Let It Snow!

I was starting to get a little worried that there wasn't gonna be enough snow here in Kentucky.  So far we've had a ton of rain and then some Spring-like days in between.  Noah's been begging for the snow.  The kid hardly ever even wears a coat.  So, needless to say, he's been pretty happy the past few days.  All the kids have been sledding all over the place.  It's nice to have so many hills.  We've only got a few inches of snow, but that seems to be enough to make everybody happy.

An Edible Art Lesson

OK, So yesterday at our homeschool co-op day I learned some very important lessons.  First off, I learned that if you attempt to teach the can-can to a bunch of 5 and 6 year olds until they are tired out, and you happen to be as old and out-of-shape as I am...you will pay for it later.  Ouch!

Secondly, classical music is considered very boring to 7 and 8 year olds unless it is accompanied by very silly lyrics.  In that case, it is considered highly entertaining.  Also, most 7 and 8 year olds think that Beethoven is a dog in a movie.  Well, who knew?

My third discovery yesterday was that edible art is more fun than non-edible art.  Color mixing is easier to teach with icing than paint.  Which leads to my project.  I wish I could take credit for the idea, but I found it somewhere on an art blog.  I'll tell you where if I find it again.  It was a keeper.

The Edible Color Wheel:

Here's what you need:

College Is Upon Us!

O MY GOSH!  I was totally unprepared for this!

Yes, I remember saying that when I was in transition labor, too.

But this time involves thousands of dollars and my son's future success.

I'm not sure where the time has gone!  Seems like yesterday I was just embarking on the high school journey with him.  Now we're looking at college application deadlines.  Scholarships.  Financial Aid.  ACT scores.  My baby moving far away.  YIKES!  The really bad thing about it is that stressful things tend to bring out the ostrich in me.  I want to bury my head and ignore that it's actually happening.

Obviously, that's a bad idea.

Lovin' My Girls... and the Rooster, Too

Have I told you lately how much I absolutely love my chickens?

I need to tell you so that if you are even remotely trying to decide if you want to try to raise your own, I might be able to tip the scale in favor of wonderful chickens.  So far, there is not one thing that I do not like about these birds.

Here's a few things that we've learned from our experience:

They are easier to care for than the dog. 

They make eggs.

They eat every bit of kitchen scraps and grody stuff out of my fridge and turn it into eggs.

Family Scheduling AKA Head 'Em Off At the Pass

So, I guess a lot of this motherhood job really boils down to "head 'em off at the pass."  I can just picture the sheriff and his trusty side-kick galloping to the mouth of the canyon to round up the bandits before they make their escape. You're sortof like the Lone Ranger on the home front!

Sounds funny, but lots of happy, unstressed mommies are actually just more pro-active than their frustrated, stressed-out counterparts.  It's not that they work any harder.  Sometimes it's just the opposite!  Both mommies are going to have to fix lunch, for example.  Stressed-out mom will wait until her children are hungry, grouchy and whining for food before she fixes it.  Then she'll be annoyed while she's trying to figure out what whiny-butt wants to eat because a hungry toddler doesn't really CARE...they just want food NOW!  Happy mom, on the other hand, knew that her children would be getting hungry around their normal lunch time, so she decided what to fix and had it ready before the kiddos even realized how hungry they were.  It's actually the same, exact amount of work involved.  Both ended up fixing lunch.  One was frustrated.  One was not.

Pretty Farm Life Pics

I just wanted to share some of Graci's beautiful photography with you.  Enjoy!

 

 

Help For Mommies, Controlling Stuff

Getting Stuff Under Control
 Last post I talked about some unnecessary cleaning that might be sucking up your free time.  Obviously there's gonna be some chores that you just can't avoid.  You've got to deal with food and diapers and laundry, no matter how organized you are!  But, those aren't really the problem.  It's all that other stuff that seems to be constantly out of place and needing your attention.  If you want more time for the things that matter to you, like crafts and playing outside, it will help if you show your "stuff" who's boss. 

Help For Mommies AKA Don't Kill Your Family

About a month ago I received this letter from a young mom, asking for advice.  She asked a very relevant question, bringing up a common problem.  I didn't intend to write a book, but as I've been mulling it over, well, there's a lot to her question!  I thought I'd share my response, just in case anyone else might be wondering about the same sort of things.  Here we go...

"Okay. I have a question for your blog. How do you run your household with order without killing your children and husband? I feel like I am constantly putting stuff away and cleaning up after everyone and never have the time to do things I actually want to do. I do enjoy cleaning, but there are other things I would like to do with my kids...like go exploring and crafts and have a scheduled school time. What are the first steps to managing a less-stress, fun home?"

Although I’ve been raising children for nearly 20 years, I think it was a bit of a blur back when they were all really young.  You know, it’s all about survival.  Especially when you’re outnumbered!  But never fear, I asked my trusty source of all information, my husband, who was there with me during those years, but had more of his brain functioning.  He helped remind me of  how I actually survived those years and live to tell about it.  Here’s what we came up with.  A few first steps to managing a less-stress, fun home.

Held; Finches

Here's where I'm at, right now.  Just glad to be held.

2012, The Year of ????

Happy New Year!

I don't know about you, but I've been curious for quite a while about 2012.  I've heard that it was going to be "The Year of Woes."  Boy, that really makes you want to look forward to it.  There's been a massive amount of predictions and prophecies circulating for a few years now.  It's hard for me to be hopeful when I'm expecting the world to end.

But I'm not.

I'm definitely curious, though.  I'm glad that it's finally here so we can get on with it.  Remember Y2K?
Yeah.