Bringing Good Home

I’m stealing borrowing another Works For Me idea from my grandmother that I saw while we were on vacation a couple weeks ago.

My grandmother wears a lot of jewelry.

A LOT of jewelry.

It doesn’t matter where she’s going - even to the grocery store she’ll have a ring on each finger, several necklaces, several bracelets, and three pairs of earrings.

One morning while watching her get her jewelry out, I noticed she had it all stored in a travel type case.

“It’s a bead box.” she said. My grandmother purchased a very cheap bead organizer to carry her jewlery in. You can see by the quarter that it’s not too big, and I think she said she just paid a dollar for it, maybe two. Just the right size and price.

So there ya go.

Works for Me Wednesday is hosted by Shannon at Rocks In My Dryer.

Welcome to a special Works for Me My Grandma Wednesday, in which I totally borrow an idea that works for my grandmother on a daily basis.

As arthritis became more of a problem for her, getting her credit cards and drivers license and other cards out of her wallet became more of a problem for her, too.

Here’s her solution.

Using a small amount of clear tape (she used clear packing tape) and some hand written labels, create little tabs for each card. Make sure that you don’t cover the bar code or magnetic strip and it shouldn’t be a problem.

Now my grandmother can see at a glance which card is which and she can pull it out by the tab instead of trying to get ahold of the skinny card.

Even police officers have never complained when she handed them her drivers license.

One of them said he was going to tell a friend.

Works For Me Wednesday is hosted by Shannon at Rocks In My Dryer.

There are Yahoo Groups for just about anything. Seriously.

Are you a giraffe lover?

Perhaps your a Hugh Jackman fan.

Or maybe what you want is to learn how to knit.

And if there’s not one that fits your fancy, you can create one. I haven’t done that yet, but I have joined up to about half a dozen homeschool related groups.

Through those, I was able to find ten educational 3rd and 4th grade computer games for twenty dollars total, shipping included. I found two history books that I wanted (which would have cost 36 dollars total without shipping) for a total of 23 dollars after shipping. That’s are really good deals!

If I hadn’t found out about Book Samaritan, I’d have been ordering the rest of our school curriculum that way as well, waiting and watching all summer for good deals to come along. I may still end up purchasing a few more things just to round out our curriculum a little more.

Another way Yahoo Groups can be useful is by using it to create a place for your in-real-life group to share information and attract new people. Our homeschool group will be setting up a yahoo group soon so that new people can find us and so that we can all share information about upcoming field trips and such. I think it’s a great idea.

So what’s your interest? I bet there’s a Yahoo Group for that, too.

Works for Me Wednesday is hosted by Shannon at Rocks In My Dryer.

P.S. If wouldn’t mind stopping over here and reading about the photo contest I entered, that would be, um, lovley. Thanks.

Sound good to you? I thought it might.

I recently learned about a non-profit organization called Book Samaritan that supplies curriculum to home schoolers who need the extra help.

How marvelous!

They work entirely on a donation basis - which means they rely on the donations of others to make it work. So if you’re not interested or in need of requesting books, you could still donate them to help others in need.

I love it when people get together to help other people. It’s the Golden rule and the 2nd greatest commandment (love your neighbor as yourself) at work in real life.

On May 28th, I put a letter in the mail to Book Samaritan requesting our remaining needs for the upcoming year and when I checked my mail on Saturday, June 7th I had a package slip waiting for me. I couldn’t believe it was that fast! We excitedly dug through the box when we got home, and we’re very pleased with the things we received. Together with what we already had, we have basically everything we need. Princess still wants a piano book, which we should be able to acquire before the fall semester starts.

So if you’re interested, check out their website and send them a letter. The only thing they require is that you donate the books back to them or to someone else when you are done with them, instead of selling them for a profit.

I think that’s a great idea.

And if you’re willing to send them your old books, by all means, go ahead and do that, too. Some home schooler somewhere will be greatly blessed.

: : : : : :

Note: I’m not getting the website to pull up, but it has in the past. My hubby and I emailed them and got a response saying that they are working on their site, but they are still there and open for donations and requests.

To send requests (the more general your curriculum request, the easier your order will be to fill) or donate books, mail to:

Book Samaritan

1715 Grandview

Pawhuska, OK 74056

: : : : : :

Works for Me Wednesday is hosted by Shannon at Rocks In My Dryer.

It’s another themed Works for Me Wednesday - apparently Shannon is concerned her children are going to get bored over the summer and we’ve been invited to throw our ideas for summer entertainment into the mix. Well, here goes!!

1. Make your own craft and art supplies. Make chalk, paint, facepaint, goop, slime, you name it. Not only does it occupy them while they’re making something, but it gives them something to do afterward also. And it’s usually very economical too! For tons of recipes look here and here.
2. Stock up on cheap outside toys. At the beginning of each summer (or a little before) I hit the dollar stores and invest in a collection of new, shiny, exciting, and CHEAP outside play toys. A small inflatable pool, bats and balls, mini golf games, whatever I can find - guaranteed to keep them playing outside and having fun for the next few months. If they get bored with some of them, tell them to make up new games while using and combining the different sports items.
3. Visit the library often. If your kids enjoy books (or even if they don’t, maybe you can foster a new love of them) take them to the library each week with their own bookbags to fill. I have fond memories of summers at my grandma’s house and one of the things we did often was visit the library, come home with a stockpile of books (mine mostly Nancy Drew) and bury our noses into some amazing adventure when it was too hot outside for adventures of our own. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s that time of year again. SUMMER! Swimming pools, outdoor fun, and higher temperatures. It gets pretty hot here in central Texas and also in our house which doesn’t have particularly good air conditioning (like 90 degrees inside sometimes!)

Last year we devised a way to make it through the hot afternoons, and it seems it’s time to switch back to the same summer schedule as before.

1. First off, we need to do the bulk of our chores in the morning, before it gets so hot that we don’t want to lift a finger. We can do school after that since that mainly involves a lot of sitting.
2. Secondly, we switch the bath times from before bed to mid-afternoon. Once the day hits its hottest point, the children can take turns, taking long leisurely cool baths. This not only serves to cool each child down, but gives them a little alone time during what could be our crankiest part of the day. Also, you get to put on a nice, clean (non-sweaty) outfit and everyone looks cleaner and less frazzled when daddy gets home for dinner.
3. If you or your child gets so sweaty that your discomfort is interfering with your day - go ahead and change! I know this makes more laundry, and it’s hard for me to do because of that.. but what’s the good of saving a little bit of laundry if you’re going to be crankier and less effective because of it?
4. Buy lots of cheap popsicles (or make your own) and eat them frequently! That’s not hard to do, right? It’s not uncommon for my children to have multiple popsicles a day during the worst part of summer. It really does help to cool you down.
   
5. Cook out on the grill as much as possible! I mean, there’s no need to add EXTRA heat right? Especially since my kitchen faces west which means that side of the house has direct sunlight when it’s time to make supper. Ew. Seriously, if I ever build a house the majority of the house & windows will face north and south!
6. Take a break and finish later. When mid-afternoon hits, we stop and take it easy. Okay, okay…maybe that doesn’t fit the “busy momma” definition.. but in this case I make exceptions. We rest (and take our baths and eat our popsicles) and watch a movie together or some other activity until time to start on supper. After getting the kids in bed, the house will have cooled back down again. At that point I can finish cleaning up in the kitchen and picking up elsewhere so that we don’t start the next day with a messy house. That takes some self-discipline, since I want to rest after the kids go to bed, but if I don’t want to do it throughout the afternoon then I need to make it happen later.

So those are my tips for beating the summer heat indoors. Got any other good ones? Go ahead and share!

Works for Me Wednesday is hosted by Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer who talks this week about how giving her kids an online allowance works for her. Check it out!

During the last Bloggy Giveaways I won a gift certificate to mysigg.com from Lisa at Domestic Accident. I was so very excited! I ordered a couple of kids bottles for Little Prince and also an insulated mug for myself.

Little Prince really likes his “big boy cups.” We purged all his sippy cups except for two insulated ones. These have sports-bottle tops that twist open and closed. They aren’t leak proof while he’s drinking out of them (they only drip a little,) but they’re completely leak proof while they’re closed which is a good thing. Even though his Sigg bottles aren’t insulated, just the fact that they’re made out of aluminum helps to keep his cold drinks cold a little longer than a regular cup.

For myself, I bought the Pastel Pink Metro Thermos. I love coffee, so I was really excited to get a thermos promising to keep it hot for six hours. I’m thinking about Sunday mornings when I have to get up earlier than usual with one eye open. Oh yeah. My only complaint is that it’s not big enough. It’s so cute, though. Easy to hold. And it really works, too. Hot coffee, for hours. Yummmmm.

Works For Me Wednesday hosted by Rocks In My Dryer.

Seriously, try it.

Don’t use your expensive conditioner, though, buy something inexpensive and moisturizing. You’ll save money and your skin will be moisturized, too.

‘Nuff said.

Works For Me Wednesday is hosted by Rocks In My Dryer.

It’s important that my children learn to work together, right? To that end, I usually have them cleaning up their room, getting ready for bed, or setting the table at the same time. Recently I’ve realized that it’s also important for them to learn to work independently, and that it’s okay to separate them to get tasks done. Yeah, I know, it’s rocket science.

The driving force behind this realization was the resulting screaming, fighting, pushing and crying that occurred each time the girls were supposed to be brushing their teeth or picking up their toys. Something’s gotta give..and it’s not going to be me, cleaning up for them.

One reason they’ll end up fighting is because Drama Queen isn’t pulling her weight in Princess’ eyes, which as I’m sure you can imagine leads to arguing.

My first step in Sibling Separation, while still getting them to work together, was to start dividing tasks in half. When I have them picking up the living room or their bedroom, I will literally establish a dividing line down the middle of the room (easily done with the vacuum cleaner cord.) Sometimes it’s a matter of assigning the first step to one child and then the second step to the second child. However it can be divided. Now they’re cleaning the whole room together, but each is only responsible for her half. Now they don’t have to worry about what the other person is or isn’t doing. A dividing line (and a timer!) has worked wonders to diminish the fighting during clean-up time.

The other reason they end up fighting is simply old-fashioned-slibling-PROXIMITY. Well, that and selfishness. There they are standing in the bathroom to brush their teeth, elbow to elbow, fighting to get to the sink first. Figures.

The second step in Sibling Separation is ALTERNATING. Again, it’s rocket science, people. First you send one child to brush their teeth and then, this is important, you send the other one to put on their pajamas. And then…they switch. Genius, isn’t it? It’s just amazing. You can also have one pick up their half of the bedroom while the other takes a bath and vice versa. It’s amazing!

So yes, they need to learn to work together. So sometimes we do that. But they also need to be able to work separately (ever hear “I can’t” or “I need help?”) so sometimes we do that, too. And by doing so, there’s less screaming. And more working. And the world is a better place. Okay, our house is a better place for at least a few minutes. It works.

Works For Me Wednesday hosted by Rocks In My Dryer.

Also, read Stopping the Screaming, Part II.

Aahhh!! What a crazy, crazy busy week this is. My to do list is about as long as the Nile - and growing. Everything is leading up to a joint birthday party for the girls on Saturday. It’s crazy - but it’s exciting, too!!

So here’s a speed round low down of all my weekly posts. Ready, Set, Go!!

Monday Meanderings and MPM - Um, yeah. Cleaning plan: Clean like crazy! Menu Plan: Eat food!! I confess, I bought ingredients for specific dinners, we’ll probably have sandwiches for lunch most days,…but which day we eat what is really not at the top of my list!

Tackle It Tuesday: LOTS of tackles, like you would not believe. I have a lot of clean laundry to fold, some regular housework to do, and several outside tasks to accomplish before Saturday. I have some things that need to go to the dump, some things that need to go to the burn pile, some things that need to go to the thrift store, and also my uncle is going to come over at some point to help me put up a 100 ft. fenceline to keep the kids out of the poison ivy. Because you know how I feel about poison ivy.

Works For Me Wednesday: Making lists. MAKING LISTS, BABY. It’s the only way I make it through crazy weeks like this in any kind of orderly fashion. Otherwise my scatterbrained self would, well, it wouldn’t be pretty…

Come Shoot The Breeze With Me Thursday: Woo-hoo! Thursday I’ll be taking the girls to my mom (meeting her half way) so they can stay the weekend with her. She’ll bring them back on Saturday just a couple hours before the party. They’re REALLY looking forward to it! On the other hand, I’ll be driving half the day. In the meantime, enjoy these links that I would have shared on Thursday:

• Make a Farm
• Home Made Cleaners
• Catechism for Young Children
• Live Science

I don’t have regular posts on Friday’s but if I had the time I’d probably tell y’all about my fabulous sister-in-law coming over to help me make the best birthday cake ever. Because y’all know what my cakes look like. Friday’s also the day we’re putting together “the gift” - yeah, a bit of secrecy… I’ll let you in on that one later.

And then Saturday is the big day! Drama Queen turned 5 a few weeks ago, Princess turns 8 in about a week, and we’re having one big bash for the both of them that afternoon. Guaranteed to be bucket loads of fun.

So that’s it, y’all have a great week. I’ll catch back up with you in a few days or five. God’ll get me through it all!! I’ll try to come back with all my hair and no additional gray!