Kitchen Learning for Mama

When it comes to Pecan Sandies - more time in the fridge isn't necessarily better. I left them in overnight, because I was too tired to make them. Not a good idea. When I got them out, they were too hard to roll, so I just kind of "clumped" them together. The second batch was better and easier to roll - which means they are also sticking together better and not crumbling before your eyes.

More is not better when it comes to putting food coloring in the sugar. Paige comes in to the kitchen and said, "Mom, I think you put too much food coloring. It's lumpy and moist!" Thank you Paige! My 10 year old daughter knows more than I do about baking.

More is not better when it comes to letting the Pecan Sandies cool down, so that you can actually touch them and roll them in the moist sugar. Didn't work. They were too cool at that point, or the sugar was too moist. Alas, the microwave to the rescue! Heat those babies up and poof. Uuuh, still didn't work. But at least they are warm enough now to stick to the clean, white, not colored pretty sugar.

Landon comes in 'dying' for a cookie. I put a pretty little cookie on a napkin for him. Cries from the dining room come quickly! "Mommy, my cookie is falling apart," he says. I reply with a gentle, "it's okay, just keep eating it over your napkin." Little pitter patter steps into the kitchen reveal he didn't obey and JUST EAT THE COOKIE! "Mommy, I don't want this cookie anymore," the little ungrateful cutie patootie tells me.

And so are the days of my life.... :) I love them!

Summer Routines

We are back from vacation - didn't even know we were gone, huh?! We went to Eureka Springs, Arkansas and then Branson, Missouri. It was a long vacation (10 days), but it was very busy and we (Big P and I) decided we wouldn't do a vacation like that again - so jam packed. We were both very exhausted afterward and we've had to actually get our children used a slower pace again.

I'm working on my Home Management Notebook again and so I needed to come up with some Summer Routines. When I posted about that on facebook, some friends asked me to share those. I thought the best place to do that was here in case some of my followers wanted to know what we were up to. I think we are actually going to take a summer this year. We always school year round, but will just be keeping up with math for the older ones and reading lessons for the 5 yo.

You'll notice that the children have "reminder cards" listed below. I'm going to post those in another post, because they are part of our Accountable Kids system - which we are loving. I thought this would be enough to get some mama's minds pumping. We have found that routines work much better here rather than a schedule. The difference? Instead of things set at a specific time, we just do them in order and have more of a "time block" for things. We try to have breakfast around 8, lunch around 12:30, and dinner around 5:30. Bed is 8:30 for littles and 9 for bigs. We just flow through the rest of the day within on those time frames.

Trying to keep things simple here is always a monumental task - but one I'm learning to enjoy very much!!

Summer Routines


Mom

Morning:

Quiet time
Get ready
Breakfast in oven
Boys morning routine
Daily Cleaning

After Morning – After Noon:

Outside Play
Time w/ Big P
Lunch
School w/ B5 (reading lessons) (L3’s nap)
School w/ Big Kids
Planning
Zone Project Time

Evening:

Dinner
Wii Fit
Pick Up
Baths
Boys to bed
Read Aloud
Big Kids to bed
Next day prep
Scrapbook or Sew
Shower
Call Big P
Read
Bed

Big Kids

Morning:

Quiet time
Morning Reminder cards

After Morning - After Noon:

Outside
“Extra” chore time
Afternoon Reminder cards
Project (Scouts or Keepers)

Evening:

Evening Reminder cards

picture from: http://students.usm.maine.edu/jennifer.a.rasmussen/summersunflower1.jpg

Designing?

Well, kinda sorta! I'm not designing papers and elements or building kits. But, I'm designing quick pages and eventually blog packs using Simply Susan Godfrey's designs. I'll be putting these things into her store and will earn profit when/(if? :D) they sell. I just finished up the last of the quick page set using Consider the Lilies kit and will be working on my TOU and packaging it this weekend.

Tomorrow we are going to purchased 2 more bookshelves and doing more switching around in the house. Eventually we will get it to where we want it. My computer will now be in my prayer room on a TV tray style thing and pretty much away from me during the day (this will be a good thing!).

I've been working on organizing our Keepers at Home group, which is going great.

Keeping up with pictures for Project 365 (and layouts, too!).

We were supposed to go camping this weekend, but with 3 straight days of cold rain, we are rescheduling for next weekend!

B will be 5 this month!!

I'm working through my Nikon D60 class, which is challenging and fun!

Lots of great and wonderful things going on around our home. Homeschooling is going great and we are steadily prodding through. We switched both bigs to Math U See and they are loving it and getting it! Yeah!

Had a wonderful REAL date with hubby tonight. We got a babysitter and everything!!! :D

Heading to bed!

taking a leave of absence

I took (am taking) a little Leave of Absence from my responsibilities of Creative Teams and the Scraps Matter Gang for the week. I actually started my LOA on Tuesday morning (right after sending out my last post) and will resume on Friday evening. I'm taking my children (the younger 4) to the zoo on Saturday, if the weather is nice, so I'm not sure how much time I'll have for creating then either.

I just needed to step back and refocus. I'm sure everyone saw that coming but me! LOL

Anyway, just wanted to say that in doing that I've got so much done - mostly just in my head - clearer thinking and time with the Lord. It is so refreshing!

As a side note, I'm working my way through the book Homeschooling at the Speed of Life. It is really wonderful and would help any mama who desires organization but also struggles with a brain that runs ninety to nothing. It comes with a CD full of forms to help you get organized and I'm using my Mead 3 ring flexi-binder to put everything together. I would love to get a Levinger Circa notebook, but it with have to wait until this other thing breaks or I get too frustrated to deal with opening those little rings everytime I want to add something. It's not like a regular 3 ring where you just pop it up, you have to open the rings individually.

I hear the baby calling out for mama - so I better go! Oh, got up at about 5:30 this morning and I feel so accomplished already!!! I spent time studying Proverbs 31!!!

I'll leave you with this passage that we hear so often, but yet is so profound.

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:1-2

Lots happening here

We have lots going on here, as usual! But, today was a restful day to gear up for tomorrow and the rest of the week. Started laundry tonight. I don't think I've mentioned on here about my plan for laundry. This is our 4th week to do laundry this way and I'm still loving it. What do they say about doing something that you really just can't stand doing? Eat the frog! Well, I eat the frog every Monday with my laundry. I do laundry all day on Monday so that I don't have to touch it for the rest of the week. I can't say that the once a week thing is helping in any other area (i.e. cleaning the house), so I'm going to have to go back to another system for that. But, for laundry - it is working!

And I'm on a new Creative Team! My friend Brandi sent me a link to Simply Susan Godfrey's blog and mentioned that she was having a CT Call. I immediately loved what I saw. Her designs were beautiful, but better still - she's a Christian woman! She sells at several different stores, including Faith Sisters, which is a Christian digital scrapbook site. She checked out my gallery and immediately invited me to be on her CT! Wow!!! Susan is a kindred spirit. Found her on Facebook, too.

Ahhh, facebook. Gee! As if I don't have enough things that I'm highly addicted to my sweet hubby tells me to check out facebook. Before I know it, I have 40 friends on there! Mostly friends from high school and some from church. It's so nice to catch up with people and see what is happening in their lives, but I have to say that it is one of those things that I will most definitely need to say "no" to at times.

Our homeschool valentine's party is this Friday. I'm heading that up with lots of help from all the moms! Should be a wonderful time for us and our children!

Spent an awesome weekend with my Big P. My mother-in-love asked to keep the 4 olders after Bible study on thursday night through Saturday afternoon. Wow! She asked!! We immediately took her up on the offer and enjoyed a wonderful time together just doing what we do - stuff! We did buy a nice bed on Friday though. Something we wouldn't have attempted with the rest of the children. They will deliver that on Friday and neither of us can wait!! I got some really nice pillows, which will come Friday also. Oooooh, that means I get to go shopping for new sheets, because we moved up to a King. We said we never would. We lied! But really its because someone is always in bed with us. No, none of our children actually sleep with us but sometimes they end up there in the middle of the night. Baby A is in a co-sleeper next to our bed, so he does end up with us at night - every night. We'll go back down to a full when we don't have any more little ones. How sad we will be! :(

I started scanning more pictures for my parents album tonight. Got 3 more years in! I've decided that I'm just going to finish scanning everything in before I make any more LOs. Eating the frog... eating the frog! That scanning bit is almost torturish!

Still working through all the curriculum choices. I've made a couple of decisions and will share those soon.

And for those that enjoy this kind of thing, my most recent LOs:

Sorry it's been so long {Freebie Alert}

Sorry it's been so long in updating my blog. We've had a lot going on around here. My big boy ended up with an infection in his ear about a week post surgery. We were in the ER and they began treating him for staph infection. Two days later we saw the dr. again and when the culture results were in, they found that it was not Staph, but another more rare bacteria. We have no idea how he got the infection, but I have to admit that I felt like an awful mother, even though we had done everything we were told to do. He is now on 2 oral antibiotics and a antibiotic ointment. Big P took him to the dr. today and things are looking really good. We are to stay on this regimen and come back next week. He is on acidophilus also - to counter some of those antibiotics are doing to his little body.

He also started Scouts last week! He was in Tiger and Bear cubs, but when we moved, we never found another pack for him to be in. After really trying to get involved in 4-H, we just determined that it was much more competitive than we felt comfortable with. So, we are doing Scouts again and he is there to stay. We are also starting up a new Keepers at Home group for P.9.G. and some friends from church.

Here's a pic of C.12.B. in his new uniform!!! Isn't he handsome?!



On my challenge:

Hmm, not going so hot. Last week really messed up my schedule and it was just sketchy after that. I'm excited to announce that Big P will be going back to days in June. At that point, he will have been on nights for almost 3 1/2 years. This was a decision that he made through prayer, but with my total support. Although I really have wanted him to do this for a long time, I've left it alone for a year now. I wanted it to be something that he decided and not by my nagging. So, I'm trying not to count the days, but am really looking forward to it and think that it's going to be able to help our family, our schedule, his sleep, my sleep, etc. It has truly been a blessing for our family, though, so I'm not complaining - just ready for a new season. And as far as late night scrapping, well.... LOL

So, on that note, here's a freebie for sticking with me through all of that. I made it tonight. I honestly have no idea who the lady is that said it, which is why I put that so small on the wordart. I wouldn't have put it there at all, if I was not really into legality! LOL I loved the quote, though. but before I give you the freebie, you have to see the layout that I did with it! Haha


Full Credits

Okay, here it is for real! Image is linked to 4shared.



I do have many more layouts to share and this weekend we cut down our Christmas tree and decorated it and had a wonderful time! I have tons of pictures, but really to load each one up here is such a drag, so I hope to make some layouts this week and I'll show them off then.

I'm also working on making up some routines and stuff using Homeschooling at the Speed of Life. Great book, by the way! Very sound Biblically, too!!

Totally Normal!

In case anyone thought that I wasn't a normal mom (I have NO idea why someone would think this, but just in case!) this is what I did in a fit of frustration this morning. I truly get tired of saying the same things over and over (ie. nagging) and yet things don't change the way that I think they should. This morning C.12.B. got upset because P.9.G. left her shoes under the table and he went to put them IN her bed and write her a note as a "reminder". So, this prompted me (in my anger :( ) to write them all a note! Then, it kept going and going. I decided I would keep these up for a few days so that I didn't have to repeat myself.

I then repented of the anger, asked for forgiveness, and am moving on. I left the notes up though. Better than me nagging, right?!


The notes say things like: feed your dogs, train your dog, pick up your things; don't wake up in the morning only to lay back down on the couch, don't dump out milk, don't ask or expect to eat out each week, etc.

***Edited: A friend emailed me laughing at the advertisements on our sticky notes, considering we have 5 children! LOLOLOLOL This cracked me up, too, because I didn't even realize what I had written on. My sister works at a doctor's office and brings us sticky notes - which we use for everything. I grabbed the smallest one I could find (out of my newly cleaned out junk drawer) and started writing! It NEVER occurred to me what the advertisement was for. LOLOLOLOL I'll just say that we don't use medicine in our home, unless someone is really REALLY ill (coughing uncontrollably or with a serious infection), and that's all I'll say about that! LOLOLOL***

On a sweeter note, here's a pic of Baby A (5 months) in the swing when I took him out on Saturday.

Pocket Full of Goodness or PFOG

These little goodies are going to become a staple in our house very quickly. I got the idea for them from Linda at Radical Debt Elimination. Her video is great and has so many ideas for saving money!

So, what is a PFOG, you may ask. That would be the acronym for Pocket Full of Goodness. I decided to coin the term because of them being such a favorite around here lately. Another thought that came to mind for a name was "Leftovers in a Pocket", but that wasn't as cute. LIAP?! Nah.

Tonight I think we'll have oriental PFOGs.

What can you put in a PFOG?

pizza fixin's - cheese, pepperoni, sauce
bbq chicken
broccoli, chicken, rice

or any leftovers.

*I'm amending this to say that these are perfect for on the go meals. When you know that you are going to be in the car, running errands, at a friends, etc., these are a go-to meal! Veggies, protein, and starch all in one. Bring these and your mason jars of water/ice and you are set to be on the road for a while!

Here's the recipe that I use when making the dough. It's altered a little from Linda's, because I wanted a sweeter dough.

2 cups warm water
3 tbsp. yeast
1/4 c. sugar
all-purpose flour - as much as you need to clean the sides of your mixing bowl.

Now, I realize that some of you may be having a conniption fit that I'm using white flour! believe me, I know - me, too. But, it's cheap and makes yummy biscuits. I've almost perfected my biscuits!! Now, I think I will try this with 1/2 wheat, 1/2 white. I prefer the white flour for some things because it makes a softer dough.

this makes about 24 PFOGs, so split it up into 24 little balls. Then flatten them out in your hand and fill. I put about a heafty spoonful of filling in each, the cinch around teh edges. Bake at 350 for about 18 minutes.

Big P wants me to make some with breakfast fixings. I'll do that soon and keep them in the fridge and freezer for Sunday morning breakfasts. He usually makes Sunday breakfast, but I can do this to give both of us a break.

Oh, for lunch we had beef/pineapple/coconut stir fry (w/ cabbage, broccoli, and green beans). I think this would make a yummy PFOG.

Ma & Laura Ingalls

Today I decided that we were going to hand wash the dishes after lunch. I was washing and rinsing and Paige was drying and putting away. I said "isn't this fun?" and she said "yea, it's like we are Ma and Laura Ingalls!" Now, some may laugh at that and think "gee, thanks", but to me it was a compliment and one I will remember for a long time. How precious and sweet a time that I got to spend with my sweet little girl.