Floor Mopping Lessons

  Today, as I contemplated use of duct tape on my whining boys (just kidding, I'd never do it, but it's awfully tempting!), I had the bright idea to burn off a little of my frustration with some housework. This way, I could burn calories doing something that needed to be done and possibly not be quite so annoyed with all the whining going on in my house. The changing-by-the-minute Oklahoma weather decided to turn back to winter yesterday and the penned up boys were beginning to revolt!
  The oldest was chomping at the bit and hounding me to help me do something today...in between whining about his brother. He is used to helping out with particular things like vacuuming, putting away his clothes, making his bed, and feeding the dog, amongst a few other things, but today, he wanted to be doing whatever I was doing.  I gratefully obliged and he helped declutter and entertain his little brother while I swept so we could then mop. That part went smoothly enough.

Then the magic happened....
  I gave him a damp mop rag and away he went! Then the little one wanted to join in, but he only wanted to wash his cars and wipe the small tables, so I let him have at it. Who am I to turn down some help with housework and my boys wanting to be clean!?? As it turns out, this whole helping idea was rather great! You see, they were so busy helping that they forgot to be annoyed and pestered by ea ch other and they focused...yes, FOCUSED (with boys of 5 and 2 this is rare!)...on their little jobs. Not only are they learning about helping around the house, they are learning to finish a job, do a job well, listen for directions, focus on the task at hand, do their work cheerfully, and take pride in their work.

  I pray that someday, their future wives will be thankful I taught their husbands to be helpful around the house. I thank God that He is teaching me that even the small, seemingly mundane and insignificant things can be used to teach my boys life lessons and guide them towards Him. I pray I can be as cheerful and willing in the purpose He  has for me, as my boys are in the jobs I have for them.

Egg-cited

      To tell you the truth, I wasn't quite sure that either of my boys would be all that interested in coloring Easter eggs this year, but to my suprise, both of them seemed extremely enthused about it once we got started. My mother-in-law was really excited to color eggs with the kids, so we went a little overboard on which kit and methods to use, so after our little egg trials, I can now tell you that I will probably NEVER do the dye cup method ever again!
     We did the Rainbow Eggs (these are the purple and one bright red one...we broke a few shells, by the way) and we loved it! It was super easy, very little mess, and it was fun because the kids could squirt it and see the eggs turning color immediately unlike the dye cups that take 10 minutes for any color! Mom-n-law made hand painted "candy apple" eggs that were shiny...pretty but not for kiddos. My five year old discovered this package of q-tip looking things that were actually swabs that you can paint the dye on the eggs with....LOVED these!! They are Paas brand and easy for both the kids (and Mom) to use. Also, with the non-soaking methods, the idea of the dye not soaking completely through the egg is nice if you'd like to use them for deviled eggs or something later and don't want them to be colored.
      Since it's spring and the weather changes quickly, I recommend doing eggs on a rainy or cold day, like we did. We didn't feel bad about being in the kitchen for a while since it was too drizzly and cold to be out in the yard! Our Easter plans are to have a family meal after church and enjoy time together while remember the reason for Easter...the Risen Savior! Enjoy your eggs and enjoy your Easter!

Cook Ahead Dinner

I know this whole "cooking ahead" idea is not a new one, but I 've never really jumped on the band wagon until now. Now, I don't care to cook and freeze a month of meals all at once...partly because I don't have that big of a chunk of time, and partly because I might want to change it up and not be so tied to what I've made. So, I decided to try this out. I made four days of meals (or parts of the meal) in one evening as I made dinner.

Here was my menu:
1. The night I cooked, I made homemade pizza
2. Beef Stroganoff- I made just the beef mixture and froze it so I could thaw and make noodles quickly
3. Soup- just some simple beef and veggie soup, all prepared, just need to add water and cook
4. Mini cornbread casseroles- cornbread mix prepared, cooked ground beef, cheese, corn- made these to go with my beans in the crockpot

I cooked all my hamburger at the same time and just put together some of the meals and voila, it was ready! I have found myself doing this a lot when I do a chicken in the crockpot, too. I plan my meals so I have the meat prepared and can add it to the recipe. It takes a little planning, but it can be done! It makes meal time much more streamlined which is especially helpful when you have little ones like I do, who aren't too patient for their dinner! 

Car Emergency Kit

This is a ___ project....if you said Pinterest, you get a cookie! Just kidding about the cookie, but it is a little something I found on Pinterest, where I find most of the things I do. I tweaked it for what I needed in my car.

 

Use and empty wipes box or shoebox to store your kit and put in it things that you might need while out and about. Notice, I don't have any wipes in my kit....that's because I carry around a package with me already with two small kiddos, along with a backup diaper or two just in case. 

Here's what's in my box:

2 sandwich zip bags

mini lint roller

small first aid kit- bandages, ointment, alcohol wipes, a few Benadryl

Tyenol

Tissues

Lotion

Shout wipes

Small sewing kit- has tiny scissors, needle, thread, safety pin, etc

Hand sanitizer

Bug repellant

Pen and notepad

Hair elastics

There's still a little room in my box in case I think of something else tiny that might be useful to have on hand. This handy little box and fit under a seat or easily in a floorboard or trunk. Just be sure when it's 2000 degrees outside that you don't have anything in there that might melt!

Pinned from Rips in My Jeans

Make Your Own Pizza Pockets

 Believe it or not, this is my own concoction! I'm sure there is a recipe for this out there somewhere, but I was improvising and came up with this quick, easy dinner idea- Pizza Pockets!

Ingredients:
1 can refrigerated crescent rolls
2 oz. shredded part skim mozzarella
1/4 cup pizza sauce
2 oz slice ham
Desired amount of Italian seasoning


Heat oven to 375. Roll out crescent dough and take apart in quarter sections (two triangles together). Put about a tablespoon (give or take--to your taste) of pizza sauce on one end of the rectangle, then top with about 1/8 cup of cheese and 1/2 a slice of ham. Then fold over and press edges, then bake according to crescent directions, roughly 13-15 minutes-- Makes 4

*11 WW Pts. Plus each
*You can add veggies, different meat, different cheese- whatever pizza toppings you want--just make a pocket out of it!

BIG hit with the kiddos!!

World Vision Update

So.....we finally (a couple weeks ago) managed to raise our $100 for our World Vision gift of two chickens and a goat! This was something my four year old and I started around Thanksgiving and we put in pocket change, a dollar here and there, and he put in lots of his spending money (not just from his giving jar) into the bucket and we did it!!

Now, we have begun a new gift to work on...5 rabbits for $80. The boy is loving this and I love seeing him want to put all the change he can find in the bucket and seeing how fast we can fill it up! I discovered a clean cottage cheese container with a slot in the lid is a great way to do this because you can count it periodically and when you do lots of change like we do, you can take the whole thing to be cashed in when it's full and put the cash back in it right then. We put a picture of the rabbit on the container just like we did the goat and chicken one and we are all set!!

Also, World Vision will send you a card with a picture representing the gift you gave.

A Little Spring Cleaning Idea....Kids' Nook

Before

 Since I am a Pinterest junkie, I have seen these cute ideas for children's reading nooks and making little couches and things for them to have a little corner for themselves. My kids don't read to themselves yet, but they love books and, like every boy, they love hideouts.

So, my "office" is in the corner of our living room (which is one huge open area...living, dining, kitchen), and they like to play right by me when I have some work do to. I needed to do a deep clean on the area anyway...you know, clean all the dust bunnies out really good from under and behind the desk and untangle all the wires, not to mention straighten up the top of the desk.

After

I decided to turn the printer cabinet the other direction at the end of the desk, move the desk down a few inches and there was room for a little nook! 

I eventually want to make this cool little couch made out of all sorts of pillows (or at least find a little small couch or cute armchair to replace Spidey), but for now, stuffed animals, Spiderman chair, and a few random pillows from the kids' room are a big hit!

Framed Gift

I actually made this back in October, but I didn't want to do the post for fear the recievers of the gifts would see it! And, of course, I forgot to get a picture of the large ones that I gifted, but you can get the idea.

Framed Scrapbook Page

What you need:
1. Frame--
the large ones I did are 12x12 inches, but you can do 8x10 inches like this one as well, but the big ones are best. I did this one small for me in the "gallery" spot where I hang things my four year old does in frames.
(Hobby Lobby sells 12x12 scrapbook page frames and I waited til they were half off!)


2. Scrapbook Supplies--
paper, stickers, whatever decorations you want, temper paint if you want to do handprints, glue, etc. Get whatever you or the reciever of the gift likes.

3. Photos--
originals or copies...I used wallets and extra 3.5x5's for mine. (I would recommend copies if you use really old, or non-digital photos because you'll want to glue them down good)

4. Creativity! --
You don't have to be super creative, just lay it out before you glue it down and be sure to date it and add any other info you want to add. (I put the kids names and the date of the handprints right next to the edges of the prints on the white part)

The grandparents  all LOVED this!! Be sure you make one for yourself, too!!

A Goat and Two Chickens

  With Thanksgiving approaching, I have really been trying to think of ways that I can convey being thankful and helping others to my four year old. I feel like God has put it on my heart to find ways to do missions with my children. It's obviously not very feasible with a four year old and baby in tow to serve at a soup kitchen or travel great distances to serve. I've racked my brain and finally come to the conclusion that for now, we can do something that may not involve face to face contact with those we are helping but will be meaningful and help teach my little ones about giving.

So, this year during the holidays, we are starting two projects. Our first one is A GOAT AND TWO CHICKENS ($100) through World Vision.

We are going to make a jar with this picture on it and a little meter we can color in until we save the $100 together. Now, I won't be putting in all of it...Cooper has chores he does and he earns money for them (now most of them are only a quarter), but he can put some or all of his money in our jar and I will put in money as well and match his too. I haven't tried this before so we will see how quickly we can do it. I would love to do this one by Christmas and continue giving projects throughout the year!

For our second project we plan to make cards for troops. My brother is in the Navy and he says it's great to get things in the mail, especially when you are not stateside. This is something fun we can do that is not expensive but that may mean a lot to those who receive them.

I pray that we can be a blessing to people we don't even know this holiday season and that we will experience the joy of giving like never before! Happy Thanksgiving!