Projects...

So- I broke away from the homework that is taking over my life long enough to format vinyl for Tooele City Arts Council's Christmas in July Boutique that is coming up...
Here's a little vectored preview.


The boring green rectangles are actually just wood studs, but they'll put scrapbook paper on them. The JOY is cut of wood and the only vinyl is just the "to the world" part- these are HUGE! Anyway- I'm super excited about these projects! Watch your water bill for details!

What I did with mine...

It is 21 inches by 21 inches and hanging with a sawtooth hanger. I used a piece of wood I found in our garage and sanded it down. I painted it tan then painted the edges blue then used brown stain gel. 

Thanks Val!

Prizes Coming, Don't forget Bountiful Baskets

Menu June 21-25

Back to business ladies! Our family has been so busy lately, there has been NO routine whatsoever! This week I'm hoping to make some progress and get some things done around here. I feel like life is just piling up all over the house. Ahhhh! So here is my meal plan for the week. It's amazing how much it really helps me to have a plan!



M- Grilled Chicken
Broccoli
Potato Wedges

T- French Dip Sandwiches
Potato chips

W- Tacos

Th- Tilapia
Green Salad

F- going out

consistant dailychore chart/to do list

Okay this is what works best for my kids and me!
It is pretty basic, but
I have a chore chart for each of them (except little Danielle of course) and It has all their daily stuff they need to do. morning and night prayers, 20 min of reading ( at least 20 min.), piano practice, chore of the day, pick up room,  20 min of exercise (They choose whatever they want to do) pick up their room, scriptures, brush teeth and wash face ( yes even my teenager needs a reminder sometimes) I have a big schedule board that (I have shown in a earlier post) and I put their chore of the day and other things that need to remembered on there like scouts, gymnastics, Y.W. etc. If it is in the school year I put up test days and when reports are due, field trips etc.  also in the school year homework is on their daily chart. And since I am talking about school year during the school year I am a mean mom and make my kids do their homework right when they get home from school while they are in school mode still, because I have found if I give them an inch of free time first it is almost impossible to get them back on track the rest of the night, but if they do their work first they have the rest of the night to relax.   Any way they can't go to friends houses or get on the computer or watch T.V. until these things are done.  Of course I don't expect them to do  their pm stuff yet, but anything that can be done in the day is expected. Over all it helps the house hold run smoothly and it teaches the kids that work and play have their own time and place.  And they know that play is more fun when their work is done :-)  This summer it has worked nicely where they are done with all their stuff by about 10:00am and so they have the whole day to do pretty much what they want. 
Also one of the greatest things I ever did was teach my kids how to do laundry! They each have their own laundry day and they bring down their dirty clothes and they sort them by darks, whites and colors in the 3 baskets that I have designated for each color and which ever basket has the most clothes in it at the time thats the load they put in and switch over the other loads.  If only I could get them to consistantly fold!  They are always trying to get out of that job :-)  They are learning an important skill ( did you have room mates that did not know how to do laundry?) and it helps a lot with keeping up with laundry. 
Yikes! Sorry for the long post!

Drop Everything And Read!

Okeydoke- My turn!

Something we've been trying to do this summer is everyday about 11:30 I'll say, "Drop everything and read!" Every child grabs a book! Holden and Boston are pretty self-motivated readers and enjoy it! Holden read Junie B. Jones Alohaha and loved it! Kamden is not so into it and has to be convinced, but he's a great reader and once he starts he enjoys it, too. Daycare children and non-readers all grab a book too. It's sorta fun to look around at all the bodies that are reading! Reminds me of a school read-a-thon!

Also-

We are pretty good at having family scriptures/prayer each night. We did the church's Book of Mormon reader when the boys were just beginning to read and that was great, but now we're onto the real deal and they are doing so well! It has turned them all into better readers! We play a whole different kind of scripture tag than what you all think of when I say those words- someone will read a verse and then tag the next reader. This keeps them all paying attention and following along because they COULD have the next turn and they want to know where we are! Kenz and Paxton sort of do their own thing while we do scriptures, but every now and then Kenz will say something to me that will help me know that she heard some of it. And now and then she'll want to "read" too. She especially loves tagging the next person!

Adult Bedtime

So several of you have posted the importance of getting the kids to bed at a reasonable time. My post is similar but different. One thing Bryan and I do is always (well almost always!) go to bed at the same time. I think it helps to keep us close. Seems like our best conversations are right before we go to sleep.

Sleepyheads

Ok- I'll bite! Who doesn't love prizes?? But seriously, reading Michele's post hit home with me. We also are very scheduled and it does help the day to go smoothly. The biggest thing for us is sleep. We found very early that Scotty is extremely sensitive to missed sleep. He never sleeps in, so if he goes to bed late than he just loses that sleep. If he does miss out on sleep then he is very cranky, has horrible tantrums and it will last for days. Missing naps or staying up late just didn't happen. Our families didn't understand and thought we were crazy. We had people rolling their eyes at us, but I didn't care! I knew what was best for Scotty and our family. A happy family was more important than anything that was happening at nap time or after bedtime. It's getting better as he grows up, but we still have to be very careful. In our house bedtime is at 7pm, and it is very rare that the kids are up later than that. Grant and Collin are more tolerant of missed sleep than Scotty is, but their behavior suffers too if they are overtired. So, we schedule our lives around nap times and bedtime and we are all happier for it.

healthy snacks-better behavior-saner mom

Sometimes I feel like we just live in chaos (especially right now)! I don't know about you, but the way my household runs is determined by the two smallest members. With my kids I can tell exactly when they are hungry because their behavior changes. To make things go smoother for everyone, I have made a healthy snack bin and put in down low in the pantry. It has freeze-dried fruit, veggie chips, fruit leather, apples, and bananas (the mix varies). Claire knows she can get into it at any time or she can get a string cheese from the fridge. I really don't mind if my kids snack as long as they are eating something healthy. She is also in charge of picking something out for James if he is ready for a snack. It works well for us and there is no craziness associated with high sugar intake. There have been times in the past when Claire has snacked on marshmallows or fruit snacks and I can tell you that there is a difference in behavior depending on what my kids are eating. (Anyone read Mary Lou Henner's book?)

Meal and Bed Times

Here is my response to Valerie's challenge. Prizes really do motivate me Val and I know you are full of good ones! The first thing that I thought of that helps my house run smoothly is to have set meal times. We have breakfast at 8, lunch at 11 and dinner at 4:30. The next is bedtime. It is at 7. I must say that I am good at keeping to this schedule...probably the only thing that I can say I am good at...but it keeps me rolling and the kids happy! 

Time for a challenge!

Okeydoke! It seems we are all off doing what we do best-

LIVING!

Which- by the way, is what we SHOULD be doing!

But I have a challenge for EVERYONE!

Here it is... are you ready???

Post (not in a comment, but in a NEW POST!) a tip for all of about something that helps things run more smoothly at your house. It can be ANYTHING!

Here's the BEST part...

Those who do it, before Monday June 21st get a PRIZE!

You know you want to! And tell your friends, too... Just in case they are also busy LIVING!

Ready, set, go!

Bountiful Baskets!

Okeydoke, for those of you in Tooele, if you haven't already ordered, now is the time to order your basket! IF YOU LIVE OUTSIDE TOOELE, THERE VERY EASILY COULD BE A LOCATION THAT IS NEAR YOU, TOO!

Go to Bountiful Baskets and sign in. Then click Utah under current offers. You MUST then select at least one in the number of baskets and put "yes" in the first time basket if this is your first time ordering, but no next time. So that took care of your minimum, which is one basket. The rest are add ons- they are only if you want them! Right now the offerings are

9 grain bread
chili cheese bread
coconut lemon and mandarin orange cake pack
20 lb case of tomatoes
tortilla pack
Mexican pack

Just so you know, my friend says that she LOVES the Mexican pack and the tortilla pack (which freezes well!)

Anyway, you can order up to 3 baskets. There is a $1.50 surcharge PER PERSON, but not per basket. $1.50 isn't a lot of $, but since the WHOLE POINT is to save $, I ordered 3 BASKETS even though I only want 1. The first 2 people to tell me they want one of them can have one and just saved themselves $1.50! Let me know quickly! I will also pick your basket up for you and bring it to you!

GROUND TURKEY

I was looking through my recipe drawer today and was amazed at just how many loose recipes I have. Some I printed from the computer. Some I wrote on actual recipe cards. Some I jotted down on whatever was handy at the time. Those are usually my best ones. I thought I would share two of our family's favorite ground turkey recipes.

Curry Turkey Meatballs

You will need:
1 pound ground turkey
1/2 medium onion
1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder (I use yellow).
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg beaten
1/3 cup dried plain bread crumbs (I like the panko variety- any will do)
2 tablespoons olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Combine turkey, onion, curry powder, cumin, salt, egg, and bread crumbs in a bowel. Mix until well combined. You can use your hands, but personally I don't like the feeling. Roll into approximately 20 meatballs (or use a cookie scoop).

3. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Cook meatballs in batches until browned on all sides. Transfer to baking dish and bake meatballs for 15 minutes or until cooked through.

We usually have this with brown rice and some kind of vegetable (zucchini or whatever). Don't be afraid to serve your kids curry. Mine really like it--you never know.



Turkey Sausage

You will need:
2 lb ground turkey
1 teaspoon pepper
1 1/2 teaspoon sage
1 1/2 teaspoon thyme
1 1/2 teaspoon rosemary
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon oil
3/4 cup applesauce

1. Mix all ingredients well.

2. Drop by tablespoon onto a cookie sheet.

3. Put wax paper on top and push down on each ball with the bottom of a glass to flatten.

4. Bake on 350 degrees until done.

Hint: Don't flatten them too much and make sure to not overcook them or they will be dry.

This recipe is very "spicy" (not hot, but very flavorful) and so to make it more friendly for my kids, we have adjusted the spices somewhat from this recipe, just lessened the amounts.


Enjoy!

bountiful baskets

Just curious...Did anyone get an order in for Tooele? I never saw it on the list, so I was wondering if it just filled up too quickly.

Boston's Sunday Hair Secret

Did you all see Boston's hair Sunday? If you missed it, you can see pictures here. Well, I did it with a new tool that I bought, called a conical wand. But- I figured out that you can do it with a regular curling iron, too! Here's how:

Take a regular ceramic curling iron that has adjustable, instant heat. Remove the clamp (the part that holds your hair on!) A regular "one size fits all" winter glove (you know what I'm talking about! works, too! Hold the curling iron upside down at the base of the head and wrap from hair from the base to the end, holding the end on with the glove for a few seconds, then pull off! Whala!

I've been using this to do my hair, too, but I've been starting halfway down instead of at the scalp. It is SOOO much faster than a regular curling iron! I love it!