I have been working on several other projects this week, also. They are in the process of being finished, so stay tuned!
In my continual journey to try to organize my life, I came across an idea on Pinterest that sparked my idea for corkboard in my cupboards. Well, the Pinterest idea and a friend of mine. My friend has pictures hung up in her cabinets of friends and family. I have always thought this is an awesome concept, but never got around to doing anything like it. After seeing something similar on Pinterest, I remembered I had two cork pieces left from a project we did years ago. One afternoon, I finally got around to hanging them. They will eventually have more stuff, I'm sure. For right now though, only important info. All the emergency contact information is in snack cabinet for Monster or a babysitter. Medicine information is in the cabinet that contains the medicines (and, as a side note, did you know you shouldn't store medications in the bathroom because of the humidity from the shower? I just read that). My plan is to get at least two more squares for the pantry door as well. Also in my search for organization, I'm always looking for something to make my van not a disaster zone. I don't even really keep much in the van anymore. I'm old school when it comes to kids in the car. I believe they should be able to drive to Target without watching a DVD. However, I remember when I was younger, I used to take coloring books and books to read. Those are things my kids have in the car. For Christmas, Nana got each of the kids this awesome Color Wonder travel set. LOVE it! It is completely perfect for the travel. Since my kids are readers, they also enjoy books in the van. I have tried a basket in the middle, I have a tried a basket for each of them. Those kept the van neat, but the biggest problems were the kids having to step over the baskets getting in and out and Sunshine not being able to reach anything. I have seen some awesome Pinterest ideas, but most involved sewing, which I just don't do, and the other involved baskets, which I just explained, don't work. While making the paper holders for the kids, I came up with this idea. I really wasn't sure it would work, but using all recycled materials, it really didn't matter. This is attempt two at making yogurt drops for the kids. First attempt went smoothly until taking them to the downstairs freeze. The wind blew the door shut on me and the tray of drops fell on the floor. Attempt two was a success! The kids loved them, and frankly, so did I! This week's failed recipe? Crockpot Italian Chicken. Honestly, I didn't think it was all that bad. Not great, but not bad. Husband and the kids, however, didn't like it at all. Sunshine chose to go to bed instead of eating it. One more food pin I can delete.
I have been working on several other projects this week, also. They are in the process of being finished, so stay tuned!
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Starting next week, for the first time in 6 years, I will have kid free time during the week. I have all these huge ideas of what I plan on accomplishing. I have these crazy plans of getting my house in much better order. Honestly, it's not bad now, but there are some things that just can't find homes. I plan on finding them homes. I plan on refinishing my hardwood floors. A couple of months ago, I tried this product called Restore-A-Floor on half of my downstairs hardwood flooring. It wasn't a miracle restorer, but it worked nicely. Gave the floor back it's shine. Due to children and lack of room to move furniture, I never finished the other half of the floors. So that's on the list. I plan on baking. I love to bake, but lack the time. I plan on exercising. I may not run since my race will be over in 3 more weeks, but I plan on doing yoga regularly now. I plan on finally painting my bathroom baseboards (that technically the contractor should have done 5 years ago). I plan on having more fun activities planned for the kids. Well, not planned, prepared is a better word. I'm constantly planning them, but we get into it and then I don't have one or two things we need. I completely plan on being better prepared for that! I plan on making some cute little homework/paperwork boxes for the kids, OK, really for Husband, to keep the kids' school work separate from all the other paperwork floating around the house. I plan on reading. I plan on finishing projects I've started but found I can't complete with the kids around. Sunshine's tutu is a great example. I started it 4 months ago, but every time I pull it out to work on, Sunshine plays with all the tulle and then I spend the next session of tutu making trying to reorganize it to cut. I plan on walking Puppy. Since the kids are learning how to ride bikes, Puppy hasn't gone for decent walk.
In reality, I'll probably get very little of this done. I'm pretty sure the first couple of weeks I'll be so excited to have "free" time, I'll sit and watch Glee. Then I have to factor in the every other week doctor appointments for my neck and the every other week volunteering in Monster's class. Let's not forget the weekly grocery shopping as well. Even though I tend to be a realist, I still like to dream big. I have really been slacking on this whole thing of one new dish a week thing. However, I have done a couple this week. So, here they are, along with my family's opinions.
First up, berry cobbler with cake mix and Sprite. Look at how simple this recipe it. And it was. Problem? It was so disgustingly sweet that you couldn't take more than two bites. Even the kids wouldn't eat it it was so sweet. Next up, Tandori Chicken Burgers with Cucumber Sauce. Personally, I didn't find this horrible. I probably would use turkey and not chicken if I had to do it over. Husband actually made me order pizza just looking at these. Southwestern steak and cornbread dressing didn't do too badly. Husband and I didn't hate it, but the kids down right refused to eat. After getting over the look of it, both decided it wasn't gag worthy. Monster picked out every last tomato and Sunshine only ate the meat, which is actually a win because she doesn't eat much meat. I had planned on another new past meal, but after reading it, decided my kids wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole, and neither would Husband. The rest of this week and weekend is full of eating out with visiting family, so I get to start the process of new recipes again Monday. I am determined that my kids will eat new foods, even if they don't like them. Getting Husband to do this may be a bit more tricky. I have a lot of projects that I do with the kids, but I've also been doing projects for the kids. I'm all about organization. Lately, the kids' paper has been getting out of control. I saw this on Pinterest, but there were no directions, just an idea. For Monster's room, I decided to make him a picture bulletin board. He's got so many pictures and wants them all in his room. I got all prepared, even called a friend who I know has made one of the ribbon bulletin boards, and then Monster changed it up. he wanted to see the frame. I got to then measure and cut instead of just pull and staple and glue. Turned out cute though. Tooth Fairy bag is done. I would like to take credit, but I can only take credit for the idea, not the sewing. I really was going to sew it, but my friend has a sewing machine and she's much faster at it. I gave her my idea, the material Monster picked out, and she got it done in about 10 seconds. His name is one the back. He originally wanted it to say "Tooth Fairy" on the one side, but we couldn't find letters small enough. He settled for a picture of the Tooth Fairy instead. Sometimes I things just for me. I found a pin that suggested using hole reinforcements to do French tips. Didn't get around to it until just recently. I had my nails turquoise. The tips were chipping so I decided to try the reinforcements. The didn't turn out as well as I had hoped. In fact, I did my right had free handed and I think it turned out better than the left with the reinforcements. Practice makes perfect though, so I'll keep working at it. Another tip that I've been using and doing daily is using baking soda as facial scrub. It is leaving my skin super soft and almost flake free (I have very dry skin).
I tried a pan cleaner thing I found on Pinterest. It failed miserably. Maybe my pan is too far gone, but this did not work at all for me. With school starting back up in two week for Monster and 4 weeks for Sunshine, I'm hoping to get to more experiments. We shall see. Sunshine is working on the letter C. She made a Monarch caterpillar for the letter C. We looked it up on the computer and had a mini science lesson that went with our craft. Monster received a letter from the tooth fairy last night to help ease his worries about losing his tooth. Here's what it said: For a while now, I've been wanting to make waterproof windsocks with the kids. I finally got around to doing it today. Sunshine wasn't able to tie the plastic bag strips, but she helped by holding the plastic ring still for Monster to tie. It was super simple to make. Just take the lid of a plastic container (ours was Country Crock) and cut the center out. Take several plastic bags, five to be exact, cut off the bottoms and handles, lay flat and then cut into long strips. Tie plastic bag strips onto plastic ring. Add string with a loop to hang. Monster loved making this and Sunshine loves how it looks outside! I got this idea from here, but, adjusted it.
I found a recipe on Pinterest and really wanted to try it. It was for Lemon Brownies. I love lemon and thought these would be a great change from lemon bars. I decided to try out the recipe on the Bunco crowd. Not so good. Not very lemony. A couple of people asked me if there was almond in it, which there's not. There's a strange aftertaste. It's definitely different. It's not so horrible I would never eat it, but it's not so good that I will ever make it again.
Monster is above average in reading by at least two grade levels. This makes finding books for him a challenge. He's still at the age where he enjoys picture books, but he gets bored with them quickly because they are too easy for him. He loves Magic Tree House, Magic School Bus, and Flat Stanley books, but I want to give him more variety. When I came across this list on Pinterest, I was, of course, excited and intrigued. I repinned it, and left it for when I could look at it more closely. I finally got a chance to do that today. I was extremely disappointed. First, more than half the books aren't quality books. They are books that I would deem inappropriate for any child, let alone younger kids. Yes, they might be "funny" for boys, but they're teaching bad manners and lessons. Then there are the superhero books. These would be fine for a lot of boys, but Monster isn't into superheros. There are some good baseball books on this list, which Monster would be interested in, for a moment, but he's not that into baseball either. The bigger problem though is that the books on his reading level are inappropriate for his age content wise.
I guess I'm going to to have to come up with my own list. A list for gifted readers. I plan on introducing the Boxcar Children series next. Encyclopedia Brown is also good, but just a bit above his comprehension because of the content, but he'll be there soon. He currently reads those to Daddy and then Daddy helps explain parts he doesn't understand. It's great one on one time for them. So, my mission for the summer is to compile a list of appropriate books. Wish me luck and PLEASE offer up suggestions! This month has been a bit more hectic than I had anticipated. With Husband being away, school ending, camps going on, swimming, soccer, baseball, and all the other things, I haven't gotten around to posting the fun stuff we've been doing. It hasn't been all work and no play here at the Rock household. Here, we like to combine work with play! We took a different approach to mopping the floor. This way was more fun, and just as effective. Puppy did not like us running and sliding around the floor though. Sunshine is working on letter recognition. I'm trying to make it fun for her. This is her 'A is for Alligator'. Her friend was over and he made one, too. Can you guess which color A is Sunshine's? Learning is fun in this house. Monster and I are doing an evaporation experiment that recreates drought vs. 'normal' weather conditions. We have two containers that started with the same amount of water. One container we leave and don't touch the water. That is our drought water. The other container, we add several drops of water to a night, not much, just enough so that it's getting a bit of water. The goal is to see what happens. Monster already knows, but he's having fun anyway.
We can't leave Sunshine out of science fun. During playgroup,the plan was to make bouncy balls. So glad I decided to test it before having the kids do it. It didn't work. We'll try it again, but, since I followed directions perfectly, I'm not holding my breathe. On deck? Painting with water, windsocks, jet packs, more letter crafts, making a tutu, outside mats, whining jars, and chip clip card holders. Can't wait to see all the results! Pretty much from birth, my children have listened to and sang Yellow Submarine by the Beatles. So when I saw this on Pinterest, I knew had to make them. After all, we all live in a yellow submarine...or in Sunshine's case, a purple one! And for those of you who don't know the song, here it is.
Holiday weekends are always insane around here. Often times, we need at least one more day off to recover from our day off. This weekend was no exception. Memorial Day weekend is always a little bit more crazy around here since Monster's birthday falls right around, or on, it. Our weekend started out with Monster having an ear infection. Five years ago, the same thing happened. Not a great start to the weekend, but Monster is tough and, other than his hearing, was feeling fine by Friday afternoon, sort of. Nothing says, "Happy Birthday", like throwing up your dinner. Monster was not about to let a little puke get in the way of a cake pop though. After tossing his cookies, he showered, brushed his teeth, came back down, and devoured more macaroni and cheese and a cake pop. Saturday, I spent the day with my mom. After soccer that is. I love starting out my Saturday mornings with Sunshine's soccer. It is so much fun watching her and the other little kids out there. When soccer was over, I headed up to my parents' house to help out my mom for the day. Even though my dad is a huge help, there are just some things that need a little more patience. Like shopping. We spent the majority of the day at Sam's Club, the Hallmark store and Miles Farmer's Market. It was so much fun! I love taking time and shopping with just my mom. Reminds me of when I was young. She was wiped out and I was pumped up by the end. We accomplished a lot. I like that I was able to do something to help her out. Can't wait until we plan our next day out! Sunday was A Day Out with Thomas. We went last year as well and the kids loved it! This year, we learned from out mistakes last year. We did tattoos very first thing, because that's what the kids were most interested in. Then, we got to the bounce houses before everyone else. From there, we got pictures done before a line formed. Then it was time for our ride! Sunshine said, "Dat was super fun. Can we ride on Thomas again?" After our train ride, we listened to Thomas stories, colored Thomas pictures, and played with Thomas legos. Everything other than the ride is free of charge. I highly recommend it if your child is a Thomas fan! After Thomas, we went out to lunch at Subway. This is the first time Sunshine has ever eaten there. Apparently, if we need fast food, this is the place to go. Monster and Sunshine both ate more than Husband and I. No kids meals for my kids. They get the 6" subs! During nap time, we decided to move the computer desk. That required cutting all the zip ties that held all the cords together. Monster loved helping. He especially loved that there was a Children's Dictionary that we took off the desk to move it. He's been reading the dictionary on stop since. We had a tiny bit of down time after rearranging furniture before Grandpa came over. The kids love hanging out with Grandpa. We made pizzas for everyone and watched a little Jack Hanna. Monday was crazy catch up, do nothing, do everything day. Kids slept in, which was awesome. I got on making up some Chore Cards. I saw this on Pinterest and thought it was a great idea. Problem was, I didn't actually LOOK at the pin until I was ready to use it. It was an Etsy pin and the pdf for the cards cost $6! Ridiculous! I knew I could make my own. I did two different cards. Not sure which one I like better, but here they are, for free. Chore card 1...it's bigger than business card size, about 2 business cards put together. Kind of like that about it. Chore card 2...used a free business card template on Google Docs. Like this one because there are more per page. Basically, what the idea is that for each chore, the kids get a hole punch. Once their cards are filled, they get something. In our case, it's 10 cents (my kids are still young enough I can get away with 15 chores for a dime). Then we can go to Ritzman Pharmacy and get a sucker or candy. They still have candy for a penny there! After making up chore cards and hanging out with the family, marathon laundry started. Kids played outside. Husband cleaned the garage. It actually went very smoothly. Went to Home Depot in there also. After lunch, both kids fell asleep! When everyone got up from naps, we played outside more and did more laundry. Grandpa came over again, too. Kids taught him how to play Mille Bornes. We cooked out....after all, it was Memorial Day! Before dinner, I was testing Monster's hearing, which had been off since the night before we found out he had an ear infection. I happened to ask, "Do you want ice cream?" Well, he heard, and so did Sunshine. Because of this, after dinner, they both expected ice cream. On the spot, I happened to remember seeing a "recipe" for homemade ice cream in a bag, in 5 minutes. Did a quick search for it and found it. Because I'm a crazy coffee drinker, I happened to have half and half, which is the main ingredient. The kids loved it and it was so simple. I found it on the Family Fun website. Here's the "recipe".
1 c. half and half 2 TBS sugar 1/2 tsp vanilla extract Pour ingredients into a pint size (I only had quart) Ziploc bag and seal. In one gallon Ziploc bag, use 1/2 c. Kosher salt and fill half way with ice. Place cream bag into bag with ice. Shake for about 5 minutes, checking to see when cream turns solid. Note to beginners. The gallon bag will leak from all the shaking. Don't do what I did and shake it over your nice hardwood floors. That gets salt water everywhere. Also, don't set the bag down on your oak kitchen table. Same thing. Next time, I'll either shake over the sink or on the porch, not walking around the house. However, it was a good reason to mop my floors. After the kids were in bed and Grandpa left to head back to Illinois, Husband and I cleaned the basement. I love cleaning the basement. I just love cleaning. It looks so nice down there now. All that's left to do is vacuum, which I'm headed to do as soon as I finish typing this. All in all, it was a crazy, busy, fun weekend. Makes me look forward to summer with the kids! Now if we just set up our pool, we'll be set! |
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