Think... Another new thing in our house AND it is working in UnexpectedWays!!

I have heard this acronym over the years.  But several months ago, it was revisited in our house. 

Before that even happened, last summer became the summer of "stop and think." 

Kids were doing crazy, reckless things and oopsie daisies were happening and I thought I was going to go bald from pulling my hair out before I ever turned gray!

A kiddo, a dear sweet lady and I visited about this months ago...it was like aha light bulbs went off.  Life was good.  Then fast forward and some of my kids hit new stages in personalities, quirks and behaviors.  The kind that can blind side a mother and she has NO. IDEA. HOW. TO. RESPOND.  It is wrong, but how to explain it?  How to teach something different?  Some concepts are big and vague and hard to explain to kids.  Hard for adults to discuss, there is just a knowing. 

So visiting with this dear sweet lady and she remembers "THINK" from our months ago conversation.  HUGE LIGHT BULB moment.  LIFE. HAS. NOT. BEEN. THE. SAME. in a very good way. 

All the kids have been taught it.  When there is an annoyance, we just say "Think."  Sometimes, it is pretty easy to figure out, but other times it takes some thinking. 

Is it True? is pretty clear cut. 

Is it Helpful?  or sometimes Is it Honest?  There is a difference between True and Honest sometimes.

Is it Inspired? but that can be difficult for a kid to grasp the concept of so we added Is it Important? 

One of our issues is correcting a slip of the tongue..is it really important to address every little slip?  Does it derail the flow of things?  Which leads into...

Is it Necessary?  Maybe it is True, maybe at times it could be Helpful, and Important but is it Necessary?  In our case, sometimes it is a distraction, slows progress down, just don't need to go there right now.

Is it Kind?  How is it making the other person feel?  All those other questions come into play as well...distracting? slowing things down?  preventing things from happening?  Frustrating someone else while doing all the above? In this case, how can we do/say this and be kind?

Loving it !!! 

Only a few eye rolls have happened so far. 

Favorite Things...Vinegar

Vinegar. 
I rediscovered vinegar when The Man was diagnosed with an egg allergy.
We had to start keeping vinegar on hand to make a substitution mixture for eggs when baking.
It works.
Then he grew out of the allergy, and now I forget about this little trick for egg substitutions.  If only there was a trick to remind me when I run out of eggs so I don't have to run to the neighbor's house to beg for eggs. 
Once vinegar was in the house, I started to experiment a bit with it. 
I love it in my laundry.
My Sis-in-law told me she used it as fabric softner.
It works.  Put it in the rinse cycle.
When I use vinegar as fabric softner I get a bonus out of the deal...my clothes don't fade.
If you ever do a dying project at home, they always recommend a run through the washer with vinegar at least once to set the colors. 
Well vinegar will do that for your clothes. 
My daughter was the first to notice.  Cause she gets those t-shirts for this or that and they have to been worn every week.  Well hers wasn't fading like her friends.  Vinegar. 
It is, also, a disinfectant.  Sick kids/family.  Colored sheets?  Colored towels? Colored PJs?  Want to disinfect all this and whatever else the germy family has drooled and snotted all over.  Bet you don't want to use bleach on all of it.  Well vinegar won't hurt the color or fabric.  If I am feeling real germ-a-phobic, I will put it in the wash cycle and the rinse cycle. 
There are lots of recipes out there for window cleaners, multipurpose cleaners... I haven't gone there yet. 
Maybe one day, I will take a moment and give some of the other possibilities a try. 

Essential oils ~ Essential reference

So I really love, love this book !



I like instructions.  I like guidelines.  I am learning to cope a little better without them.  I am growing in this area of my life.  But please, oh please, don't hand me a blank piece of paper and tell me to draw.  I want you to tell me a theme, a concept, something, anything, just so I "won't get it wrong!"  So when I entered the arena of essential oils, there are these little bottles filled with this wonderous and amazing liquid but no "instructions". This little books is great!  It has ideas.  It has research data.  It has all sorts of really awesome information.  Reflex/Vita Flex point charts.  Massage instructions.  Bible references.  Charts. Graphs.  Historical data.  I love this little book.  My older kiddos do to, especially Fun Girl.

It is an expensive book, but well worth the investment.  It is available in app form.  But as of right now, I really like having something in my hands.  It brings me joy to see my kids looking up things and showing an interest in reading and researching something on their own.  If I had the app, well they might want my phone at really inconvenient times.   




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Different kind of school...

Lots of snow a couple of weeks ago. Add a mom that is suppose to be resting and having speech issues, the kids get to pursue their personal interests. Little Princess needed a hat to cover her ears while playing in the snow. So she whipped up this beauty! I was tickled to walk into my room to see her waiting for me. She wanted to know what I thought of the flower before she secured it onto the hat more permanently. BEAUTIFUL!

Duck, Duck, Goose....and many blessings around

Still Counting the things that bring me joy and gifts from God.  In January, the kitchen at church was being cleaned out.  A whole bunch of expired bread was going to be thrown out.  I knew I had a busy day the next day with some lag time in between appointments, but not enough time to do anything productive.  I volunteered to share the bread with the local birds.  I have a favorite spot at Sedgwick County Park on the north end, it is full of these ladies and gentlemen.  One of my favorite things to do with the kids over the years.  Haven't done it for several years. The weather was beautiful.  Something therapeutic about being outside and watching and experiencing God's creation.  Thank you GB for sharing the bread with us.  We had a great time. 
1067.

 

Hockey Player preferred his spot in the van. 

Dad's Bud found a quiet spot to himself and the birds.

Cooking Lessons and Trades

I have been out of commission for almost 2 months now.  Though to be honest I have not done a whole lot of cooking for over a year now.  Thanks to hubby's job and the shifts he works....well I tend to teach school and work on any number of things around here (at least till the car accident) and someone else takes on the job of food prep.  One of the tasks that would normally fall on me, but can be delegated else where.  I had to let go of somethings, and well I was comfortable with this one.  I prayed for husband that could cook.  I got one!  I also got a husband that has the patience of saint in the kitchen and he doesn't get flustered by kids and he teaches them well.  Lately, my older two are proficient in the kitchen and I teach by giving them verbal instructions or an older shows a younger. 

This particular day we needed a chicken cooked.  Fun Girl just grosses out over whole chickens.  I do remember being a teenager girl and freaking out about them as well.  Except, my dad wanted me to chop it up and fry it.  That went over like a ton of bricks much to my Dad's frustration.  My kids have it easy.  Just rinse the bird out, make sure nothing is inside, put it in the cookware.

Well the commotion in the kitchen was absolutely crazy.  Fun Girl is offering to clean the kitchen.  (She despises this chore, only slightly less than laundry!)  Will Hockey Player please prep the chicken??  He doesn't know how.  Fun Girl offers to tell him what to do, standing over his shoulder she gives instructions.  Little Princess runs for my phone to take pictures.  There were like 20 plus pictures on my phone when all was done and over. 

 

Dinner was perfect!

Favorite Things....Whole Chickens

Thanks to my sister early on in my mothering years, I discovered whole chickens.

Can't say I started cooking them right away.

I think I waited till child number 3 was a year or two old.

Before that, well, I had all the time in the world.

I just didn't know it!

Why do I love whole chickens??

They are super versatile.

Put in the oven at 350 for a couple of hours.

Put in the crock pot all day.

Put in a pot and boil on top of the stove.

 

All are ways to cook and forget about for a time.

 

You can pick the/carve the meat and serve as part of your meal.

You can use for making enchiladas.

You can use for making soup.

The possibilities are endless.

Depending on the size of your family, you can get 2 to 3 (or more) meals out of one whole chicken.

You can even freeze it, just like you would turkey and use it later.

The great part is, you can start the cooking, leave it and go about your day.

Talk about multi-tasking.

I like these menu plan ideas.

 

We often have a meal with it.

The leftovers are made into a soup.

If I am industrious enough, I will use the juices/broth for the soup.

Just depends on my time and energy for the day. 

Now a days, I am lucky to have enough for soup later.

 

It is the most economical way to have chicken for dinner in my family!

Way to Go Aunt Tracy and Uncle Charlie!

See this smile.

You put it on Dad's Bud face!

 

 

Paint with Water by Melissa and Doug

 

This is the coolest thing ever.

Water Color pages with paint included on the page.

This isn't the dip your water in brush and paint with water and watch the color appear.

Each individual page has a water color strip to use. 

Trim off the top of the page.

Cup of water with the paint brush included.

Paint away.

So perfect here in the hospital.

No mixing the paint colors and ruining the box.  When done, toss the strip.

I can see myself getting more for:

 athletic trips to keep the youngers occuppied while they wait

gifts for younger cousins

and just to have at home,

cause I so don't like cleaning up the water color boxes!

 

 

 

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Favorite Things....Ebates

In my inbox today was one of my favorite emails...
"Your big fat payment from Ebates"
I love rebates and money in my pocket that didn't take more energy from me other than what I expend already. 
Ebates is one of those awesome resources. 
Shopping on line.
Stop first at Ebates.
Sometimes you will find codes for deals for your store...BONUS!
Find your online store/website on their site and click on the link. 
They open the shopping window. 
You shop.  You pay and close the deal.  Ebates takes note and processes your r"Ebate" payment for you. 
They pay out 4 times a year. 
Who doesn't like a BIG FAT PAYMENT, especially one that doesn't require you to copy the receipt, clip the UPC code, fill out the form and pop it all in the mail box. 

Favorite Things....Recycle Bank

Recyclebank is..........
Awesome, great, best thing since sliced bread....well maybe I wouldn't go that far.
But pretty terrific.  And definitely one of my favorite tools these days. 

I wouldn't say I am a tree hugger. 
I don't get all crazy if I see recyclables in the dumpster, BUT I do like to do my part.
When God put Adam and Eve in the garden they were instructed to care for it.
I just see recycling as my part of being a good steward of God's Creation. 

So, after we were married and had child #1 aka Fun Girl, maybe after child #2 aka Hockey Player I started wanting to recycle more.  We did the aluminum cans.  (Hello--Money there!! and the kids were all over the change and so was I).  I started saving newspapers and dropping them off at the local grocery store. 

Hubby wasn't a big fan of having "trash" around. 
I bought trash cans to sort.
Not really buying it.

Child #3 aka Little Princess entered the world.

SHE. DID. NOT. LIKE. sleeping in her bed. 

Forget about napping there.

She liked the sling. 

She liked touching me. 

She liked being near me. 

She was a Momma's girl! 

Ahhhh, how sweet.  How wonderful....
Yeah, but every once in a while it is nice to NOT BE TOUCHED! 
The only other place she was willing to nap was in the car seat in a moving vehicle!

So I started brain storming.  I was all past the first - second child we gonna do this by the book to get her to sleep in her bed.  It was survival.  It was what ever will work for the now planning time.

So I created a schedule. 
A schedule of activities that needed/could be needed to be done every week. 
Each activity was assigned a day.

Do you see where I am going with this??
We went for a daily drive every day during nap time.  Oh yeah!!
Once a week we went to the library that had a drive through and on the way was the local recycling facility.  Oh yeah!!
How could Hubby complain about recycling that was dumped every week? ! ?
Hockey Player and Fun Girl would help to dump the containers, that is if they hadn't fallen asleep. 

If they were still awake, then we might stop at the park before going home.   It was amazing during that time period, how many errands I could come up with that required me to be out every day.  Of course, that was before the gas prices went up.  We won't discuss how un-ecological I was to be out driving every day of the week.  Because the choice was to save gas or sanity. 

Sanity won out!

Then Little Princess grew a bit more and the daily napping trips were no more.
By then I was recycling and Hubby was not impressed. 
Somewhere in there I had to give up my weekly trip to the library with a drive thru.  That is such an amazing perk for a library to have if you have nappers in the car.  With this trip gone, I had no where to drop off my recycling.  I couldn't justify the gas anymore.
Sad sigh!

The recycling stopped. 
Couple more kids added... #4 and #5 and I am thinking we are going to have to get a second dumpster.  A notice comes in the paper.  A new trial service is being offered through our trash company. 
RECYCLEBANK !
The best part, they supply the container.
No wait, the really BEST Part:
NO SORTING
Yep you read that right. 
NO SORTING!
You just toss all your recycling in the bin. 
Amazing.
No bins, no pile up.
How could Hubby refuse?
He humored me.
I signed up. 
Initially it was like $4 a month.
Points are earned based on weight.
Points are cashed in for rewards...coupons, gift cards, ecards
That first year, I pulled in rewards worth more than we spent!
Hubby was sold.
Of course, the first year on deals like that are pretty awesome. 
But honestly, I still pull out some pretty good rewards each year. 
Now, I accumulate gift cards to use for just that gifts. 
Hello Christmas shopping without the shopping.

As time has passed, they have, also, opened up their site to those who don't use them for curb side recycling.  You can download apps and track your own recycling and earn points.  There are educational opportunities, videos and activities that may be completed to earn additional points.  This has been helpful when trying to teach my children about the various environmental actions they can take to be more Eco-minded.  I want my kids to recycle.  But I, also, want them to take note that turning off the water and lights when not in use are important actions as well.  They enjoy the games, activities, as do I, and they definitely enjoy the benefits of the rewards it brings home.   For Dad's Bud last year, he needed to complete some environmental tasks for his Cub Scouts awards. It was great to sit down with him at the computer and take him through various videos and tutorials about Recycle Bank itself and ways we could care for our planet and environment and all from the comfort of our home.  No running the car across town to ask questions. 

Favorite things....Swagbucks

Favorite Things Tuesdays. 

With the Holidays approaching, I am appreciating my Swagbucks even more. 

How do you search the internet? Google?  Bing? 

Switchover to Swagbucks and start earning..well, Swagbucks.

What do you do with Swagbucks?

You can redeem them for all sorts of prizes.

My favorites:
Gift card codes for Amazon
Gift cards for Starbucks
and cash in my Paypal account.

I stash the gift cards, for gifts of course! 

And it is super cool to need to order something on Amazon and have part if not all of it paid for by banking the gift codes for Amazon.  Those unexpected expenses all taken care of, Thank you Lord!

And well, I like getting extra cash, (in Paypal) just for doing what I am doing anyhow. 

It is easy to do.

You can load the tool bar and search from there.

I occassionally do the polls for an extra swagbuck. 

I print coupons from their site and earn points when I redeem the coupons.

There are referral perks as well.

When someone you refer signs up through your link, you earn swagbucks when they earn swagbucks.
Up to 1000 Swagbucks per referral!

Talk about earning those gift cards even faster!

If you are thinking you just might need to give this a try, please consider signing up under my referral link or by clicking Sign up on the widget on the right side of my blog!

Happy Searching and Earning!

Favorite Things.....Crock Pot

I love! love! love! my crockpot.  Especially on days like today.  If you will notice this post didn't happen yesterday on Tuesday.  We wrapped up last week with a last minute run to immediate care on Friday.  All to discover Dad's Bud had pneumonia.  Not just pneumonia, but the kind that causes the doctor to say we caught it just in time and I am not going to send him to the hospital.  AIY!!  Entrusted with Dad, I headed out of town.  Back into town late Sunday.  School on Monday and so the week has gone.  I was gone much of yesterday afternoon.  Home in time to make dinner. Chili........  While driving I had called Fun Girl and asked her to pull meat out of the freezer for the next 3 days.  Cause that is the kind of week we are going to have and dinner out is not an option.  While chopping bell peppers, onions and crushing garlic for the chili, I do a bit more for a roast.  The roast is still frozen but no worries.  Into the crockpot with the seasonings.  Couple of boullion cubes, red vinegar wine and Worchester sauce and water.  Pop the lid on and stick in the fridge.  As I am sluggish in the morning and trying to teach... I remember dinner.  Sooo as I read aloud, Fun Girl pulls out the crock and puts it in the base and starts that bad boy up.  Dinner in the works.  Normally, I add potatoes and carrots.  I ran out of time last night.  Tonight we will bake potatoes in the microwave and steam some carrots for the braces challenged children and the rest of us, we will crunch away.  I used to have two crock pots.  One base broke. SO now I have two crocks.  It is not uncommon for me to start a dinner up to stick in the fridge while one is cooking.  Cause, that is how we do it around here.  Whatever works, Right? 
Favorite crock pot meals:
Chili
Ham and beans
Lasagna
Chicken thighs
Soup/Stew
Roast
Whole chickens
Meat loaf
Rouladon Beef + various veggies I cook it in to make steak and rice (for another day)

(picture by Fun Girl)

 

 

Favorite Crock Pot recipe book (other than the internet, of course)

Mable Hoffman's Crockery Cookery

I don't normally buy cookbooks.  This one though, had several recipes in it that I knew would please my family and used ingredients I keep on hand.  So it has been used quite a bit over the years. 

 







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Favorite Things...Dishwasher

I have a maid in my home, that almost never was.
I grew up as the dishwasher. 
I remember fighting with my sister over doing the dishes. 
I remember her growing up and moving away and being alone at the kitchen sink.
When I grew up and away myself, I still didn't have a "mechanical" dishwasher.
I was the automatic dishwasher and sometimes not so automatic.
Married, our first apartment did not have a dishwasher. 
Doing dishes, was definitely less a chore, with a hubby beside me sharing the job.
Sometimes, I would wash and sing and he would join me. 
Sometimes, I would hear him in the kitchen singing and washing...
Something that doesn't seem to happen so often with a dishwasher.  It is done and over so quick.  While being forced to pause at the sink and focus on the task at hand.  How it would quiet me. 
Sometimes, I wash by hand now, just for the time of quietness.

The day came we welcomed Fun Girl into our home.
All the baby gear started to make the apartment feel cramped.
So Daddy O and I started home shopping. 
Unable to find a 3 bedroom on the same floor, we looked into new construction. 
New construction comes with all sorts of hidden expenses.
First up was picking the appliances.
Dishes had never bothered me, but cleaning stoves always has. 
I discovered smooth top stoves and fell in love.

I did the math and asked hubby if I could have the smooth top and in exchange we wouldn't get a dishwasher.  I had done dishes by hand my whole life and it was no big deal.  My mother was dumbfounded.  In shock and exclaimed, "You didn't!"  Fortunately, my mother didn't have any heart problems and hubby declined my offer. 
Instead he granted me the smooth top stove, and insisted on a dishwasher.  I still didn't get why having a dishwasher was all that important. You see, I still had a lot of time on my hands and just didn't know any better. 
Well a lot has changed over the last 16 years.
If my dishwasher broke down tonight, all would be well.
We would manage.
My kids might think the earth would swallow them whole, but they would survive.

My dishwasher runs 2-3 times a day.  We are talking 7 people 3 meals a day!
 
But it doesn't just wash dishes.
Over the years, it has sanitized:
 tooth brushes
baby bath toys....this is a blessing like none other!!
baby toys in general ....same thing....nothing like disinfecting toys while napping with the babies!
brushes and combs
sink stoppers and pampered chef scrapers
science lab equipment
and sometimes...you just don't know what you will find when you open the door!

My dishwasher has enabled me to enlist my children in the dish washing earlier than planned.
When they are too little to reach the faucet, they are still big enough to put plastic ware away.  They are still big enough to put silver ware away.  They are big enough to hand me the glasses and plates.  All at the same time helping, and learning that a family works together and plays together.

Favorite Things....Baking Soda!

Kids walked in on me tonight.
As did the hubby.
They always seem to know I am in the bathroom.
Fortunately, I was dressed.
The floor was covered in Baking Soda.
This led to a lot of questions..
From the Dad: "Why? and where did you learn all of this?"
Cause it is non-abrasive and it works really well at cleaning up the hair goo residue off the floor.
And well, I had it in there to clean my hair with and so I had no more excuses to why I couldn't work on cleaning the floor.
This led to more questions.
Baking Soda is really good as a clarifier for your hair.  It removes hair goo residue. I think it helps with the chlorine from my swimming.  Deep from the recesses of my brain I say something akin to intelligence and scientific about the bonding capabilities of sodium with other elements like chlorine and forming salts, etc. 

Little Princess responds with: "Oh, okay.  Well the floor looks better.  Still a little dirty, but better. "
Yes, I know. But I am tired and ready for bed.  Maybe tomorrow.

Anyhow, one day I was reading the bottle of clarifying shampoo and noticed most of the ingredients were sodium based and remembered my chemistry class days.  I knew baking soda worked well at removing hair product build up. So far, it seems to be working pretty well with the chlorine from swimming.  I have done some research online and found a few sources that suggest baking soda as well, so there you go!  As a paste, baking soda does a really good job at cleaning hard stuff like the product goo off my bathroom floors.  I like it in the laundry, too.  It it really successful at getting some of the yuckiest odors out of my kiddos' clothes.  You can find it here on Amazon.


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A new goal....Favorite Things

Just because I get asked about this and that.  Just because this blog is for my kiddos.
(...and communicating with friends and family) 
Just because I have a neice embarking into the realm of parenting....
I am going to try and make Tuesdays, "My favorite things" day. 
Some will be current favorites.  Others will be favorites in seasons past.  Favorites none the less. 
Favorites that have helped me through seasons.  They helped me keep my sanity. 
They were time savers. Effiency helpers.
Teaching helpers and so much more.