OurPumpkinPatchFiled under: Building from Scratch, Chores, Cooking, Family Activities, Family Dynamics, Hearth and Home, Homesteading, Kid Friendly Cooking <3 | Tags: cooking, kids, Kitchen helper tower, special needs
I did a blog post a while back about ways to let your kids help in the kitchen, noting that some younger or special needs children may benefit from using a kitchen helper tower. I had wanted one for my kids for SO long, but could NOT justify spending the $200 most catalogs had them priced for. A friend showed me a website (that she was using to build cube shelving units for her living room) and I came across a free building plan for a Kitchen Helper Tower. And guess what! The materials only cost….wait for it….$20. I was SHOCKED to say the least. This tower is super cute and easy to make. We will be making (at least) one for our kids! The link to the plans is
I hope you all enjoy this and find it useful! Have a wonderful week!
Think back to the days when our grandmothers and great-grandmothers were young. When they managed a household, it was common to see hot meals on the table and the house clean. They weren’t just better housekeepers than most of us modern mamas…they had a secret! Their secret was a Homemaker’s Notebook, also known as a Control Journal or Mother’s Helper Book, Homemaker’s Binder, or Home Journal. This was just a binder where they put all of their essentials to running a household. Some things that were included might be:
- Daily chore lists (sometimes for each member of the family)
- Shopping lists
- Favorite family recipes
- Emergency information
- Family medical records
- Garden plans
- Recipes for Cleaners
Simply put, anyone who needed to run the household in the mother’s absence, should be able to look in the notebook and understand how everything works right down to the morning routine. It may seem trivial or too time consuming, but it is a “back to the basics” idea that definitely warrants revisiting.
I have started my Homemaker’s Notebook. So far, I’ve included morning, afternoon, and before bed routines, emergency contact and medical (doctor) information. These were suggestions that I got from http://www.flylady.net. There are many, many other things that can be added as you go. Each homemaker’s notebook should be as unique as the mother who made it. Take the idea and make it your own!
Filed under: Cleaning and Organization, Encouragement, Family Dynamics, Goals, Hearth and Home
Most of you don’t know a lot of my history. You don’t know how I grew up, the challenges I’ve faced in life and the obstacles I have overcome (some of which were all of my design, unfortunately). That’s to be expected. The internet comes with a certain modicum of anonymity. It’s one of the beautiful double-edged swords of life. I am about to give you guys a little insight into the reason for me bringing you along on my family’s journey.
Growing up, I lived in a house that was filled with hidden, often well-organized clutter. My mother, bless her, had seen hard times (and we still struggled to get by when I was growing up) and had decided that she needed to “stockpile” every possible little thing she could get her hands on. That did come in handy, don’t get me wrong, but more often than not we had a lot of stuff and not much space. My mother was an amazing woman, and a super organizer…but the small fact of the matter is that she was a pack rat, a borderline hoarder. When I inherited the house we are now residing in (2001), I was still in school. I moved in with my maternal grandparents until I graduated. I then moved to Virginia to live with my ex-husband, then went to the United States Air Force (medical discharge during basic training), and then after my divorce, resettled back in Texas. Nothing had been done about anything in the house.
When Jim Ed and I moved into the house, we moved into a full house…with enough household goods and clothes to stock 3 more houses. We each had things from our single days and from our previous marriages. Our issue has been that we don’t have any closets to put anything in. We have no cabinets either. The garage is full. It has been a constant stressor in our lives, but we had slowly been going through it all to get rid of a lot of the things that just weren’t important to us.
We have had some VERY rude, but arguably well-meaning family members try to coerce us, belittle us, and make us feel that we aren’t adequate for having to deal with this problem. The fact of the matter is, it was a problem before we moved in…and YES we should have just taken a trailer and packed it all out to the dump grounds before we moved in. We moved in rather quickly and without much of a thought to where we were going to put all of our things. That was OUR mistake.
Here’s where you guys come into the picture. I have a goal. I am going to get rid of all the things that have accumulated here over the years (from my mother and from people using this house for storage while it was unoccupied). I need you guys to ask me for updates…to keep me on top of it. My OCD really can’t take living in the clutter anymore. We’ve made GREAT strides, especially lately, but the fact of the matter is, there’s still a lot to go.
This is a repeat of a note I posted on Facebook, but I thought I would get my blogging started back up by posting it here (and adding the things that I forgot to put on the original list).
Since I don’t believe in New Year’s RESOLUTIONS because it’s such a finality (you either can or can’t do them…there’s no room for improvement and progress), I will be keeping a running list of goals for 2011. I will come back periodically and update them, so that you…my friends and readers, can celebrate my achievements with me and hopefully hold me accountable when I fail. So here goes:
1. To be completely on board and excel at our Dave Ramsey program.
2. To work at at least one craft show a month, starting in February.
*Expanded–To get my home business off the ground this year. My husband is behind me 100% and is constantly surprising me with new ideas and goals.
3. To plant a spring, late summer, and fall/winter garden.
4. To keep a container garden with salad greens and herbs, reusing an old swimming pool we had for the dogs.
5. To knit a pair of longies and a pair of shorties for Jacen.
6. To not let the negative people in my life affect my overall well-being and sense of self-worth. NOTE TO PEOPLE READING: THIS MEANS THAT IF YOU ARE A NEGATIVE FORCE IN MY LIFE, DO NOT EXPECT TO BE A PART OF IT FOR MUCH LONGER. I’M DONE!
7. To do at least one fun thing with each child (a one-on-one activity) once every 3 months.
8. To get all the kids up to their grade level in ALL academic subjects.
9. To make prickly pear jelly this summer.
10. To take at least one family trip in addition to the family reunion trip this summer.
11. To start back with my daily devotionals.
12. To read, as a family, 1 Proverb each day.
13. To get myself in a schedule for housework and chores.
14. To start a Homemaker’s Notebook.
15. To go through my mother’s things and get them out of the house, keeping only what I need.
UPDATE: So far, have sorted through 3 craft totes and almost completely cleaned out one closet in the master bedroom. From that, I have filled 3 boxes with garage sale stuff (priced and ready to sell) and one garbage bag full of clothes for the Jayton nursing home.
16. To have at least one garage sale this year.
17. To stop drinking so many sodas.
18. To sort through both the storage building we rent and our storage shed.
19. To bake bread on a regular basis, especially since we don’t buy bread products at the store.
20. To visit my Dad and Sheryll more often
21. To go completely back to cloth diapers and quit falling back on sposies.
Filed under: Family Activities, Family Dynamics, Learning, Yearlong Learning | Tags: children, family activities, unschooling
I believe that we (children and adults) learn constantly, if you open your eyes and truly observe your surroundings. In my family, we learn from everyday activities and even *gasp* on vacation. Here are a few ideas to turn your everyday into a wonderfully fun learning experience. You won’t even realize you’re learning! <3
◊ Take a nature walk scavenger hunt–these are super easy to organize. A good link for ideas (and ready-made hunts) is http://www.scavengerhuntsforkids.com/naturehunts.html
◊ Leaf rubbings
◊ Hiking at local or state parks. Many state parks have nature trails already marked. It’s a great way to introduce your children to local resources.
◊ Camping–You can do many, if not all the following activities: bird watching, fishing, identifying edible and poisonous plants, insect gathering, and practicing eco-stewardship.
◊ Explore local forts- There are MANY forts (at least here in Texas) that you can experience with a low-cost and high educational value.
**Always be respectful of rules. You should NEVER graffiti or dump trash at these places, and remember to avoid the use of flash photography if prohibited.
◊ Take advantage of local resources; explore your community. You never know what interesting things might be right around the corner from you.
◊ Museums, especially children’s make wonderful day trips.
◊ Festivals. There are lots of festivals, especially during the summer that are fun, folksy family affairs.
◊ Farmer’s markets, flea markets, and main street expos offer not only good shopping opportunities but you can teach your children the value of buying local, sustainable produce and other goods. It’s a great lifelong eco-lesson (not to mention you get to eat some great food at decent prices =) )
Filed under: Coming Soon!, Cooking, Hearth and Home, Kid Friendly Cooking <3 | Tags: Guest post
Kim–who was my mother’s best friend for her whole life, and who has always been a wonderful role model to me–will be a guest writer within the next couple of weeks. My “Aunt” Kim will be writing a follow-up piece to “Ways for Kids to Help Cook”, adding a new perspective and showing ways to adapt and include the special needs children in your life. We are REALLY excited to get her piece posted!
Filed under: Cooking, Family Dynamics, Hearth and Home, Kid Friendly Cooking <3 | Tags: kid-friendly cooking
A while back, a reader asked me to include a series of posts on ways to let your kiddos help out in the kitchen and for some kid friendly recipes. I am going to start with ways to get the kids involved in the kitchen for now and add recipes in another post. Kids are GREAT helpers. They can do almost anything (within reason [ie safety]) in the kitchen that an adult can with a little help. This is a great confidence builder and a way to bond with your kids.
Kids ages 2-4 years can help with:
- De-stemming grapes or tomatoes
- Crushing crackers or corn flakes for casserole toppings
- Use a cookie cutter to cut out cookies or biscuits
- Pack up the lunch boxes (after Mom or Dad has made the lunches)
- Stir the cheese into macaroni & cheese
- Stir butter into pasta
- Put the seasoning packets in ramen noodles and stir it up
- Shake the colander after Mom or Dad has poured the pasta in to drain it
Kids from ages 5-7 would be great helpers with:
- Shake & Bake seasonings (put the pork in and shake the bag)
- Stirring batters
- Helping to measure dry goods
- Helping to measure liquids with a LARGE glass measuring cup
- Cutting butter with a butter knife
- Assembling sandwiches (with pre-prepared fillings)
- Washing vegetables
- Knead bread dough
- Shred cooked chicken with a fork (make sure to cool it first)
- Reading instructions to Mom or Dad
Kids 8 years and older could do the following to help cook:
- Stir things on the stove (carefully and with supervision for younger ages)
- Prepare sandwich fillings (ie egg salad, chicken salad, etc)
- Make macaroni & cheese, ramen noodles, pasta
- Pour the pasta from the cooking pot into the strainer
- Roll out bread or cookie dough
- Start teaching them how to:
- Peel vegetables
- Cut up vegetables
- Fry things
- Put things in and take things out of the oven
- Menu planning and making healthy meal choices
Tips:
- For younger children, a picture instruction cookbook will make it easier for your pre-reader to help out.
- Don’t push it–be a good example for healthy meal planning. The more you lecture, the more they’ll tune you out.
- Teaching your children an appreciation for cooking will make the task more enjoyable in years to come.
- Say it with me YUMMY FOOD CAN BE HEALTHY!!!!! Yes, I said it. There’s a cookbook out there “Secretly Nutritious” is the name I believe…you can sneak veggies and such into your child’s diet.
- Keep a kid-friendly (kid safe) stepstool or tower to get them to the right height to help out.
Just remember, the most important thing is to HAVE FUN and be safe. =)
I have had a couple of people make suggestions via facebook on content to include in future blogs. I am pleased to say that the following subjects will be blogged about soon (in no certain order):
- Kid friendly recipes and ways to let your kids help in the kitchen
- Homemade cleaning supplies
- Homemade laundry soap and other laundry supplies
- Eco friendly crafts that you can do with your kids!
- Fun family crafts
- Eco friendly gardening and pest control
- Recycling and repurposing (the 3 R’s of Earth Stewardship)
- Folding tricks for laundry
- Carseat safety ( a BIG thing for me)
That’s just some of the goodies we have coming up. I have to get a few things done around here today, but I will try my best for y’all to be getting at least one new blog a day! Feel free to comment on ANY blog, but especially here. I want this to be a place you guys can come for information and entertainment.
Filed under: Chores, Family Dynamics | Tags: cleaning program, housework, organization
I told you guys that I would post a blog about my to-do list program that I use to get things done…so here goes.
1. I get a couple of sheets of plain ol’ notebook paper and write a 3-5 day to do list. Each list has 10 items on it. Not like “clean the living room” but broken down things like “wash two sinkfulls of dishes” or “fold one load of laundry and put it away”. It has even been known to be something as simple as “shred bills from 2009″ or “put up new shower curtain”. ANYTHING can go on these lists as long as it needs to get done.
2. Do 10 things each day (or 5 if you know you’re going to be gone or get overwhelmed), taking from ANY list. As long as you get the number of things done that you had as your goal then you are on the right track.
At the end of a normal workweek, you could get 50 things done! This program works great for me because it’s very satisfying to see a whole list crossed off. You get to see an instant reward for your hard work. =)
Filed under: Family Dynamics | Tags: 4 or more kids, encouragement, family life, M
I have people tell me that four kids is not a “large family”. Then, I have other people tell me that I have too many kids. Those that ask me, “How do you do it? Isn’t it hard? I can barely manage with one, much less 4.” Well, there’s no easy answer. Each situation comes with its own challenges and its own strengths.
For me, it’s easier dealing with all 4. That way, they can play together and the biggers can help look out for the little ones. I am blessed to have 4 children who get along wonderfully. Each child has such a unique personality and in that, their own strengths and challenges**. For example, M is a GREAT helper and wants to learn and be a part of EVERYTHING that has to do with being a mommy and running a household. She loves to cook and bake, loves to help clean up, wants to help feed the younger two kiddos, and is always right there learning beside me. Her challenge is that she does not do “alone” well. She has to have interaction or contact. It is difficult for her being the only girl and having her own room.
I guess what I’m getting at is that as long as you are an ATTENTIVE parent and learn your child(ren)’s strengths and challenges, there is no big problem with having more than one child. You just have to learn how to be an effective and cohesive family unit. It’s not something that happens overnight, just as adding to your family does not occur overnight. There’s always an adjustment period, and all that requires is patience, love, and paying attention.
**Notice, I do NOT say weaknesses. I believe that you should encourage your children in everything you do AND SAY. If you tell your children that they are special and strong, then they will believe that as well. If you belittle them and tell them that they are “bad” or “stupid” or “weak” then that is what they are going to associate with themselves.
