Sunday Visiting

We spent the day yesterday visiting some relatives that we haven't seen in quite awhile. Everyone had a wonderful time, and the children thought it was great to see their cousin again.

Easy Thrifty Tray Table

Here is a really easy little tray table that you can make from a grocery store box. We always get these cut out boxes when we go to Costco and they usually get thrown away, but no longer!! I found this idea at Home Living and thought I would give it a try. (Yes, I know - its the same paper - but I didn't realize it until after I bought it!!)   All you have to do is cover the box with some contact paper and flip it over .  Voila! Instant tray!  I thought it would be cute if I pasted some flowers or something on it that were cut out from an old card, or magazine. We didn't get that far, but its still cute without it and works so well for a little tea party!

The only thing that bugs me is that the inside isn't covered all the way. I don't think it bothers Mopsy though. Shes too busy with whats on top!

Large Family Logistics - Update

I thought I would give an update on how my schedule has been going since I started reading the book Large Family Logistics.  I haven't read the whole thing through yet, because I can only handle so much information at once! I would like to say though, the first part of the book is more of a protestant bible study on Proverbs than  information on organizing and planning, so if you choose to skip that part you won't really miss anything. After all, if your reading a book like this you already know you need to be more organized!

Anyway I have implemented her ideas on keeping up with the laundry and it is working very well. The idea is that you have one day a week dedicated to different activities, Monday being laundry day. On laundry day you would do as much laundry as possible, switching loads as soon as one is done. You should do this until 4:00 at which time everyone in the house helps to put it all away. Every other day of the week she gives a goal of 4 by 4:00 - 4 loads done by 4 p.m.. We have basically keep to this schedule and it is nice to see a manageable amount of laundry in the children's baskets! The Mt. Everest that was part of the boys room is no longer!! After the laundry is washed I separate it into everyones individual basket and they put it away at the end of the day. Now when they look in their drawers they actually have clean clothes to choose from. It's a wonderful thing to have clean, folded clothes!  I think this is a habit that is here to stay!

IT'S A GIRL!!!

We just found out that the new baby is going to be a girl! We love all our boys, but we are happy with the news. Fierce Bad Rabbit is - well  - bad! I think a girl will be a nice change of pace!  So what about names?
Well so far on my list are:

Sophia

Olivia

Claudia

Well that's really all I can think of right now.

Also I hope everyone will join me in thanking the Lord for a good report from the doctor. He saw no major concerns - thanks be to God!

3rd New Year's Resolution - Simplicity

My third resolution for this year is to simplify! I spent the last few days trying to declutter closets and books. So far I'm pretty happy with the size of my give away box! I also would like to try for a more back-to-basics outlook. Do we really need all those fancy gadgets? I think life was fine without them!

2nd News Year's Resolution - Frugality in the kitchen

My second resolution for this year is to be more frugal in the kitchen. This includes baking more, and trying to be prepared ahead of time for quick meals. It seems that we spend a lot of money on ordering meals when things don't go as planned and dinner doesn't get done. I think if there are some things in the freezer this will be minimized.


I'm sorry - this is so monochromatic!!


Tuesday is going to be the designated cooking day this year (hopefully) so today I made homemade chicken nuggets and muffins. Those indistinguishable unappetizing looking things there are cooked pinto beans. I am resolved to get away from canned items, but beans and tomatoes in particular. A few years ago everyone made a big to-do about getting BPA out of baby bottles and toddler cups, but did you know that it's in all of your canned goods? It is especially bad  to have canned items that are acidic , because the acidity draws out the BPA into the food - yumm! I know beans aren't acidic but they are much cheaper dried, so these two reasons are why I decided to start with beans and tomatoes.  Later in the week, some of these beans will be transformed to refried beans.
I have to admit that getting this cooking done in addition to the regular days cooking and doing school was a bit of a challenge, but hopefully it will get easier when I get a rhythm down. Next week I plan on making chicken stock and gluten-free tortillas.....wish me luck!

1st New Year's Resolution - Chore Charts

I hope everyone is having a good start to their new year! Today I implemented the first of my new year's resolutions - the chore chart! Well I suppose this particular chart isn't really chores as much as things all little people should be doing, but many times forget. It is only for Mr. Jackson, Tom Kitten, and Mopsy. Everyone else better already know to brush their teeth and say their prayers!! Well all but the Fierce Bad Rabbit that is!

Everyone has chores, but they aren't all lucky enough to have a chart to put stickers on. Oh well, its tough getting old!