Chore Chart

I found an idea for a chore/job chart on Martha Stewart’s website that was both interactive for the kids and myself.  The kids really have enjoyed it so far and I like the flexibility of changing their jobs based on what needs to be done in that particular day. 

I put all of the extra jobs on the top of the fridge and made labels for “morning,” “noon,” “evening,” and “complete.”  The boys love moving their jobs to complete and seeing what they “get to do” for the day:-)

I found the best price for 8.5 x 11 inch magnetic sheets at Michaels (3 for under $6.)  I only needed 2 sheets.  I made the background out of a piece of scrapbook paper that I glued onto the magnetic sheet.  I printed the jobs using a spreadsheet and printing them directly onto the magnetic sheet. 

Google Voice

I heard about Google Voice from a news report a few weeks before we were moving.  We had decided to drop our landline phone and try to use a VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) instead.  This would potentially save us some money.  We were looking into using the magic jack for $20 a year.  After hearing about Google Voice, which is a free service, I signed up to be invited to be a part of it.  (Currently it is being used by invite only, but I was invited within a 3 weeks of requesting an invitation.)

Google voice also enables you to make a call from the Google voice website and it rings the phone of your choice.  Since I have US Cellular as my provider, I receive free incoming calls.  Therefore, I can make outgoing calls through Google voice and my cell phone is actually receiving them for FREE!  Yay!  I have not found any problems so far with using Google voice.  I would highly recommend this service. 

Here’s a review of Google voice:

Cool Universal Grocery List

I found a universal grocery list on Google docs that you can edit to what you buy at the store(s).  It’s easy to edit and print out…and best of all…free!   We are trying it out over the next few weeks and will report back as to the helpfulness of such a list.  I’d like to hear how you create your grocery list.  Let me know what works for you!

Cheap Batman Birthday Ideas

 

Cake:  Bake 2 9 x 13 rectangle cakes and cool completely.  Stack them on top of one another with icing in the middle.  Cut the corners of the cakes off to form an oval.  Roll  out yellow marshmallow fondant to be 17 x 21 at least and cover cake. Cut around edges with pizza cutter.  Take a batch of black marshmallow fondant and mold freehand into bat shape or roll out and then cut out a bat figure.  

Goodie bags:  I made these capes as a take-home gift in place of goodie bags.  The kids painted the emblem on at the party.  I made the capes out of felt that I got on clearance towards the end of winter.  No need to finish edges.  I purchased velcro squares and sewed them on the neck straps.  Very easy.  

 

I made a template out of a cereal box to paint the emblem on at the party.  I found a logo I liked online and printed it out and used it to trace onto the cardboard.   I then cut into the cardboard only in the yellow part of the logo and cut the logo out so that I had a rectangular piece of  cardboard with an oval cut out and a cardboard bat that fit inside it. I just taped the cardboard down onto the felt where I wanted the batman design. The kids painted the capes with paintbrushes dipped in yellow fabric paint. When the kids were finished, I just removed the cardboard. Let dry before using :)

Food and Drink: Lemonade is yellow (perfect!)  I made sugar cookies and used marshmallow fondant to cut out yellow circles and black bats to form the batman emblem. 

 

Invitations:  I used evite which is free and you can even design your own invitation.  I chose a dark background and then added batman images I found online. 

It's Potty Time!!!

A lot  of people keep asking me how we go about  toilet training.  I  am in no way an expert, but will try to explain what works for us.  We used elimination communication (EC) with our oldest and our youngest.  They were fairly easy to figure out when they would need to go to the restroom.  We started out using EC when they were about three months old they did wear diapers.  We just removed the diapers to hold them over the potty.  We were not strict EC-ers but we did it when it was convenient for us.  Our middle child had retention issues and was not so easily timed, so we did not use EC. 

(Here is a link to an EC site that talks more about it.)

 

By the time of our children stayed dry through naps (around 18 months), they were very familiar with the potty already. I made sure that my schedule was open for an entire week prior to beginning formal potty training.  I  told them that they would not be wearing diapers anymore now that they're big kids and that they should "pee-pee" on the potty and not in their pants.  I did give them either a M&M or  marshmallow each time they went on the potty.  They were cloth training pants to help them feel wet. I also had them only wear the training pants and no pants over them.  Less wash and quicker to catch them and bring them to the potty.   (Here is a tutorial on making your own training pants.)

 

The first day of training I'd try to take them to the bathroom every half an hour.  I would sit them on the potty for just a few minutes.  Because they were used to going on the potty, they would usually go within a minute.  By the end of the week, I would need to take them every hour or so.  We would gradually be able to go for 2 hours in between potty times.  I would use the same key words that I used while doing EC.  When they would urinate, I would say, " pee-pee."   When they would have a BM, I would say,   "poo-poo."  If they were successful, we would celebrate big time!  The older children were involved in this celebration.  It was like a big party every time they went to the bathroom.  Everyone got a marshmallow.

 

The best advice I can give is to be patient and celebrate and have fun.  Wait until you have time to do it.  Make it a whole family affair and enjoy each other.  It won't last forever, believe me, I've been there.

 

 

Resources:

Here is the board book that all of my kids loved.  Just find a book that uses the same kind of "potty" that you will use.

 Click here to try and buy it used.

 

We used this style of potty seat that fits on top of the toilet.  I had bought some other seat with pee guards that folded down.  They were a disaster!  They would always fall of and into the toilet.  This one has a hard pee guard that snaps firmly in place to use with little boys. 

Click on the seat to find one from Target.

Potty chairs-- make sure you use one that is low enough to the ground that it is easy for your child to sit down without help.  Also, make sure it is easy to empty (you will be doing this a lot!)  For boys, make sure the pee-guard actually is tall enough to keep it all in and also won't fall off all of the time. 

What can you make with spaghetti and marshmallows?

Joshua and Brian read a wonderful Usborne book entitled, 100 Science Experiments. They decided do one of the experiments that involved making stuctures out of spaghetti noodles and marshmallows. Joshua made several different stuctures and even tried to build a tower strong enough to hold a toy car. Brian was able to help build one tower, but it was a little challenging for him. Lucas was wanting to be right there in the middle of the action.

This is the structure with a piece of paper on it on which he was going to place the car. Will the building stand?

It could not withstand the weight of the car. So sad. We will try another day....

Christmas Pancakes Anyone?

I decided to make some special pancakes for each of the boys for Christmas Eve.  Each boy had a pancake in the shape of his initial and a Christmas tree pancake.  Find your favorite recipe for pancakes, place in a bottle with a nozzle (kind of like a restaurant ketchup bottle). I found one at WalMart in the cooking section for less than $1.  Warm up the pan and make the shapes that they want.  It's pretty easy and they loved it! Yummy!

If You Build It, They Will ...Eat It

 

 

Here is Joshua starting with the icing.  He was the project supervisor.

 

 

 

  Brian was in charge of the candy and where it should go. 

 

 

    

 

 

                               The finished product! 

  Lucas was not happy until it was time to EAT the gingerbread house. 

How to Make Your Own Laundry Detergent

I found a wonderful post on The Simple Dollar about making your own liquid laundry detergent and thought that I would give it a try.  The cost per load for a front-loading washing machine is only about 1 cent and a little over 2 cents for a top-loading machine.  It turned out wonderfully, but it didn't start off so well.  I started the water boiling on the stove while I helped Joshua shred the soap.  I looked up and out of the corner of my eye I saw flames!  I had caught my hot pads on fire by turning on the wrong burner.  Keith was sick and was soaking in the tub trying to feel better when I yelled out, "I'm on fire!"  I have no idea why I said that, but it came out.  I quickly poured some water on the hot pads, turned off the burner and all was safe.  Joshua told me, "Wow, that's the first fire we had."  I took this as an opportunity to "teach" the kids what to do in case of a fire. :) Ahh, teachable moments...

Update:  I have used this detergent for a little over 2 months and it cleans wonderfully.  The clothes look, smell, and feel clean.  I think I may still be able to use this batch for at least another month (for a family of 5).

Small House Movement?

We live in a 3 bedroom, one bathroom home with 1350 square feet and no garage.  We have 5 people in our family and 4 of us are there almost all of the time, since we home school.

I recently read a blog post on The Simple Dollar about The Small House Movement.  It was what I needed.  I get antsy sometimes and want to try to buy a larger home or build an addition onto our existing home, but I forget the long term benefits of our smaller, more modest home.  We are able to pay off this home much quickly and save thousands of dollars in interest and taxes than in a larger, more expensive home.  We have been able to pay off nearly half of the value of our home, and may be able to pay it off within 7 years!  Yay! 

We are also being green by staying in a smaller home which uses less electricity and gas.  I like that!  I don't know if I agree with Trent that it is easier to clean.  I think it is easier to get cluttered with things, so I have to constantly be evaluating the benefit of having something inside our home.  It does force us to live with less things, which is also a money-saver!  Hooray for our little home!

Science Center Trip

We were in St. Louis for an eye appointment, so we took the opportunity to go to the the St. Louis Science Center for the day. We hadn't been there for a while. It was a beautiful day and we were able to play and learn outside as well as inside. We got to see two science shows. The first was the Science of "Peeps" (the marshmallow candy). They did a lot of different things to the peeps and compared the end result to the control peep. The boys were amazed at what the liquid nitrogen did to the peep and then they got to feel the floor after the instructor poured some on the floor. Dry and cold...very unexpected.

Joshua got to volunteer in the second science demonstration about Carbon Monoxide. He turned the crank to make electricity for light bulbs. They compared different types of light bulbs. Joshua did such a great job ;) that they gave him a compact florescent bulb to take home. He is currently using it in his room. He was disappointed that we had "the wrong kind of light bulb" in his closet. He is going to help us be Green one light at a time! :)

The St. Louis Science Center is free and if you are ever in the area, I would highly recommend it.   Find out what is in your area and have an adventure!

A Couple of Big Turkeys

Joshua and Brian made these beautiful turkeys to decorate our Thanksgiving table out of a Pringles can. Their dad said he made a Pilgrim and Native American out of cans as a child. I looked for a template online and could not find one, but I found this site that offered a cute turkey template. They had a blast doing this!