Monday, October 11, 2010

bits & pieces: october 11, 2010

Playful Pumpkins
These are too cute!!! Use your left over fabric to sew up some cute little pumpkins to decorate for autumn/fall.

Dress Shirt To Apron Tutorial
While these are mostly for little kids, check out the link and BEAUTIFUL apron at the END of the post for a most cute one for Mommy! :D

Games!
A list of great games for you and hubby!

Hell's Best Kept Secret
I had never thought about evangelizing this way before. I did not read the article, but just watched the movie. It is about half way down.

Monday, October 4, 2010

bits & pieces: october 4, 2010

Apron from Tablecloth Tutorial
This is the MOST ADORABLE thing I have seen. And now a use for those round tablecloths with all these square tables we have in our house! :D

Obsessively Stitching
Isn't that a cute name for a blog?? Check out all the free tutorials on this site! :D

Progress
Check out how she organized her sewing room! SO CUTE! And so practical! I need to do this! Maybe THEN I would start sewing more! :D I really need to sew more!

Old Days Old Ways
Oh I just LOVE the name of this blog!

Tent Week
Different tents you can make for SO CHEAP! I think my favs are the ones made from twin sheets! SO GLAD I saved some of those now! I was going to use them for making night dresses out of for the girls, but these look so much more FUN!! :D

bits & pieces: october 4, 2010

Apron from Tablecloth Tutorial
This is the MOST ADORABLE thing I have seen. And now a use for those round tablecloths with all these square tables we have in our house! :D

Obsessively Stitching
Isn't that a cute name for a blog?? Check out all the free tutorials on this site! :D

Progress
Check out how she organized her sewing room! SO CUTE! And so practical! I need to do this! Maybe THEN I would start sewing more! :D I really need to sew more!

Old Days Old Ways
Oh I just LOVE the name of this blog!

Tent Week
Different tents you can make for SO CHEAP! I think my favs are the ones made from twin sheets! SO GLAD I saved some of those now! I was going to use them for making night dresses out of for the girls, but these look so much more FUN!! :D

Monday, September 13, 2010

bits & pieces: september 13, 2010

Dill PIckles
I have always wanted to try my hand at these and the picture on this post made me choose THIS recipe first! :D

Caramel Sauce
I don't think this would harden enough on an apple (although who knows) BUT why not make this into a fondue?!?! Dip into the caramel and then dip into a topping of choice (chocolate chips, sprinkles, etc.). Of course the toppings would defeat the fact that the recipe is actually a HEALTHY version of Caramel Sauce! :D

Creamsicles
Oh this looks so good!!! :D :D :D What a fun breakfast! :D

Anti-Flammartory Seasonings
Seasonings to use when cooking to help reduce inflammation! :D

Poultry Dry Brine
We have never done a dry brine before (we always do it the Alton Brown way!) but this looks like a good alternative if you don't have days ahead to brine. I know Thanksgiving is a ways off, but I am sticking this in my REMEMBER ME folder! :D

Monday, August 23, 2010

bits & pieces: august 23, 2010

20 Things to do This Summer
GREAT list of fun activities. One which we just picked up - geocaching!! :D

Be Out There
I learned about this site via Simple Modern Mom and had to share it. Some GREAT ideas!

A Challenge That Will Make You...
LAUGH! And I did when I read this. Why? Because I was JUST talking to a Created book study group I am a part of about the importance of laughing with your spouse. :D My favorite times are in bed with my husband after the lights are out and the kids are sleeping and we are both delirious from lack of sleep and EVERY THING seems so funny. We laugh and laugh literally for hours. It is GREAT! Like super glue that bonds us together. :D

Gardens at Dusk Tank Tutorial
This is so beautiful and elegant!

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

odds & ends: geocaching

We have discovered the WONDERFUL world of geocaching!

This is a GREAT way to get out of the house and hike without the kids (or even yourself) thinking of it as exercise.


Instead, it is a treasure hunt!



It has been a GREAT way to get out and enjoy this BEAUTIFUL creation God has entrusted us to.

In fact, through geocaching, I have come across sites I never would have known was there or seen before - I was missing out. Truly BEAUTIFUL and scenic views!


And it is a great time to get to spend time with the kids. Yes, we spend time together all the time because of homeschooling, but the kids get to show a bit more of their personality when geocaching: what they decide to take and leave, how they help each other during slippery rocks on the trail, etc.

And as you can see by the picture above, no one is too young! JJ is 4yr old in that picture. He took the spaceship (you can see it in the picture with the cache - there was a jumprope and lots of other fun little toys/trinkets for kids) and left some gold doubloons (it was a pirate themed cache).

Here is a great little link I came across talking about great and inexpensive "swag" ideas - ideas to trade in the caches.

Monday, July 26, 2010

bits & pieces: july 26, 2010

Lavander Lemonade
This picture is SO beautiful, it is worth visiting the blog alone. :D

Inflation
OK, so this is a bit depressing, but inflation is coming and we do need to be prepared.

A Practical Guide to Owning Fewer Clothes HT: The One in Pink

The One in Pink
I came across this blog through her husband's blog after discovering his videos - which my kids LOVE - watch the earlier videos, the later videos have a dark side (guns and suicide and shootings and just are not kid friendly), but his earlier stuff is hilarious and had my kids laughing for hours ... sorry for the rabbit trail. ANYWAYS, this blog is so pretty and feel good! She is on the same food/health journey I am, we have some of the same taste in clothes, and the pictures on her blog are so pretty!! :D :D :D

"You don't have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body."— C.S. Lewis

Friday, July 23, 2010

odds & ends: Taming the Laundry Monster

Most homeschooling moms have one - a mountain of laundry that never gets done. Or once it finally DOES get done, you have another mountain of clean clothes waiting to be put away. It is overwhelming, and so it continue to be put off and put off until mom (or dad) can't stand it any longer.

I have tried SO MANY things (too numerous to share here, but if you really want to waste your time, you can search my blog in the upper left hand corner there is a search box that searches only this blog).

But each time it was the same thing. MOM would do the laundry when she found the time ... which was hardly ever. And then once done, it would sit in baskets waiting for someone to sort out whose clothes were which child's, and then it would sit in piles on the floor or on their bed until they got the notion to do finally put away their clothes.

But no longer! I finally have a system that works. Now I know I have said stuff like that in the past, and I have shared and posted and those things worked GREAT ... for like a week.

But THIS TIME ... this time I tested it for a full two weeks before sharing to make sure that this was a keeper.

I recently heard Sheeley Noonan speak at our homeschool conference. She shared about how she (only having one daughter, not three like I do) would give her daughter one day to do her laundry (that meant wash, dry, fold, hang, etc.). I thought it couldn't hurt to try it.

So I ran through the house and dug out all those individual laundry baskets I had bought for each child a long time ago when we were trying another laundry system (which failed). I assigned each child a day to do their laundry. And you know what, it is getting done!!

I showed each child how to measure out the soap and what settings to use and off they went! :D And because laundry is getting done more frequently, they have less clothes at a time to put away, so they do not become overwhelmed with three months of laundry, just one weeks worth! :D

And as for the four year old, yeah, he does his own laundry too. Big sister helps him with the soap, but he sorts and puts in the clothes and switches them when it is time. She helps him put away his clothes too, but he does most of it.

This is so great!! I am so thankful I took a chance on this! Let me know if you try it out, and what works for you! :D

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

I'M BAAAAACK....

I have been too addicted to Facebook and have neglected my blog. This has made it difficult for me to remember what thins I have seen and want to remember (the main reason I started this blog was to keep track of what I liked and wanted to remember to do with the kids, and share in case anyone else was interested). Anyways, I am trying to wean myself off FB and post more on my blog.

So we will see how it goes. :D I think I just need to get over the fact that no one is interested and remember that this is mostly for me and the wondering searcher who might come across my blog searching for something ... whatever that might be.