It's time...

Wow!  I can't believe that I have slacked for so long!  I think getting back in to the swing of things has been hard on me.

Anyway, I have a few things to throw out into the blogging world.  We like fruit.  We eat a lot of it in our home and so, we buy quite a bit at a time.  How do you manage the fruit in your home?  I mean, where do you put it?!  I am tempted to turn one of my lower cabinets in to a sliding drawer/basket.  Seriously.  I am trying to minimize how much 'stuff' is on my countertops and the fruit is NOT HELPING! 

With that rant..it leads me to this book, Organized Simplicity by Tsh Oxenreider.  It is a Godsend.  I borrowed it from my friend several, SEVERAL months ago (thanks Laura) and never got around to really embracing it.  Well, last week I figured now is the time.  I will say that my home isn't miraculously cleaner or more organized, BUT it is getting there.  I do have 3 young children to contend with.  But honestly, this book is sheer genius.  I think that it is mostly because she breaks it down in easy to follow steps.  She tells you the how, the why, etc of doing it.  She also brings in other like-minded geniuses to help with subjects she may not know as well.  (Dave Ramsey and Financial Freedom)

Follow this link to get downloads.  Did I mention she is brilliant?  The first week I used the Daily Docket to organize my day.  This week I used the pocket docket because I knew what I was doing.  (sort of) Go to the library, go to amazon, borrow the book...it will change your life.  Already organized?  You rock.

I will say that this organization bug has been at the back of my mind, BUT it really bit me when my daughter's friend made a comment that her mom doesn't have a 'junk drawer'.  Darn it.  I have about 5! 

Ideas:
-Here is another comment a friend made at Church a few months ago.  We were getting handouts for the lesson and I offered to get her one.  She said, "I never take handouts home."  Simple.  Straight forward.  Great to have in the lesson, but don't bring the unnecessary stuff home. 
-Call and do 'paperless' billing.  Call catalogues and magazines. 

Good luck and let me know what you do to stay organized!

Bread Maker, Bread Maker…Make me some bread!

I am HORRIBLE at making bread. Most of my experience has been in a bread maker...and it hasn’t always turned out so good.

Well, our awesome neighbors brought over some jelly/jam and I knew that we couldn't eat it on regular store-bought bread. Enter Katie the Homemaker. I know, go ahead…laugh!

Anyway, I wanted something fast and easy. I REALLY wanted wheat bread, but was afraid that our wheat flour wasn't good anymore...so white it was. Yum and OH SO GOOD with the jelly!

Here is the recipe with my changes/remarks in red:

White Bread Recipe #1

Ingredients

1 package yeast (1/2 tsp. of yeast per cup of flour)

1/4 cup warm water

2 tsp sugar

1 cup milk

3 tsp salt

3 tbsp butter

3 3/4 cup all purpose flour

Egg Wash

1 slightly beaten egg white

1 tbsp warm water

Method for Preparing Your White Bread Recipe:

1.)Mix the yeast and ¼ cup of warm water in a small bowl or cup. Add the sugar, then stir. Set aside and allow mixture to become frothy. (*I usually mix and put in my microwave)

2.)Place milk, salt and butter in saucepan and heat until the butter melts. Allow to cool until it is lukewarm. (*or you could be like me and just add it to the mixture below right after it is done melting. OOPS! :)

3.)Place two cups of flour in a large bowl, and add milk mixture.

4.)Beat well, then add the yeast mixture.

5.)Beat again until the dough is smooth. Add an additional cup of flour while beating. Dough should be firm.

6.)Turn the dough onto a floured kneading surface. Knead, adding flour, until dough is smooth and elastic. To test readiness, poke an indentation with your fingers. If ready, the dough will spring back, filling in the indent. ***I think part of the reason my bread usually fails, besides the bread maker issue, is because I don't knead it enough. I let it stay in my KitchenAide for a while mixing away..then I took it out and I just kneaded and kneaded for about 5 minutes.

Butter a large bowl OR just put some olive oil on top of the bread. Put dough in bowl, turning so as to grease the surface of the dough. Cover, and rise in a warm place until dough is doubled in bulk. This should be approximately 1 ½ to 2 hours.

Spray the bread pans OR Butter one large loaf pan or two small pans. Punch the risen dough down, and turn onto lightly floured kneading surface.

Form into one large or two small balls. Shape each ball into a rectangle roughly the size of the bread pan you will be using, punching out any air bubbles that you see. Shape the oval into a loaf shape, and tuck the edges underneath.

Place the loaf-shaped dough into the bread pans. Cover, and rise until double in bulk. This takes about 45 minutes.

Preheat over to 400 degrees.

Prepare your egg wash by beating egg white with water, slightly. Brush the egg wash over top of the dough. I didn’t have any eggs, so I just put some EVOO on top.

Bake in center of oven for 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees and take for an additional 20 or 25 minutes.

The white bread recipe is ready when it sounds hollow when removed from pan and tapped on bottom with your fingers.

Cool your white bread recipe on a rack before storing.

Discipline

Sometimes this can be a taboo discussion. A four letter word in some families. You can ask one family how they discipline. You can ask the next family. And they won't be the same. Or they are both struggling with 'their' way. Man, is this normal!

There are SO many different ways to 'discipline' your children. And what makes it even MORE confusing? Each child is different, so if you have found one really great way to discipline child #1, #2 isn't having it.

1.) Recognize that there are SEVERAL ways to discipline. (see below)
2.) Each child is different.
3.) Each PARENT is different....GET ON THE SAME PAGE. Nothing is more confusing to a child than doing one thing and getting away with it and doing the same thing again..and NOT getting away with it.
4.) If you child is old enough, have them make their OWN consequences. This gives them a chance to make some decisions.
5.) You are the example.

Here are some ideas:
-Act upset. If you child does something that you don't approve up. Tell them. Be firm, but not irrational. Make sure that it is something they shouldn't be doing.
-Talk it out. This one is a biggy with my oldest. She is very rational in her thinking, so if I tell her WHY she shouldn't be doing something, she is pretty good and 'getting it'.
-Ignore, Ignore, Ignore. I have a really difficult time doing this. My boys are very hands on..everything and in return most of my things would be broken! BUT, if it is something small...let it go.
-Take away. This is in regards to toys and objects. If a child(ren) is hitting someone with a toy...you TAKE.IT.AWAY. Obviously, it is the source of the problem, so get rid of it. Be sure to replace it with something else, otherwise you aren't making the situation better, but worse.
-Time-outs. This one is a difficult one, so I have taken directly from an article I read:
(Also Known As “Thinking Time”)
Separation and replacement involves separating a child from an object. Time-outs are also a form of separation-separation from a situation. Time-outs (or thinking time) differs a bit depending upon the age and development of the child. The time-outs I'm describing here apply to school-age kids.

Time-outs separate a child from a situation in order to “break” the action and reset it on a new track. Time-outs take the child out of an environment that is reinforcing the negative behavior. For school age kids, time-outs shouldn't always be timed, they should allow the child enough time to change his mood on his own.

Don't threaten time-outs, and don't think of them as punishments (“Hit me again and I'll put you in a time-out!”). They're meant to be used as an immediate, brief cooling-off period.
Time-outs are most effective when a child needs help changing a mood.
A time-out is over once the mood has been changed or the child has calmed down and regained self-control. Let the child determine when a time-out is over-she needs to learn to determine her own moods and rhythms.
Time-outs are designed to remove a child from an environment where she is getting gratification for her negative actions. When she returns, don't let her resume her activity. Let her know that her actions were unacceptable. Move her into a more positive situation, and give her positive reinforcement. “The colors you're using on your self-portrait sure make me think of autumn!”
Parents can take time-outs, too. (I do!)


Read more on FamilyEducation: http://life.familyeducation.com/parenting/punishment/45302.html#ixzz1WXjohaAI

And last, but not least....my husband and I are not opposed to spanking. {Gasp} I know, I know. That is so horrible, mean, blah, blah, blah. There is a very distinct difference between spanking/swatting on the bottom and beating. (one way to know? If you, as the parent/guardian, are out of control).

All in all, like I said above. This is a very personal thing. Speak with your spouse and get on the same page.

How do you discipline?

Getting ready for school III

The morning.

I have found that the morning can be a bit crazy. That's with 1 daughter that gets herself ready. Yeah, she's that good!

But, now that I am going to have 2 that get on the bus at the same time, I have had to be a bit better about getting things ready the night before.

Lunches.
All clothes laid out.
Bath time.
Breakfast. (either have the bowls and spoons laid out or have the pancake/waffles mixed up and ready to be made). Also, I have thought about making some egg mcmuffins and then freeze and having them ready to pop in the microwave. Remember that if you are making pancakes/waffles it'll take a good 5-7 minutes for the griddle to get good and hot. Something that I didn't take in to account this morning....

Because the clothes are laid out the night before, I am able to think ahead to what I'll do with my daughter's hair.

The BIGGEST thing is to be prepared and to have things ready before you go to bed.

What are some things that you have to do the night before, so the morning runs smoothly?

HOLD THE PRESSES!!

Are you a mom that has wee little ones in diapers? Love spending loads of moolah? yeah, I bet not!

So, when Stevie posted about Amazon Mom and Subscribe & Save programs, I had to check it out. This is a legitimate offer people!

Save money on diapers through Amazon Mom. THEN, if you decide that you want this on a recurring basis, you save even more! It is crazy easy and shipping is free!

Here's the breakdown:
Buy a pack of diapers ex. Size 5 with 120 diapers for $32.33.
If you decide to do the Subscribe & Save: It drops to $22.63

Check it out for yourself! Amazon Mom

Getting Ready for school Part II

Part II: Establishing a routine...NOW!

Ahh, the lackadaisical days of summer are gone. Gone are the late nights and late mornings. Gone are the free days to do whatever you want. Gone, GONE I tell you!

But in all honesty, I'm sort of glad. I know that my children do better on a set schedule. They crave it and so do I.

Starting about a week before school, start going to bed earlier. Start the routine back up. We have started getting the kids ready for bed earlier, BUT have failed to make them wake up earlier. That is a big mom oopsie! I love my sleep, what can I say?

I will try and be better though. It is so important to those kiddos. They need as much sleep as they can get!

Also, before school starts, do a trial run. My 2nd grader (what?!) is pretty good about waking up on her own, getting her breakfast, getting dressed and making her lunch. She is a gem. BUT this year, my Kindergartener (what?!?!?!) is starting new. And let's be honest...not many little boys are wanting to do all of this by themselves.

Luckily for me, he only goes for 1/2 a day=no lunch prep. Unlucky for me, they get on the bus AT 7:15 a.m. Totally crazy.

So, here is a question (or two):
1.) What do you do to get ready for school?
2.) How early do you get up to get your kids ready for school?

Getting Ready for School

Part 1: Healthy Lunches

With all of the hustle and bustle in the morning, it's easier to give #1 money for the school lunch. In retrospect, it is just as sign that I am lazy.

Sometimes the school lunches are healthier than what we make for our kids: fruit snacks, sugary drinks, chips, etc. It's the nature of the beast...

BUT, we can do small things to make them easier and healthier.

First, stock your cupboards and fridge with healthy snacks (easier said than done sometimes).

Prepare:

1.)Cut up vegetables on Saturday or Sunday night. Put them in a big container that is easy to grab a bag and fill.

2.) Pop popcorn (not the buttery kind). Great snack.

3.) Water bottle instead of sugary drinks.

Here are some good ideas:

-Pretzels

-Veggies

-Fruit

-Popcorn

-Baked Chips (in moderation)

-Homemade granola (super easy and you know what is in it)

-Organic Applesauce

Sometimes I have a hard time when it comes to the main part of the lunch. PB&J? Meat? Bagel & Cream Cheese?

Well, let's just say that I'm working on it. Sometimes I put crackers with ham and cheese in for her to make her own.

What do you do?