Archive for the ‘family’ Category
I am a huge fan of Jane Brocket. I love her books, her blog, and always turn to The Gentle Art of Domesticity when I feel I need a boost in inspiration. I am about halfway through Ripping Things to Do, and really enjoying it.
A couple of weeks ago, after the boys learned that invisible ink was used in the early history of America to pass messages back and forth, I pulled out the lemon juice, paper, some q-tips and a candle. I learned how to make and use invisible ink in Jane’s book and the boys thought I was the coolest mom ever when I showed them how to write secret messages (thanks, Jane!)
The boys used q-tips to write messages in lemon juice, and left them to dry on the table.
After their papers were completely dry, they took turns holding the paper very carefully over a candle (always supervised by me). Jane suggests using an iron, but my boys aren’t quite tall enough to do that safely.
They were so excited, and it was a fun new skill for us all. You never know when you will need to write a secret message.
books, family, homeschooling, kid's art • Wednesday, March 10th, 2010 • 4 Comments »
Just a quick update here, unfortunately I’m going to need a little bit more time away. This cold that has been floating around our house has decided not to be nice at all and has turned into a particularly nasty little bug. All four kids have a cough, the boys being the worst. The babe is the healthiest one of all with only a minor little cough, and I put that down to the fact that she is still breastfeeding, what amazing powers breast milk has.
We spent the afternoon at the doctors office yesterday and came away with prescriptions for antibiotics for the three big kids. Now I am all for the non medical route of healing things when we are able to, but I do believe there is a time and a place for medicine. Our two middle children both have ear infections, our son with a double ear infection.
So today’s plans include lots of rest, staying in pj’s all day, and lots of yummy “sick” foods. I’ll make up some chicken noodle soup for lunch and the kids have requested fruit popsicles and our daughter really wants a grilled cheese. We’ll read lots of The Wishing Chair Collection by Enid Blyton, and throw in a movie later as it is family movie night.
The last two days have been absolutely glorious weather wise, in the fifties which is just what we needed. I was able to throw the windows open and get some fresh air circulating in here. Lo, and behold, when I woke up this morning I was greeted by another winter wonderland, snow everywhere and more coming down. Oh well, at least it’ll make it feel cozier snuggling up in blankets.
Thanks for being so patient while I’ve been taking this break. I was hoping to get a lot accomplished around the house, but the whole time has been spent taking care of my ill family. I’m hoping that they’ll turn a corner by next week, but I will pop in on Monday to give you another update.
Hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and stay warm, and well.
family • Friday, March 5th, 2010 • 12 Comments »
I’ve been doing this little blog here for a while now and have truly loved it. This past week I have struggled with feeling uninspired and overwhelmed. I’m sure it has to do with being super busy and having a hugely long to do list that is just not getting done. I’m going to take a few days off here in this space and try to get things sorted out at home. I’m hoping this will free up the creative spot in my brain that is being crushed at the moment. I will miss you while I am gone, but I believe I will be able to come back more organized and calm and ready to go.
I plan on popping in next Tuesday and then being back in full force by the end of next week. I just need a little time to take care of my family, my home, the kids schooling and my tired brain. Thank you to everybody who stops by and especially to those who leave comments, I still have a hard time believing why anybody would take the time to come by, but I do appreciate it.
Have a wonderful week and I’ll see you next Tuesday.
family, home • Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 • 23 Comments »
Much of this past weekend was enjoying a wedding and all that it involved. My brother flew into town and we are very much enjoying his company as well. I was thrilled to be asked to do the flowers for the wedding so I thought I would share some pictures of them with you all.
All four of my kiddos were in the wedding, and the girls each carried one of these. The brides bouquet above went perfectly with her gorgeous bronze dress. It’s been a while since I’ve done flowers for any type of event, but it was a lot of fun. All of the flowers were faux, as they were done in advance, but nowadays there are such pretty, convincing faux flowers that it was near impossible to tell.
We had a great weekend, hope you all did too.
family, gifts • Monday, February 22nd, 2010 • 15 Comments »
Wherever I can, I like to make cooking supper easier, especially as the hour right before always seems to be when things start falling apart. One of my tricks is to make a huge batch of spaghetti sauce at the beginning of the week. Then I can use it for several different meals and part of the work is already done.
Friday night is our pizza/movie night so I use the sauce for that. I also can then use it for spaghetti or some other kind of pasta bake such as lasagna. If I know I won’t be able to use it all, then it freezes really well, so I can always freeze portions of it for another time.
Spaghetti sauce is also a great way to use up some other bits of veg as well. Sometimes I cook up some ground turkey too. I saute onions, and often peppers and mushrooms when I make my sauce. I chop them up pretty small and the kids don’t really notice them, especially if it is on the pizza. It’s not really a recipe as such, but I got the method from my sister-in-law.
First I chop up and saute an onion (and whatever other veg I want) and then sprinkle some dried oregano and basil, and let it saute until the veg is soft. Next I add a 102 ounce can of crushed tomatoes. Stir it up really well and add a sprinkle of sugar and some salt and pepper. Taste and adjust. If it tastes too acidic, you need a little bit more sugar. Feel free to experiment, it is fairly forgiving. Let it simmer a while and taste again, and there you go. Delicious sauce and part of your cooking for the week just got easier.
What are some of your timesaving/ multitasking foods?
family, food • Thursday, February 18th, 2010 • 9 Comments »
Sorry I missed everybody yesterday. About a week ago, the babe started waking up between 3-4 in the morning and wasn’t able to go back to sleep right away. This left me up for an hour or so in the middle of the night, every night for a while. When she finally was able to sleep through again, I wasn’t. I would wake up on the dot at 3:00am and be wide awake for an hour.
My senior year in college I came down with mono (and no, it wasn’t from kissing) and ever since then when I get really run down, my body has a hard time snapping out of it. A couple of days ago, I knew I was in trouble if I didn’t slow down. I couldn’t think straight, had a really hard time focusing and I couldn’t sleep even if I tried.
Yesterday, Hubby got up with the kids, took care of them while I was finally able to get some extra sleep. Then when I was up, the babe fell asleep in my lap, which never happens any more, so I was able to sit in a chair for two hours and work on some crochet. Hubby made lunch so I could rest, and I even stayed in my pj’s all day. I drank copius amounts of tea and cocoa to keep myself fortified, and basically did nothing but rest, and it turns out it is just what I needed.
I’m feeling better, still slightly tired, but ready to face the rest of the week.
family • Wednesday, February 17th, 2010 • 12 Comments »
Our little guy looks so much older now, well except for his super cute dimples. He was such a trooper and so far is pretty excited about his braces. At this point he only has three brackets so he opted for light blue, dark blue, and glow in the dark. We’ve got tylenol and smoothies standing by.
I hope you guys all have a great weekend and a great Valentine’s day.
family • Saturday, February 13th, 2010 • 8 Comments »
I would love to live in a little stone farmhouse, complete with lush, rolling fields.
With a warm fireplace, big bowls of fruit on a wooden table, and windowsills full of clay pots of flowers.
Look! It’s my bowl.
Where we can sit outside on a blanket, under a tree, surrounded by flowers, eating a picnic.
In a small village with a summer fete.
Where children can run and play safely, there’s a gorgeous church down the lane and maybe even a few cows on the lawn.
Where you can buy fruits, veg, bread, pastries, flowers, even fabric at the market.
Where everywhere I look there are green rolling fields, stone walls and bridges, and sweet animals.
Well, a girl can dream, can’t she?
All images from James Herriot’s Treasury for Children, one of my favourite children’s books.
family, home, nature • Wednesday, February 10th, 2010 • 21 Comments »
I’m enjoying the scent of my hyacinth as I try to mentally prepare for this week. We spent the last two days rearranging the living room to make more effective use of the small space. We’re nearly there, but I still have to finish sorting through our books and put the ones we are keeping back on the shelves.
This is also the week that our eldest gets his braces on. I know he’s getting so big now, but I still think 8 is really young to be getting braces. We don’t really have a choice though as his permanent tooth that grew in behind his baby tooth has to be pulled forward so it doesn’t throw the rest of his bite off. I had braces when I was a kid, and I have them now, so I know how hard it can be when your mouth hurts. It’s overwhelming right after they tighten them and it can be really tough to eat.
We’ve been trying to prepare him that it will hurt a bit, but that it will go away after a while. We’ll give him plenty of tylenol if he needs it and plenty of smoothies and other soft things to eat to ease the discomfort. I’m trying not to dwell on it in my own mind, it needs to be done.
All he can think of is how fun it’s going to be to get glow in the dark bands on his braces, just so he can show them off to his brother at night.
family, gardening, nature • Monday, February 8th, 2010 • 6 Comments »
Two days ago, the weather was gorgeous. Well, still a little chilly, but not so cold and windy that we couldn’t play outdoors. I bundled the babe up and took the kids out to play. They all had lots of fun, and I sat on the porch wrapped in a blanket reading a book with a mug of warm milk.
I don’t get outdoors enough in the winter. If it’s not too cold, the kids go outside and play, but me, I’m usually inside trying to get laundry, cooking etc. done while they are out. Boy, it felt really good to be out there. Sitting and reading, which doesn’t happen much during the day, with the sunshine beating down on my face.
I need to get out more. I know it seems kind of silly that some days I don’t even step outside of the house, but some days I don’t. We homeschool, so I don’t have to take the kids somewhere every day, and with the windchill dropping the temperature by 20 degrees most of the winter, it’s not that brilliant for being outside. That wind can be brutal, one of the downsides of winter in Wyoming.
As with the 20 minutes of crafting each day, I am going to try to spend 20 minutes outdoors. I’m not sure if it’ll happen every day, but I’m going to try. I think can do twenty minutes.
Other news around here, our big guy did a great job with getting his tooth pulled. I had such traumatic memories of the dentist when I was a kid, but I shouldn’t have even worried. I love our kid’s dentist, and they do too. They had it out in a matter of minutes and he came bounding out with his tooth in a little tooth shaped container.
Our kiddo has been wearing a night guard as part of a series of nightguards to hopefully avoid full on braces. Today we got the bad news that he will have to wear real braces for a while as the permanent tooth that was growing in behind the baby one will need some work to be pulled forward.
I also found out that my lovely braces will now be on till March 29th. Ugh! They were originally supposed to be off last September, and it has been dragging since then. So, for a little while here, me and my kiddo will both have braces on at the same time. He is really excited at the thought of having blue bands around his brackets. The kids are always disappointed when I refuse to get hot pink ones. I try to explain that that is more for kids, and not mommies.
Good news though, our van is fixed. What we thought was going to be a whole transmission problem was just one little part. The dealer was going to charge us $170 to switch it out. Hubby ordered the part for $35 and switched it himself. Yay! That was a huge relief.
Don’t forget to leave a comment on yesterday’s post for a chance to win some cloth bags. It’s nice to meet some new people.
Hope you guys have a great day. I’ll see you tomorrow.
books, family, home, homeschooling • Friday, January 29th, 2010 • 14 Comments »
