2010 Summer Ideas Part 2

Keeping Your House in {some semblance} of Order

Yeah right...I hear you say.

I am not, nor will I pretend to be a wonderful,
organized
housekeeper.

I do clean the kitchen after every meal.
I love cleaning the bathrooms.
The shark (vacuum thingy) is my friend for kitchen floors and
highly trafficked areas.

But I am a MESSY.
I operate on the pile system.
I have more than one junk drawer.
I always have clothes hanging out of my drawers.

Here are some things I do and will do this summer to try and
maintain a livable home.

Inspector MOM. This is something I did last summer and plan on doing it again, beginning next week. Regular old mom tells the kids that Inspector Mom is coming to visit in a set amount of time. (Like 15 minutes) Everyone scrambles to pick up. Then the Inspector Gadget theme song begins to play. Regular Mom puts on a funny hat and uses a funny voice and has a cup full of quarters. As Inspector Mom walks thru the house, she rewards the kids who have picked up, made up beds, closed drawers, helped a younger sibling...etc.

{Side note: Hattie told me yesterday that she was trying to keep her drawers closed in practice for when Inspector Mom visits. Poor girl, she takes after regular mom in the messy department!}

Sharing the Load. Its pretty much impossible for me to set aside A DAY to clean the house. So I break it up the big jobs over a few days, of course there are tons of daily jobs too. Bathrooms, vacuuming, mopping, laundry...let the kids do what they can. If they are little, let them "help" by standing on a step stool and wipe the sinks, or shorten the handle and use the swiffer. If they are bigger, let them pick a job. Like, "Would you like to vacuum the living room or clean the toilets?" My mom used to do that for us. She got help, and we {thought we} got off light.

The Mad Dash. This is when dad is expected to be home at a certain time. You set the timer, make a game of it, and every one does a FAST clean up job. I like to focus on the main living area so when Daddy comes home, he gets a good first impression and doesn't say things like, "Ooooh, what have you guys done all day?"

I'm sure there will be {many} days
it will look like a
TORNADO
hit the inside of our house.
But, hopefully, we can maintain
a little order...
Got any other ideas???

Low Sugar Strawberry Freezer Jam

So, I saw a FB status (Mary Alice Dice) about eating strawberry freezer jam. I was jealous. I was thoroughly warned by more than one person (including my mom) that it has a LOAD of sugar in it. Because I am always looking for ways to cut the sugar out of our diet while maintaining a good taste, I combined a few recipes and have made this twice now.

ITS SOOOOOO GOOD!

Start with fresh strawberries. Rinse and cap them. Mash them in layers until you get 3 cups worth. {I used my handy Pampered Chef Mix-n-Chop which is AMAZING AND my Core and More for capping the berries--- btw, if you don't have these, you should get them!}


Now you need Fruit Pectin. I used the Ball, Natural Gel, no sugar needed brand. I then gradually mixed one package of that with 1 3/4 cup of Apple Juice. Bring that to a fast boil, whisk while boiling for 1 minute.

Then, add the strawberries to that mixture. If the strawberries are on the tart side, add some sugar. My first batch I added about 3/4 cup of sugar or splenda (compared to the 3+ cups the regular recipe calls for!!!). But with my second batch, the strawberries were SO good, I didn't add any extra sugar).


Ladle the mixture into containers leaving 1/2 inch room at the top, at least.
Set at room temp for about 24 hours or so.
Refrigerate for up to 3 weeks or freeze for up to a year!

I'm telling you, this was very easy. Not too time consuming. And UNBELIEVABLY delicious! You can use this on PB&J's, toast, ice cream, pound cake....something everyone can enjoy!

2010 Summer Ideas Part 1

Summer is FAST approaching!!
With four kids { 7 } and under, I have no choice but to be organized and intentional with what we will do during these upcoming weeks. I'm not going to schedule every minute of every day, but I want to avoid the "What are we gonna dooooooo today?" questions.
I want to look back on the SUMMER OF 2010 and think, "that was great!" Rather than, "Shew....glad that's OVER!"
We have several big events planned, but there are many days where we will be taking the ordinary and making it fun.
I collected some great information and ideas together for my MOPS group. I've decided to do a little series. I'd love feedback and other ideas you may have to add.

Part 1 of this series is about SUMMER READING.


With all the work that you and you child(ren) have put into the school year, whether you've home-schooled or not, whether your child has excelled in reading or not, maintaining and even improving these skills is crucial!

Listen to some of these stats:

• The average student learns about 3,000 words per year in the early school years (8 words per day).
  
• 50 percent of American adults are unable to read an eighth grade level book.
• Students who reported having all four types of reading materials (books, magazines, newspapers, encyclopedias) in their home scored, on average, higher than those who reporter having fewer reading materials.
  
• When the State of Arizona projects how many prison beds it will need, it factors in the number of kids who read well in fourth grade.
  

So, what are you going to do this summer to encourage good reading skills for your children? Here are some ideas:

Read EVERY DAY.

Read outloud together.
Pick some classics like Charlotte's Web, Black Beauty, Ramona the Pest, the Westing Game, Chronicles of Narnia...Pick some currents like Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Magic Tree House, Marley and Me, Tale of Winn Dixie.
(try not to be interrupted during this time with the phone.)

Read separately, alone time. Even MOMMY reads her book or bible or whatever.
{HELLO!!}

Set a timer if your child loathes this idea and reward them (even the little ones who are only looking at picture books) for reading for the amount of time you have set. Make a big deal when the timer goes off.

Join the summer reading program at the library.

Give rewards, incentives, cold hard cash for reading certain books that you suggest, like biographies or books of the bible.

Strawberry Personalities

Last week we (my kids, 4 NGU students and myself) went strawberry picking at a local place up the road from our house. It was very funny to observe my four kids and their personalities that came out as we were there.

Silas: This little perfectionist searched for the perfect strawberries. FEW met his expectations. We picked a total of 3 gallons and Silas might have contributed 5 strawberries total. He is so meticulous, so observant, so sensitive.

Hattie: All she cared about was being able to pick strawberries and put them in her special BLUE basket. Its all about the process, the experience for her. She skipped up and down the rows of berries. She flitted between us showing us her little loot. Such a social butterfly.

Lukey: The words that would describe his method would be grabbing, stuffing, any berry will do. He ate about as many as he put in the basket. He talked the entire time. He's impulsive in every way, evident in his strawberry picking as well!

Millie Grace: I will say that she stuck with the program better than I thought. Nothing gets by her ever, she can keep up with her siblings easily. She stayed with the group, enjoying taking the berries picked by others out of the baskets and moving them to others. However, in perfect 18month old style, she picked few and ate MUCH.

Its AMAZING how four little humans with such similar DNA can be SO different. They have so many similar likes (strawberries). They love eachother so much. And yet they go about life at completely different angles. They know how to push eachother's buttons and at the same time prefer to be together all the time.

God has made each of us exactly the way He has intended us to be. Our personalities are not good or bad. Some are decision makers, some are creative thinkers, others are great listeners, and still others are detail oriented. So often we butt-heads with people that don't do things the way we do it. But we are all strawberry picking together. We accomplish so much as we go about our tasks with our own styles. Isn't it funny? Isn't is wonderful?

Ten Years!

Today, Jody and I were walking downtown and we met this lady and told her that it was our 10 year anniversary she said she couldn't believe that we were old enough to have been married that long.

HA! I think I actually did laugh at her.

Now, here's some fun Jody and Emily Trivia

Our cheapest anniversary ever was in Hoima, Uganda. Dinner cost us about $7 total. Friends (The Lammers) babysat Silas

Our favorite show is Survivor, the first season came out the summer we got married and we've loved it ever since.

We have a HARD time coming to an agreement on the names of our kids. Jody prefers to wait all 9 months...so we typically can't make it official until we meet the baby.

We are very adventurous eaters. Like today, we walked into a random hole-in-wall Jamaican restaurant totally enjoyed every bite!

Having people in our home has become one the joys of our life together. Being able to model and practice all aspects (good and bad) of marriage and raising a family is such a blessing!

So glad to be married to my best friend!

Lessons:Tying Shoes and Driving Cars

I can't remember learning to tie my shoes.
I don't remember not knowing.
Do you?

I do remember my dad {trying} to teach me to drive a stick shift.
It didn't go well.
I believe he made me walk home...

We've been trying to teach Silas to tie his shoes...
for like a year now.
Yes. We are behind.
{I really hope Silas's K5 teachers do not read this post, since we were supposed to teach him last year}
No. We have NOT been consistent.
Yes. Silas wears slip on and velcros mainly.

The ironic thing is, unfortunately, I got my teaching skills from my dad.
{I think I got some good traits from him too!}
But when the "I know's" and "let me try's"
come out of my child's mouth
I get FRUSTRATED.
I quit.

The good thing is,
my husband is a very patient man,
a good teacher.
I think he will be doing the family driver's ed too!

Happy Easter 2010!

Naps

I love naps.

I love to take naps.

I love my kids taking naps.

Its like happiness for the taking!

Why do kids hate naps? Why do they resist? I don't get it!!

Did you know?:

1. The human sleep-wake cycle causes a drop in alertness between about 2 and 5 pm in the afternoon and more dramatically in the early morning between 2 and 5 am. This suggests we need two sleep periods a day, as in siesta cultures.

2. The afternoon slump is a natural effect of our circadian rhythms, and occurs even if you’ve had a good night’s sleep causing tiredness, loss of focus/reduced concentration and increased irritability.

3. Workplace accidents and errors peak at exactly the same times that our circadian rhythms cause a drop in alertness.

4. A brief nap can improve your mood and productivity, alleviate tiredness, increase alertness and reduce errors made at work. A nap as brief as 10 minutes will produce these results.

5. A mid afternoon nap has been shown to be more recuperative than a nap taken at other times of the day. If you nap at other times you will still get some benefit but it won’t necessarily prevent the afternoon slump, which is programmed in to our natural biological rhythm.

6. If you take the opportunity to nap, but don’t fall asleep, your mood and problem solving ability can still get benefit.

Acknowledgments to Dr Gerard Kennedy, Sleep Specialist, Melbourne.

Now, try explaining this to your preschooler!! Ha! Good luck. Unfortunately I'm afraid Luke (3.5yrs old) is getting close to dropping his afternoon nap. I know rest time is effective too, but its just not the same! Nothing beats a sweet cuddly sleepy head come out of the room from a nap! And nothing makes us all happier to make it to bedtime with smiles than a good naptime!

Mom and other various forms of that name

Mama:
one of the most glorious
and anticipated words
that will come out of the mouth of babes.

Mommy:
makes you feel needed
and important

Mom:
you know your kid is growing up,
so conversational

But,
add inflection
MOMMY!!!!!!!!!
or
repetition
Mom, mom, mom, mom, mom...
or
monotony
when Mama {to that sweet baby of yours} also means
no, food, or anyone who walks in the door...

That's why I have asked my children to call me
GLORIA.
It has a nice ring to it, dontcha think?
Its pretty.
Its not annoying.
It almost sounds like you have to sigh {ahhhh} after you say it.
Gloria...

I think the message has reached the ears of a
few of these blessings of mine.
Luke called me Gloria today.

DC Summary and PIcs

Sunday: We left around 9am and arrived in DC around 730pm. We were VERY tired and very grouchy. We settled in and got to bed VERY late.
Monday: The kids and I went to a fun park and spent time with my friend Amanda (Jennings) Lee and her two sweet kids.



Tuesday: We joined to team of students at a local community center. We cleaned and helped with what we could then we headed over to my aunt's house for naps and supper.


Wednesday: We rode the metro with my aunt and spent the day in DC. It was so fun! Luke says, "We saw a HUMONGOUS Abraham Lincoln". We also saw Dorothy's ruby red slippers, kermit the frog, the First ladies dresses, the original Star Spangled Banner (my personal favorite), the insect zoo, a T-Rex....
Thursday: The National Zoo and then some terrible nasty stomach bug or food poisoning or something hit. Out of the team of 31, 20 spent the evening and night camped out in the hallway near the bathrooms. Let me just say I have NEVER seen and experienced so much bodily fluid EVER. 2 out of my 4 kids (the girls) woke up throwing up. Ugh. It was unbelievable.

Friday: I spent the day trying to get all these sickly people to eat bananas, applesauce, drink gatorade...
Saturday: Traveled in the rain back home. We picked up Nana (my maternal grandmother) on the way to bring her to SC for a little visit.

It was a great trip. The kids behaved great. We LOVE those college students (both ours from NGU and our new friends from Furman's BCM). They did a great job scouring the city, surveying, serving, and working hard.

What will it be?

6 toothbrushes
30 pairs of socks
8 dvds
4 backpacks filled with books, blankets, paper, crayons, etc
3 sleeping bags
1 air mattress
6 pillows
1 good camera
3 disposable cameras (although, Anne, I agree, in the long run, digitals make more sense, but theywere SO excited when they discovered I got them each a camera, I thought we'd go with these this time.)
and much much more!

I think I'm ready, but inevitably I will forget something. Right?

Washington DC

Hattie's birthday festivities continue, and pictures will follow soon. I CAN'T believe how grown up this special girl is becoming! We are so excited to have all "the cousins" this weekend to celebrate as well as some friends!

And as if its dull enough around here...

We are getting ready for a really fun trip...to Washington DC. Jody is taking a small group of students from NGU to work with a church, and we decided that we would all go. The kids' teachers are all excited for us too. Silas will be keeping a journal of the trip. Hattie will have a chance to share a little with her class and Luke is just plain excited. He told his preschool teacher this: One day I'm gonna wake up and I should be coming to preschool but I'm not going to come because I will be in Washington DC.

We will visit some friends and family, go to the zoo, visit a few museums and monuments, and help with some of the projects. I bought the 3 older kids their own disposable camera so they can take their own pictures. (We'll see how THAT goes!!) I'm trying to plan out our agenda somewhat. I have to work out some naps and decent bedtimes, because if you know me you know how cranky I get when my kids are not well rested. But I'm sure it will be fun! Im sure I'll have a LOT to say when we get back!

I welcome any little tips you may have!!