.

But I think the helpful is outweighing the frustrating. It's just going to take a lot of practice and patience. After all, following a routine is not a new habit. It is simply changing the habit I already have.

I have been following a routine for the last couple years of getting up in the morning and moping for a couple hours, then feeding and dressing hungry kids, then slowly cleaning up breakfast, and on the day would go.... with predictable mopey-ness. That was my routine. So I'm not creating a new habit. I'm changing the old, less healthful habit for a better, more God glorifying one. And changing habits takes time, patience, and repetition.

I have found a few things I need to rearrange on my routine, a few things I forgot to add, and a few things I should probably, realistically remove.

Now it's time to figure out when to do those things that are only needed once a month or once or twice a year.

Fitting in the Monthly, Quarterly, Semi Annual, and Yearly Chores

The first thing to do is decide what day you will perform these "sometimes" jobs. I chose to schedule in a Saturday once or twice a month where my chore focus for the day is the less frequent jobs that I most often overlook, such as vacuuming the bedrooms or changing the furnace filter. I chose this day because, most often these jobs are a little more involved than the daily ones, and Aaron is home to help corral kids, if I need it.

Once you know when you're going to hash out these jobs, you'll need to know what jobs and how often. Your list from week three should help you identify which chores get down how often. But how to keep track of them in an easy to follow way and know when you did what?

Well, I'm going to be honest with you. I really like to create my own charts, so that I have a complete "workbook" of my own by the time this year is over. However, I can not think of a better format than Crystal's over at Money Saving Mom. Her customizable Monthly/Semi Annual Cleaning List is perfect for this. So, until another idea comes to mind, that's what I'll be using.

So, the assignment for this week:
1. Figure out when you'll perform your less frequent chores.
2. Map out which chores how often.
3. Keep following your new routine.

I'd love to hear how you've incorporated monthly/semi-annual chores into your routine.

Next week, we'll be moving on to menu planning, grocery lists, and grocery shopping. Yay! (totally sarcastic)

OYOL Report

2011-02-25T21:35:00.000-05:00

For some reason, I thought that posting a routine on my fridge would work a miracle and suddenly life would flow like honey out of a bottle. Well, that wasn't the case this week. It think it was more like a bottle of Heinz ketchup. It plopped out only when I gave it a firm thwack, and only one small blob at a time.

The kids have been cycling through colds this week, and I have been very tired, since at least one (sometimes more) child has been up several times in the night, completely miserable. So, I've done my best to follow the routine, but several things were not even attempted.

We did not do school this week at all. Cherith was so miserable Monday through Wednesday, so I knew it was going to be hard to get much out of her. Thursday and Friday, the littlest ones were dealing with their most miserable days, so I was busy dealing with them.

I did not get the kids' chore routine kick started either. If they were already in the habit, it would not have been that big of a deal for them to perform their tasks, even with a cold. But I didn't figure it was a good time to start a specific chore routine.

Despite the week being "off", I did notice how freeing it was for me to have a routine. It gave me guidance, and I think that is what I really need. As a kid, Mom was always there to tell me what to do next. I've sorta just floundered around as an adult. I have a hard time seeing life in small tasks. I see life as one big task and have no idea what to do and when. My routine is like having Mom hanging on my fridge, telling me what to do next. (Not that I always obey. lol.)

Does God want "relationship" or glorification?

2011-02-24T21:38:00.000-05:00

Throughout my life, various people, ministries, and books have thrown ingredients into my spiritual soup pot. And there it sat on the cold stove… a pot of soup ingredients. Occasionally, a bit of flame would ignite underneath and warm the soup, causing the flavors to blend together, but it would soon go out with the rushing breezes of life. A couple years ago, God took my pot right off the stove and thrust it straight into the fire. The soup began to bubble, and steam began to rise, infusing the soup with the flavors of God and His Word and removing a lot of the extra water of warm and fuzzy feelings.

I’m beginning to realize that my life is not about me. That there is nothing in this world that is for me. Everything good in my life is not for my pleasure, but for God’s. Everything bad in my life is not simply punishment or senseless happenstance that God might use. It is in my life because it brings Him glory. In every minute detail of my life, He is not about blessing me. He is about blessing Himself.

I think it’s easy to think perhaps we are the sun in God’s solar system. That somehow we are the sole reason for His existence. That He and His great plan revolve around us, His human creation. In reality, He is the center of the system, and we revolve around Him, along with all other creation.

“For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him” (Col. 1:16)

We exist for His glory, not He for ours. Our job is to make Him look good. To give Him praise and adoration. To direct the attention of ALL creation to His grand gloriness.

This means then that we were not created to “have a relationship” with God. It was not that God existed in a huge vastness and, in His loneliness, decided to create little human friends. It’s not that those little human friends went and messed it all up by eating the fruit and condemning themselves and every future generation to a sin nature and the inablity to be friends with God. No, it’s not like that at all.

First of all, because God is not human, He does not need us in an emotional way like we need Him and need each other.

Secondly, because if it were possible for His little friends to mess up His plan for friendship, then that would put His creation at a higher power than God Himself.

"And all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, but he does according to his will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of earth; and no one can ward off his hand or say to him, 'What hast Thou done?'" (Dan. 4:35).

So how does salvation fit into all this? If it’s not a story of a broken friendship needing our decision to mend it, then what is it?

It is a story of an all powerful, holy God displaying His glory.

“For my own sake, for my own sake I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another” (Is. 48:11).

In Ephesians chapter one, Paul tells us God’s goal in saving us from sin and for Himself.

Verse 5&6:
“He predestined us in love to be his sons through Jesus Christ according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace.”

Verse 12:
“We who first hoped in Christ have been predestined and appointed to live for the praise of his glory.”

Verse 14:
“The Holy Spirit is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it to the praise of his glory.”

Then how does John 3:16 fit in? It says He loved the world so much, He saved us. The fact that salvation is part of His plan for His own glory does not eliminate the fact that He loves us. He created us to find and experience the most satisfaction and joy when we glorify Him.

Therefore, in providing us with a way to glorify Him through salvation, He is providing us with the greatest satisfaction and joy humanly possible to experience. And THAT is love!

Salvation is not about God’s creating a method for a relationship with God. It is about God providing a way for us to bring glory to Him. And in our glorifying, we find joy and fulfillment.

Lyrical Devotions - Healing Rain Series - "Can't Get Away"

2011-02-23T23:06:00.000-05:00

Healing Rain Series

His Relentless Love

"For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Romans 8:38-39

Can't Get Away - Rush of Fools

"I am an arrow, I am a rocket
I am a river and nothing can stop it
Cause You are the target and You are the atmosphere
You are the ocean that keeps pulling me,
You're pulling me here

And I can't get away, can't get away
Can't get away, can't get away
I can't get away, can't get away
I keep running into You

I am a beggar, You are the table
I am so helpless, God You are so able
And when I get turned around You change my direction

You're so perfect,
I'm so broken,
here You come with arms wide open
Chasing after me down every road
You're always waiting there
And I can't get away, can't get away
Can't get away, can't get away
I can't get away, can't get away
I keep running into You
Even when I close my eyes, I can't help but see
There's no place that I can hide, You're such a part of me
I can't get away cause I keep running into You"

Have you ever watched a child try to run from his own shadow? No matter how fast they run, no matter how zig zaggy, no matter how long they stride, they cannot get the stubborn thing to let go of their feet.

God is like that.

When we put our faith in the saving work of Christ on the cross, he moves right in to our heart (Gal. 2:20). He sets up house and has no intention of leaving. He is like a magnet in the core of our being, ever pulling us inward to Him.

We can't run from Him. We can't hide from Him. We can't get Him out.

Sometimes in the midst of pain, we want to run from Him, after all how could He allow something so terrible to happen to us. We try desperately to turn Him off and shut out all good thoughts toward Him. But try as we might, we just can't. He just keeps putting things in front of us that make us deal with Him... that make us see Him. In essence, we keep running right into Him.

Why does He do that? Because we need Him and He wants us.

______________________________________

Every year, I create a playlist centered around that year's theme. The first year I did this was 2008. It was a very painful time for me. I was in need of some major healing. God used a lot of songs to minister to me during that time. That's how the very first "year in review" playlist was born. I called it Healing Rain, and sorted it into five categories - His Relentless Love, His Healing Touch, His forgiveness, His Powerful Work, and His Wonderful Glory . I will share with you these songs and why they mean so much to me over the next several weeks.

Of Blogging Awards 'n' Such, Pt. 1

2011-02-22T22:49:00.002-05:00

Way back in January, Angela from Let's Talk About Boys, awarded me the Versatile Blogger Award. It's probably about time to respond to that.

Angela is a mother to four boys and a sister to four brothers. While some women may have a hard time figuring out boys... Angela's got it covered. She is an inspiring writer, and is actually one of the 30 finalists in the Women of Faith Writing Contest.

Ok, so back to the award... here's the dig...

The "rules" of this award:

1. Thank and link back to the person who gave you the award
2. Answer 10 questions
3. Pass it along to 7 blogs you've recently discovered and enjoy
4. Leave your recipients a note, telling them about the award

The 10 Questions...

1. Why did you create this blog?
I have started several blogs over my motherhood years. The first was just a journal type blog. The next was super regimented in an effort to organize my life. Neither of them worked for me. I didn't like my journaling to be... well, so public. The other was way too strict.

Over the past couple years, I've gone through some trials that have changed me in and out. I was to pass on the peace and comfort I've found. I've also found myself realizing that there are other moms out there who are like me, suddenly overwhelmed with motherhood and wondering, "how'd I get here?". The past two years, I've also begun to feel very old (yes, I am over 30 *gasp*) as young mothers (I thought I was one) have asked for my advice on things.

So this blog is a mix of everything... advice, commissary, organizational hopes and attempts, journaling, inspiration, and anything else that comes to mind.

2. What kinds of blogs do you follow?
A lot of craft blogs. Blogs full of preschool/kdg. homeschooling ideas. Blogs of my friends and sisters. Blogs of my fellow OYOLers. A few mom blogs. And of course, Money Saving Mom.

3. Favorite make-up brand?
I don't have a favorite brand. But for my foundation, I only use Maybelline's Pure Makeup.

4. Favorite clothing brand?
Whatever looks good on me... which I'm still trying to figure out.

5. Indispensable makeup product?
ummmmmmmmmmm.... ?

6. Favorite color?
Depends on what you're doing with it. Blue (but not royal or bright), turquoise/teal, black, brown, olive/moss green

7. Favorite perfume?
I strive not to smell - perfume gives me a headache

8. Favorite film?
Next... Maybe?

9. What country would you like to visit and why?
Scotland, Ireland.... love the history and the landscape

10. Would you rather forget to put mascara on one eye or forget blush on one side of your face?
Blush... it's easy to wipe off the other side.

Can I just ask... what do these makeup and clothing questions benefit anyone??? Hmmm...

Now on to passing on the award to 7 bloggers
...that I consider to be versatile:

Fairies, French Fries, and Little Baby Kisses
Talk about versatile! You will find everything here... reviews, tutorials, hilarious stories from Esther about her two adorable curly headed boys, great creative writing.

Fantastic Fables
My wonderful sister in law blogs about crafts, life, thoughts on missions, what Gos is doing in her life, her time in Honduras.

Thoughts from Paradise
My amazing friend, Julie, is a missionary wife in Mexico. If you're wanting honest realness, you'll get it from her. She blogs about her daily experiences, her spiritual ponderings, and what God is doing in her heart.

Let's Float Down to Peru
Another very genuine missionary friend. Kat and her husband were called to Peru and answered the call right away. She always has something that challenges me and makes me think.

I Dream of Clean
I just love the title of this blog. And there's so much there to inspire this neat freak wanna be.

Inspired to Action
I have a love/hate relationship with this blog. I subscribe to their emails. I just... hmmm... love the inspiration, but hate the conviction it brings. Lol. If you're serious about making necessary changes, this blog will definitely push you in the right direction.

Small Notebook
This blog has given me a lot to think through about minimalism. I want to be a minimalist, but I'm not done with my excuses yet. lol. She also gives tips on random things and blogs about their recent move to Italy.

OYOL - Routine not workin' for ya?

2011-02-22T08:45:00.000-05:00

You might look into having more of a daily time budget, rather than an actual routine.

When thinking of managing the time in your day, you could make a schedule, routine, or just a time budget. There is no rgiht or wrong method. The goal is simply to accomplish what you need to in a day.

Schedule - tasks done at a specified time each day; little flexibility

Routine - tasks done in a certian order, but not at a specified time; more flexibility

Time Budget - tasks done within a specified time limit (no more; no less); flexibility in structure, but not in length of time spent on any given thing.

One Year to a {More} Oranized Life, Week Eight

2011-02-20T22:21:00.000-05:00

Time to report for duty.

Time for action.

Post your routine where you can easily refer to it throughout the day. Follow it.

Throughout the week, take note of what works and what doesn't. If something's not running smoothly, don't give up. Change it around and try it again.

Following a routine should reap less stress, more achieved, and more time for the important things... or so I'm told by those who follow one. Heh.

Next week, we will make any changes that are needed to our daily and weekly routines. Then, we'll map out what needs to be done monthly, quarterly, and yearly and how to fit it in.

Wanna tell us all how the routine thing is goin'?

OYOL Report

2011-02-19T00:03:00.000-05:00

Bare Minimum: Eh. It's going ok. Most days I get to it. But the days that I don't pretty much put me right back as super behind again. This past weekend, when I was feeling sick and my husband was gone most of the day Saturday, I did not get to everything on the bare minimum for four days straight. Since then, I feel like I'm running on a treadmill. I'm going, even going fast, but I'm not getting anywhere. I'm hoping having a routine in line will help with that.

Kids' Chores: Nothing has changed on that. Once again... hoping a routine will fix that.

Daily and Weekly Routine: This was harder than I thought it was going to be. I've been without any sort of routine for so long, I wasn't even sure where to start, even with all the brainstorming we've been doing lately. But here's what I came up with.

I also put together a Master Battle Plan for playing ~~ketchup~~ catch-up, which you'll find along with my routine. When I get behind, which is more often than not, I feel so overwhelmed I don't know where to start. I literally cannot find a starting point. I see a huge mess, not a series of small messes. So this battle plan will actually be a huge help to me.

Here is a Word document version of my routine and battle plan charts, in case you want to edit them on the computer and use them yourself.

Household Management Notebook?

2011-02-18T15:06:00.001-05:00

Have any of you ever put together a household management book of some sort? Have you blogged about it? Got any forms you want to share?

I'm going to work on putting one together. (Gotta have somewhere to put all my worksheets and forms. Ha ha.) And I'm looking for inspiration. If you'd like to share, leave a comment or email me with your link (or if you don't have a link, you can tell me about in an email). I may compile all the ideas into a post with links back to your blogs so others can get inspired too.

Of Snow {and lots of it} and Mud {and lots of it}

2011-02-18T11:02:00.000-05:00

10 inches of snow

+ 4 more inches of snow

+ single digit and negative temps

= crazy, cooped up kids

+ nearly a week of above freezing temps

= MUD!!!

But when you live in a place where you cannot send your kids out without some sort of warm cover until after Memorial Day, you take advantage of the "warm" weather and endure the mud.

It was above 55* yesterday, so of course the kids were going out. Who in their right mind would not send the kids outside?

I put them in snowpants and snow boots. It wasn't that there was a lot of snow. Nor was it cold. But it was wet and muddy. The last thing I wanted was to have them covered in wet, sticky mud without the ability to peel it all off.

And covered they did get. Every square inch from the chest down... covered in wet, gooey mud.

I really should have taken a picture of them or at least their outer layers of clothing before I started eliminating the mud. I had them strip off their mittens, snowpants, jackets, and boots before they came into the house.

So after they were all in bed last night, I had a very dirty job waiting for me. That was way too much mud to put down our drains, so I hung them over the fence to hose them off.

When I turned on the water at the house, nothing came out of the hose. No problem, I thought. Just need to unkink the hose. Not too sure that was a good idea.

There I was in the dark, in my short sleeves, enjoying the balmy weather, wrestling a cold, muddy, stiff octopus. I'm not sure if you've ever tangled with a stiff hose before, but it's pretty much impossible to get the kinks out. Every time I opened one, it would crack. I was doing a better job of creating a soaker hose than getting water to come out the proper end.

I finally gave up altogether and decided to fill up a trash can with warm water from the shower and haul it outside. I thought I could dunk the snowpants into the trash can and rinse them off enough to put them in the washer.

I dunked the first pair. It immediately turned the water as dark as coffee and thick as chowder. There was no way it would do me any good to dunk in another pair. In fact, it would only make it more muddy.

I hauled out 6 cans full of water before I decided I'd had enough.

Surely there had to be some improvement. Maybe?

I finally thought of taking a picture after I loaded them into the washer. The water was void of all transparency.

Oh, did I mention I was wearing my new white tank top during all of this? It was the under layer, but was exposed enough to be freckled with mud. Nice.

Lyrical Devotions - Healing Rain Series - "By Your Side"

2011-02-16T23:23:00.001-05:00

Healing Rain Series

His Relentless Love

Romans 8:38-39

By Your Side - Tenth Avenue North

"Why are you striving these days?
Why are you trying to earn grace?
Why are you crying?
Let me lift up your face,
just don't turn away

Why are you looking for love?
Why are you still searching as if I'm not enough?
To where will you go child?
Tell me where will you run,
to where will you run?

'Cause I'll be by your side
wherever you fall
In the dead of night
whenever you call
And please don't fight these hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you

Look at these hands at my side
They swallowed the grave on that night
When I drank the world's sin
So I could carry you in and give you life
I wanna give you life

And I'll be by your side
wherever you fall
In the dead of night
whenever you call
And please don't fight these hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you

'Cause I, I love you, I want you to know
That I, yeah I love you, I'll never let you go
No, no

And I'll be by your side wherever you fall
In the dead of night whenever you call
And please don't fight these hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you"

But you, O LORD, are a shield about me,
my glory, and the lifter of my head.
Ps. 3:3

If you have children, or can remember back to your childhood, this may ring a bell with you. Earlier today, my daughter was upset about something. I just wanted to find out why she was crying so I could help her. I asked her to look at me and tell me what was wrong. She would not. So I put my finger under her chin and gently turned her face up to mine. She jerked her head away in the opposite direction. Frustrating for a parent when we want so badly to comfort and help our child.

But when I stop and think about it. I sometimes do the same thing. I pout. And even when my husband is wanting to comfort me or help me, I'm not ready to stop pouting yet. I may not use the exact same "jerk away" movements (usually), but inside I'm not ready to take the hurt or frustration and place it in the hands of someone else. I still want to play martyr.

I think we do that to God sometimes too. We have hurts and frustrations. He asks us to cast all our care upon Him, and He gently lifts our face up to Him. And what do we do? Jerk away. We're not done with our pouting martyr fest. We want to revel in our own self pity. He attempts to embrace us, and we fight it.
But you know what? He never leaves our side. He's right there, wherever and whenever we fall and wherever and whenever we call. He loves us too much to leave us when we push Him away. He follows us around like an "annoying", caring spouse or parent.

Let Him lift up your face. Let Him hold you. He gave His life for you. Took on your sin. Spent three days in the grave for you. So He could give you life. Not just an ability to breathe, but a full and abundant life. Let Him give you life.

______________________________________

Great Stuff for Moms from Other Readers and Around Bloggyland

2011-02-16T22:04:00.001-05:00

First, from Jamie, author of this marvelous food blog, Delicious & Nutritious, a chart of developmental benchmarks for children ages 2-5. If you're wondering what skills to encourage in your toddler or preschooler, you will find this chart helpful. Thanks, Jamie, for sharing it with us.

Another reader, Jessica from This Too! Projects, shares this vital post about children and their need for routine. It focuses especially on those children who seem to have a very hard time "focusing on their job", as we call it around our house. If you have a child that just seems to take forever at any given task and has a hard time focusing, you will find this post a must read. Jessica also offers free routine cards you can print and instructions for setting up a system to use them. This fits very well in OYOL's last two challenges.

And this post... Wow. Tell me the title does not grab you right from the beginning! How To Be a More Patient Mom in 24 Hours. Kat gives 5 practical steps to, well... be more patient. I must say they all make sense, and I KNOW they would all help. But, hmmmmm... the first one. That's a challenge. Unless I go to bed at 8, with the kids... I don't think I can really get the full consecutive 7-8 hours of sleep. I'd love to, though.... soon. Oh so very soon. Look out, Faithy Girl.

I totally, completely, 100% relate to this post from I Can Teach My Child, discussing winter time blues and mentally and emotionally turning mild inconviences into major tribulations.

OYOL Help - Looking for a Financialy Well Organized Person

2011-02-15T21:02:00.000-05:00

At some point during this One Year to a {More} Organized Life, the area of finances will be/should be covered. You know the whole budgeting thing and the whole bill paying routine system and how to file all things financial... yeah, that stuff. Thing is I am TO-TAL-LY lost on this one.

I know things should be organized. I know a budget is a good thing. I just have no clue how to begin. Basically our budget is... try your hardest to save money and to not needlessly spend... pay as many bills as possible with each pay check. And there you have it... our plain and simple budget.

So yeah... totally wanting to make changes on all this, but I have no clue where to start. If any of you just love all things financial or all things budget or whatever, and you wouldn't mind playing teacher, let me know. I would love to let you take over the OYOL postings during the finance time.

One Year to a {More} Organized Life, Week Seven

2011-02-14T22:18:00.001-05:00

I am not feeling the greatest, so this is going to be short.

This week's challenge is to create a daily and weekly routine for yourself. Pull from all the brainstorming you've been doing. Make sure you assign a time of the day (does not have to be an actual o'clock time) for your bare minimum. Include other goals from your lists, as well, even if you know you may not always get to them. Your routine is not a list of "must do's", but a guideline of how a typical day should go. If you have chore aged children, schedule in when you will focus on their chores.

Here is my rendition of a routine chart. If you prefer a different format, you can also use:

Crystal's customizable PDF or her customizable Daily Docket

Organizedhome.com's Daily Checklist and Weekly Checklist

or create your own in Word or Excel.

For this week, just focus on trying to get something on paper. Next week, we'll start implementing the routines and see how they work. They can always be changed if things aren"t quite working as smoothly as should be.

As always, I'd love to hear how it's going. Anyone come up with any great ideas on kids' chores?

OYOL Post Will Be Late Again

2011-02-13T23:01:00.002-05:00

OYOL post will be posted tomorrow... probably night.

Salvation at an Early Age?

2011-02-12T23:01:00.000-05:00

I have been wanting to blog on the topic of childhood salvation for many, many months. After reading this post from Amanda, author of Impress Your Kids blog, the other day, I've been mulling it over once again.

I accepted Jesus as my savior when I was four years old. My mom had recently become a Christian and one night, as she was tucking in my older brother in the top bunk (I was on the bottom), she told him how everyone does bad things (we are all sinners) and that the punishment for doing bad things is death and going to hell. But that Jesus died for us, so we would not have to go to hell. Instead, we could live with God in heaven. All we had to do was pray and tell God that we believe Jesus died for our sins. I don't remember what my brother's response was, but right then and there I prayed in my little heart and truly 100% believed that Jesus died for me and that one day I would live in heaven with Him.

I'm pretty sure that I did not at all understand everything about salvation. In fact, my mother tells me that many times as a child I would come to her and excitedly exclaim that I had just asked Jesus into my heart. The thing is, I don't remember any of those times. I only remember that fall night when I was 4 years old. I believe with every ounce in my body and soul that that was the night I truly became a child of God. That was the night I was saved from my sin and from the punishment of hell. That was the night I was justified and the night God began my sanctification (if you like big theological words).

Fast forward to last year when my then 4 year old daughter began to ask lots of questions about Jesus, his death on the cross, and his resurrection. I was excited to see her desire to know and understand God's great plan of salvation. But when the day came that she actually said she wanted to pray and tell God that she believed Jesus died in her place, I doubted.

"Surely, a child this young cannot know what they are really praying. I mean really... they cannot understand all the aspects of salvation." Thoughts like this were running wildly through my head as I heard her little voice plainly and simply admit her sin and declare her belief. And the thing that kept tripping me up was thinking that the only reason she is praying is because she doesn't want to go to hell when she dies. There's so much more to salvation than that.

But is there really? I mean the simple, boiled down truth is.... We all sin. Sin = death/hell. Jesus = life/heaven.

Jesus said (Mark 10:15),

Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.

A child does not over complicate things. They see the boiled down truth and accept it with all their hearts. It is at that point that their love and understanding begin to grow, but it is their initial, simple faith that brings them to salvation.

We are justified through faith (Eph. 2:8). The sanctification process of growth and deeper understanding and transformation comes only after we embrace the boiled down truth of the Gospel with childlike faith.*

How could I have ever doubted her? I am ashamed that I proudly thought little of the very thing Jesus proclaimed was the "greatest in the kingdom of God" (Mat. 18:4).

I should have known. After all, it was with the same childlike faith that I came to my precious Savior.

*For more information on the difference between justification and sanctification, you may find this article helpful.

Toddlers/Preschoolers Who Get out of Bed - Baby Sleep Issues, Pt. 7

2011-02-11T23:19:00.000-05:00

Last week, I asked for ideas on dealing with my 27 month old who keeps climbing out of his crib, making naptime not happen at all and the time that he finally falls asleep at night very, very late.

This week, I will repost highlights from readers' comments and my reply to them. I will also post some tips from Dana. Last, I will finish off with a report of how things are going in our house with this issue. All this in hopes it might help someone else as much as it has helped me.

Janel wrote, in response to my saying that my husband and I like to work on obedience in the everyday little things before fighting the "stay in bed" battle:

I think the obedience thing DOES start when they're little, and one of the first things is "stay in bed."

I completely agree that obedience DOES start when they're little. I was only stating that I prefer to tackle areas of obedience a little at a time, both for my stress level and that of my child. I also am not a fan of the temptation method. (Setting a cookie in front of a child and telling them not to eat it.) If I know they are not mature enough in their obedience to stay out of the pantry or to keep from climbing on the kitchen counter, then I am not going to move them over to a toddler or big kid bed if I do not need to.

So if I can avoid the obedience to stay in bed until they are a bit more mature, then that's what I would prefer. I realize I cannot save that battle until they are 18, but I like it better when it waits until they are over 2 1/2.

I, by no means, wanted anyone to infer that I think every parent should leave their child in a crib until they are a certain age and should not teach their child to obey. We all have our own opinions and family needs and personalities.

Janel also reminded,

It also helps if I think ahead about all the things they're liable to come up with after I tuck them in and deal with them beforehand (drink of water, potty, stuffed animal, right blankets, etc).

This is a must around here for our older two. It gets pretty annoying sometimes when all I want to do is get them all in bed so I can have peace and quiet, but we've got to take the time to cover all the bases... did you get a drink? Did you brush your teeth? Did you go potty? Did you remember you meerkat and baby doll? Did you get your blanket? Do you have all your bankies? There are some nights when I just want to tell them to go to bed and know that they will do it all themselves.

But I always know if I don't take the time to cover all that, Cherith and Daryn will remember... after the light's out and the door is closed.

Sa4grace commented,

She struggles with staying down for naps as well. I've found that it was time to move her nap back by a few hours.... So moving it back to 2:00 has cut down on it tremendously. She'll still play some, but it's usually in bed, and she eventually drifts off.

We've had to do the same thing with all of our children too, right around 2 yrs. old, depending on the season. Ethan transitioned to that earlier than the older two, but I think it is because of the season. Living in almost constant snow and cold for MONTHS, he's not able to get outside as much to burn off all that energy. The other two were able to practically spend all morning outside when they were Ethan's age. So they were worn out after lunch.

Erica's comment was just plain encouraging. She talked about her experience with her son, stating that one night, she put him back in bed 30 times. Just knowing that she went through the situation with her strong willed child and can now say that all the hard work paid off... that just makes me smile out of sheer hope. (And of course, I just love anything she has to say anyway. So fun to live bloggy land with a childhood friend.)

Sarah mentioned that she used a "3 Bedtime Rules" poster and sticker chart for one of her boys. But what really got me most from her comment was...

It also helps if you wait just outside the door where he can't see you and catch him in the act of disobeying.

I think this one thing has been key this past week. It's exhausting. The first several days, I felt like I spent my entire afternoon and evening standing in front of that door. My back and feet ached.

But I found that it was best to catch him right away rather than him climb out of bed and play for a while without my knowing. If he had time to play before I "caught" him, then he was essentially being rewarded for getting out of bed, and as a result, he saw that the punishment was worth enduring for those few minutes of playtime.

Momofthree wrote about how she would take away her oldest child's sleeptime belongings as punishment for getting out of bed. I tried that, but ended up with the same results she had with her son...

He brought his lovies with him to hand me when I caught him out of bed.

Tonight, I decided to look up what Dana Obleman had to say on the subject. She had several ideas, one of them being to put the child back in bed with no eye contact or any speaking at all. This actually sounds like something I might try.

So after trying all sorts of methods... I have found that putting him in bed with something to distract him (a toy or book, but not an entire crib full of entertainment) helps. I have found that standing outside the door and catching him right away is key. When he does get out of bed, I remind him of the consequences and let him know "this is happening because you got out of bed" and then I put him back in bed and leave him.

It does not work for me to take away his bed stuff, listen to his excuses or wants, try to reason with him on why he needs to stay in bed (he doesn't care), or to just ignore him and hope he gets tired and goes to bed on his own.

Today, he only got out of bed 3 times at naptime and NOT AT ALL tonight! I am completely and totally shocked. I'm seriously hoping this means he's "getting it" and not just that he was being good because daddy was around. I took care of all bedtime issues with Ethan, even though Aaron was home (with Aaron telling him to obey mommy). That way, Ethan would see that my authority was "just as good" as daddy's.

Hope all this is a help to someone. If not, it certainly helped me to mentally makes sense of it all.

Lyrical Devotions - Healing Rain Series - "Your Love"

2011-02-09T22:27:00.001-05:00

Healing Rain Series

His Relentless Love

Romans 8:38-39

Your Love - Rush of Fools

"I'm so far away
From the only place I know I should be
so find me
and take me

Come like the day, come chase away this darkness
I've been living here so long and I give up
Come wash away everything I've built between us
And I will sing unending songs of Your love

I cannot find rest
I can't catch my breath from running away
So stop me, and take me

Come like the day, come chase away this darkness
I've been living here so long and I give up
Come wash away everything I've built between us
And I will sing unending songs

Your love has stolen my heart, and Your love has set me apart
Your love is life in my veins and all my mistakes fade away
So find me and stop me, and take me, and save me

Come like the day, come chase away this darkness
I've been living here so long and I give up
Come wash away everything I've built between us
And I will sing unending songs of Your love (Your love)
it's Your love"

Sometimes the pain is so excruciating that we run from the very Hands that can bring us healing. We close ourselves up to God's comfort, salvation, and strength.

We may run to other sources of comfort, such as friends, the internet, TV, electronic games, inappropriate relationships.... Or we may simply close up altogether, curling up in a proverbial corner, our arms tightly hugging our knees and our eyes squeezed shut.

Either way, we are building walls between our heart and God with each moment we spend running away from Him. The only thing we can do is call out to Him to come and "chase away the darkness" and tear down the walls we've built.

I guarantee that His love will come down to where you are and overtake you. It will completely steal your heart from those less satisfying solutions. The very gloriousness of it will pour forth from your lips and your life onto those around. It's that consuming.

______________________________________

What Was He Thinkin?

2011-02-09T21:13:00.002-05:00

Stress level: HIGH! very high

Confidence level: LOW! very low

What in the world made God think I could handle this parenting thing?

I mean, seriously... how can I, a short 4' 11" lady with terrible consistency problems, possibly parent four kids without ruining their entire lives?

I feel incredibly intimidated and defeated by my barely two year old. How is this? I am 2' taller than he is... have much more experience under my belt than he does... and I'm pretty sure I can scream louder than he can, although I have not tried... which is probably a good thing.

My five year old is like a walking mirror, constantly flashing before me MY own pride. I'm always questioning why I am asking her to obey. Is it because I have the responsibility to train her and protect her, or is it because I am, after all, "mom" and, by golly, she better obey me or else?

I bring myself nearly to tears when I think of my sweet just turned four year old. His heart is so tender. How many times I have wounded that beautiful heart of his! Will I turn him into a hurt and angry teenager?

My baby... my darling, more than likely last, baby... why is it that she stumps me? Why is it that I question my every mothering act with her? Why can I not just trust what I have learned with the other three? Why is it that I could be so confident in my care for my babies all the other three times and now second guess every little thing with my last?

Why is it that the littlest of people have a way of ripping open my heart and revealing the ugliness inside?

Could it be that God did not intend so much for me to parent them as much as He intended to parent me through them?

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Wondering where K-2nd swap busy bags are?

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Young Toddler (1-2 yrs.)Busy Bag Swap

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Toddler/Preschool Busy Bag Swap

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