Diet Tip

I haven't participated in Works for Me Wednesday for a while because I didn't have much to contribute, but here is a little tip that I have found to be very helpful when dieting.

Just because you are dieting doesn't mean you have to (or are able to) give up all of your favorite treats. You and your family will still want to indulge occasionally, but the trick is to make sure you don't overindulge.

I've found that if the good stuff (i.e. chocolate, cookies, pastries, etc) are in the house I will eat them. But if they are only in the house for a few hours I can just eat one, satisfy my craving, and then not worry about it anymore.

The idea is to only make goodies when you have someone else to give them to. For instance, when I'm hungry for Maple Cinnamon Rolls I make them for my Sunday School class. I get to eat one or two and then they are devoured by other people and out of my house. Any time I'm invited to a party I take foods that I can't eat on a regular basis like Bacon Bites or Tuxedo Cake. Once again I get a small sample and everyone else gets the rest. Even a trip to my parent's house gives me an excuse to make Bread Pudding or Cranberry Cheesecake.

If you do something nice for me, have a baby, undergo surgery, look down in the dumps or have been offended by me in some way I'll be there on your doorstep with Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake, brownies, Apple Caramel Cheesecake Bars or Rice Krispie Treats....with one missing of course.

I guess you could say I just like to have my cake and let someone else eat it too. It works for me.

For more great ideas head over to Rocks In My Dryer.

Handy Tip of the Week

If you're like me you run out of tape (and all other adhesives) pretty often. With holiday wrapping season coming up we can't afford to be left high and dry. But I've found an amazing substitute.

Soggy Fruity Pebbles Cereal!

Yesirree. These colorful little devils go on easily and harden like concrete in minutes. I've tested their sticking power on terry cloth, tile grout and toddler hair. It takes some real elbow grease to get them loose. They'll adhere denim to wooden chair seats and have no problem sticking to the rubbery sole of a shoe....that is at least until they come in contact with the surface they are most attracted to....carpet fibers.

For the low, low price of just $4 a box you can have an almost endless supply of emergency adhesive, in a rainbow of beautiful colors, that will keep you wrapping (or cleaning) until the wee hours on Christmas Eve. Go out and buy a box TODAY!!!

That's what's (NOT!) working for me this week. For more Works for Me Wednesday tips go to Rocks In My Dryer.

Disclaimer:

To those of you who followed this link in the hopes of seeing a real tip, I apologize. But I'll make it up to you with a giveaway. How's that?

Tomorrow join me right here at http://www.bricck.blogspot.com/ for a Holiday Giveaway Carnival hosted by the girls at Internet Cafe Devotions. There'll be plenty of great giveaways to enter and lots of wonderful prizes. I can't reveal what mine is until tomorrow so be sure to come back and see.

Let the Master Teach You How to Multiply

My sister got Ryker, my 9 year old, Yahtzee for his birthday. He had never played the game before, but he was eager to try it.

That first night we played it three times because he loved it so much...and so did my 5 year old....well for that matter so did my 2 year old, but for different reasons. She's in to anything that involves making lots of noise and thowing small objects.

Anyway, Ryker was really getting into it and starting to catch on to the stategy. The longer we played the more self sufficient he became, and I realized that he was learning something even more important than game strategy. He was really learning his multiplication tables. He started out by asking me what his score would be for 3 sixes and when I stopped answering he resorted to adding 6 plus 6 and then using his fingers to figure out what 6 more was, but after a while I heard him shouting out, "4 fives. That's 20 points."

Since that first night we've played three more times and he's got the multiplication tables 1 thru 6 down pat. If he can just remember what a full house and a large straight are then he'll be a Yahtzee expert...just like me.

Umm....actually I've come in dead last in all 6 games we've played so far. Yes, even behind the 5 year old. I've never been a strong math person, but really, this is ridiculous. Maybe I'll hit my stride when we play with the whole family over Thanksgiving Break...or at least maybe I won't completely embarrass myself. No trips to Vegas for me, that's for sure.

Using Yahtzee to teach the multiplication tables work for me. For more great Works For Me Wednesday tips go to Rocks In My Dryer.

Bookless and Bored

I'm between books. I hate that.

I just finished The Grapes of Wrath (read my review here) and my next two books haven't come in from the library yet. In an effort to be more financially responsible and have fewer material possessions I do not have any books in my home that I have not read. And I'm not a re-reader.

So that means that my few moments of peace and down time are filled with TV. Yuck! There really isn't much on that I want to watch and sometimes I just feel like reading anyway, even if there is an interesting show on TV.

So what's a person to do?

Laundry. Dishes. Scrapbooking. Sewing. Bathroom cleaning. Dog bathing.

Yeah, yeah. Besides all that.

Read blogs!

Yep, I've found an awesome romance novel on a blog to read. The writing is excellent and it is just full of cliffhangers at the end of each episode. Even better....it is a true story. You've gotta love that.

For many of you this will come as no surprise because this is probably one of the most widely read blogs on the planet, but for those of you who are a little late to the game (like me apparently) here is the scoop.

The Pioneer Woman, in honor of their 11th anniversary last year, wrote an entire series of posts about her relationship with her husband. From the first moment they met until.......well I don't know when, becasue I haven't finished it, yet. It is a hilarious and touching story about a city girl on her way from LA to Chicago to continue her high powered law degree who unexpectedly falls madly in love with a cowboy. A real life working cowboy. With a ranch and everything. There is a dog death, an obsessive ex-boyfriend, a lot of cows, a semi-truck, a car wreck and a heap of huggin' and kissin'. And get this.....the series is entitled, "Black Heels to Tractor Wheels". Isn't that cute?

Ree (the PW herself) has been writing posts in the series sporadically for a year. Lucky for me there are dozens of them already so I don't have to sit on pins and needles and wait for the next one to show up like her daily readers did. Judging by their comments they were getting a little obsessive themselves as they begged for another installment that would answer all of their burning questions. (Oh my goodness! This is a soap opera isn't it? Only without the amnesia and long lost children...at least so far. Oh well, I like it and I'm gonna keep reading it!)

A friend had told me how exciting the series was but I had never taken time to read it until just the other night when I was out of reading material. I laid in bed with Brian's laptop for two hours and did nothing but read those old posts. I loved it! I didn't want to stop and go to bed (when he got home from the Elder's meeting at 11:45 pm!!!!!, but that's another topic). Now I can't wait for nap time today so that I can see what happens now that Ree has wrecked her car while giving her future mother-in-law a ride to a cattle drive. Did I mention it is the first time they have ever met each other? Yeah, I told you it was funny.

Click over and read a few episodes.....but make sure you have plenty of time because you won't want to put this book down.......er.....navigate away from this page.....you know what I mean.

LUCKY YOU! THERE IS A BRAND NEW POST IN THE SERIES UP TODAY!!!! WOO HOO!!

Is 8:30 too early for nap time?

For more great tips check out Works for Me Wednesday at Rocks in My Dryer.

BTW: If you are interested in joining me in a book discussion blog check out this post.

Slicing Apples

If you're like me and frantically using apples before they go bad then you are also probably as tired as I am of peeling, coring and slicing. Of course the best way to do it quickly is to use an Apple Peeler, Corer, Slicer like this one from Pampered Chef.

But if you are poor like me and don't have one of these the next best thing to use is a melon baller. Once you've peeled the skin with your potato peeler all you have to do is cut the apple in half and then use your melon baller to scoop out the seeds and core on each side. You can then lay the apple half down on the cutting board and start slicing.

It worked great when I had to slice 10 apples for the Apple Bars I made this weekend. In fact, here is the recipe:

Autumn Apple Bars

Ingredients:

Milk
1egg yolk (reserve egg white)
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
8 cups tart cooking apples, peeled, cored and sliced to 1/4-inch thickness (about 8 to 10 medium)
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, divided
2-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, divided
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 egg white

Drizzle:

1 cup powdered sugar
1 or 2 tablespoons milk
½ teaspoon vanilla

Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. For crust, add enough milk to egg yolk to measure 2/3 cup; set aside. Combine flour and salt in medium bowl. Cut in butter until crumbly using pastry blender or two knives. With fork, stir in milk mixture until dough forms ball; divide into 2 halves. Roll out half to 15X10-inch rectangle on lightly floured surface. Place on bottom of ungreased 15X10X1-inch jelly-roll pan.

2. For filling, sprinkle graham cracker crumbs over top of dough; layer apple slices over crumbs. Combine 1 cup granulated sugar, 1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon and nutmeg in small bowl; sprinkle over apples.

3. Roll out remaining dough into 15X10-1/2-inch rectangle; place over apples. With fork, beat egg white in small bowl until foamy; brush over top crust. Stir together remaining 2 tablespoons granulated sugar and remaining 1 teaspoon cinnamon in another small bowl; sprinkle over crust. Bake 45 to 60 minutes or until lightly browned.

4. For drizzle, stir together all ingredients in small bowl. Drizzle over top; cut into bars.

For more great tips go to Rocks In My Dryer.

Service Project

I'm always looking for ways to teach the kids about serving others. I didn't have to look far when I stopped to drop off our recyclables at the dumpster last week.

The sign on the side of the dumpster says this....

And yet the people who took the time to rinse, sort and bag their hundreds of soda bottles, water bottles and milk jugs couldn't take the time to actually put them in the dumpster. There were five bags of plastics laying on the ground.

So I went home and got the whole gang to come help me get them all into their proper compartment in the dumpster.

Everybody joined in the fun and it took us no time at all to get the ground around the dumpster all cleaned up.

Despite being left with the burning desire to wash our hands 10 times in a row....I think we all felt good about helping the environment and our own local Mt. Dew addict...whoever he may be.

Daily Devotions

I've never been very good at sticking to a daily devotional schedule. Despite the fact that I stay at home no two days are ever the same and it is hard to predict when I will have time to sit down for a devotion. I'm also just not very consistent in my studies and sometimes bore of the author and his/her subject matter before I'm finished with the book.

I've recently found something that works well though. Internet Cafe Devotions. It is a blog basically where different women everyday share a devotion. The voice and subject matter are different everytime you log on so there is no chance of getting bored. The writing is funny and insightful and offers some good scripture references to look up too. If you really enjoy a particular article there is a link to the author's personal blog so that you can read more of her stuff.

So check it out and find time for a devotion today. It works for me.

For more great Works For Me Wednesday ideas go to Rocks In My Dryer.

Cardboard Testimonies

Two weeks ago at church we did something called "Cardboard Testimonies". It was one of the most powerful services we have ever had. If you haven't seen it, and/or haven't done it at your church you really should.

The idea is that everyone has a cardboard testimony. On one side of your little homemade sign are listed your failures and fears. On the other side is listed your victory in Christ. For example, someone's sign might say, "Abused as a child" on the front. But when she turns it over it says, "God heals emotional wounds".

So we set about asking people (not an easy thing to do...touchy) in our church that we know struggled or suffered in a particular area to share their testimony by making a cardboard sign and walking across stage with it during the service. Not a single person we asked turned us down. Everyone was eager to share how God had changed their life. From alcoholics to sideline Christians to infertile couples they marched across our stage as our praise band played and sang, "Oh How He Loves Us".

I orginally saw the idea on YouTube and thought it was great. I cried my eyes out even though I didn't personally know any of the people involved. Apparently our pastor saw it live at the North American Christian Convention and had the same response. Anyway, it was a major success at our church and I would encourage anyone to try it.

Here is the YouTube video that started it all for us.

Kitchen Organization

Well it's Works for Me Wednesday at Rocks In My Dryer. Unfortunately this is a "themed" edition that is supposed to be about kitchen organization. I am not qualified to comment on the subject.

My idea of kitchen organization is to have enough cabinets that everything fits in to them and you can shut the doors and keep the counters clean. Voila! Your kitchen will look organized....as long as no one opens the cabinets.

But as I looked around my kitchen this morning trying to see if there was anything organized about it I did notice one small item. It was actually an idea I got from someone else's blog and it works really well.

Despite all of the many cabinets in my kitchen I still don't have room for the bulky bags of chips, pretzels, and bread that we keep around. (Obviously if my cabinets were organized I would...but oh well.) So I was piling all of that stuff on top of my fridge. #1 for easy access for me, #2 so my kids couldn't reach it. But it was making the top of my fridge look really jumbled and messy.

Then I read a blog (who knows which one?) and got a great organizing tip. I bought a large rectangular basket with tall sides and filled it will all of my chip bags. Then I slid it on top of the fridge and it just looks like a cute decorative basket. I bought one that was green striped and matches my kitchen so that it really looks like it belongs there. Now I just pull the basket down whenever the kids need a salty snack, and put it back when I'm done dishing out the pretzels.

It works for me.

For more WFMW tips head over to Rocks In My Dryer.

Mexico: Dos

Well, today is Works for Me Wednesday and since I'm in the middle of my series about my recent trip to Mexico I thought I'd share with you all how mission trips work for me.

La Mision (The Mission)

Ninos* de Mexico is a non-profit mission directly supported by churches in the U.S. and Canada. In 1967 they began taking in children from the Mexico City area that have been abandonded, abused and/or orphaned. They then care for these children until they are adults and out on their own. They have children's homes, a Christian school, a medical outreach and a church plant within their mission.

In addition to donations from churches that pay for the teachers' salaries, facilities and other needs, Ninos also operates on a sponsorship basis. Through their H.U.G.S. (Helping the Underpriveleged Get Started) program individuals sponsor a specific child. This involves corresponding with the child and sending a monthly support check...usually around $25. Each child needs at least 6 sponsors in order to cover his/her room and board, clothing, shoes, and other basic needs.

My church is one of the many churches that supports the Ninos mission. Within my church there are several people who participate in the H.U.G.S. program and sponsor children that are currently living at the home. So we take a trip to Ninos every other year in order to:

#1 complete some much needed work projects at the facility

#2 show the staff and children at Ninos our support and love

#3 show the members of our congregation exactly what Ninos is all about and encourage their continued support

#4 to allow sponsors to visit the children they have been supporting over the years.

For me personally the trip was a chance to use my education and my skills as a Spanish teacher and Spanish speaker and serve God at the same time. I knew very little about Ninos when I went. I knew that it was an orphanage and a school, but that's about it. This is what I learned:

Ninos is located in Chicoloapan, a "suburb" of the gigantically sprawling metropolis of Mexico City. It is an orphanage in the sense that they take in and care for orphans, but it is so much more than that.

Ninos is committed to raising these children and caring and supporting them until they are mature adult Christian professionals. They are raising Mexicans to be Mexicans. They are not americanizing the kids. Their goal is for their children to be productive members of their own society and culture, who can also further the cause for Christ in their own country as ministers and as lay workers. For this reason, children who are placed at Ninos cannot be adopted. Once they arrive at Ninos they will not leave (unless by their own choice) until they have accomplished the goals stated above. This does bring about some unique issues, however.

First of all, the Mexican government is on an adoption kick right now and only wants to place their children in orphanages where they can be adopted. This comes and goes with the whims of the government officials, so it will likely change before too long, but in the meantime the government is reluctant to place children at Ninos.

Secondly, there are "children" living in the homes that are up to 23 years old. There are no age limits at Ninos. As long as a child wants to continue his/her education he/she can remain at Ninos. So there are houses with children ranging in age from 5 to 23. This is quite a challenge for the houseparents as you can imagine.

In addition to the homes, there is a Christian school on the campus of Ninos. All of the children in grades pre-K through 9 attend this school. Right now there are approximately 30 children in the school. High school students attend a local private high school. Ninos strives to give the children a basic education that will allow them to continue on to the university or technical school of their choice after graduation. The school faces many struggles as they educate the children.

When the children arrive they have usually been abused in some way (physically, mentally, sexually, or all of the above) and/or abandoned. Some have been shuffled around through other children's homes while others have lived alone on the streets for years. I met children who were chained up during the day while their parents worked. I met 5 children who were abandonded into the care of their oldest sibling...an 8 year old girl. I met children who had watched their parents die before being taken in by the state and placed at Ninos. These children have not been to school. Sometimes they don't even know the alphabet or how to read or write...and they might be 10 or 12 years old.

This makes "school" as we know it an impossibility. Students can't be placed by age or size. Their instuction has to be very individualized. That is why there are 23 year olds entering high school, and that is why Ninos is so special.

No child at Ninos will be left without a spiritual or academic education. He/She can achieve as much as they desire with the full support of Ninos. They always have a home, siblings and houseparents standing behind them as they strive for success...no matter how long it takes. Dr. Noe is a good example.

Dr. Noe came to Ninos in its early days along with his 9 brothers and sisters. He lived and studied there until he was 30 years old. He then went away to college where he became a doctor. He is now the physician for Ninos and their medical clinic out in the mountains. His sister, Isais, is the Spanish teacher at the school. These children were raised by Ninos and now use their lives to help other children just like them. And they aren't the only ones. Lorena, one of the houseparents, is also a former Ninos child, and her husband, Luis, is the son of former houseparents so he grew up at Ninos too.

Ninos is an incredible organization that, like all missions, faces extrordinary challenges. They are changing so many lives for the better, and introducing so many children to the love of Jesus Christ while rescuing them from a life of poverty and abuse. I absolutely fell in love with the children and the mission.

The theme verse at Ninos is Psalm 27:10 "Though my mother and father forsake me, the Lord will receive me." The kids all have shirts that say "RECEIVED" in big bold letters on the back to remind them that they have been received by their heavenly father and he will never forsake them.

Please pray for the children and staff at Ninos. If you are interested in sponsoring a child go HERE. If you just want more information go HERE.

Whatever else you do, never miss an opportunity to go on a missions trip. You will not come back the same. Your view of God and his work will be forever changed. We all need to see His hand at work in far off places to remind us of his immeasurable love and power.

More on my Mexico series coming up later this week, so stay tuned.

For more Works For Me Wednesday go to Rocks In My Dryer.

*It drives me crazy that I couldn't put the tilda over the "n" each time I wrote "Ninos" in this post. Just know that it is there in my mind and that the word is pronounce [neen-yos], NOT [nee-nos]. If anyone knows how to do this in blogger please let me know. (For the record Mexico should have an accent mark over the "e" too, but we'll let that slide for now also.)

Long Live DVR

How did we live without the ability to record live TV?

I've filled my DVR twice (25 hours X 2) trying to keep up with the Olympics while being in Mexico and our family reunion weekend. Do you know how many VCR tapes that would have been? Not to mention all of the time wasted waiting for them to rewind and fast forward.

There is no way I could have caught all of the equestrian and synchronized swimming on Oxygen and the triathalon and weight lifting on MSNBC while watching the late night coverage of the track and field heats from the previous night without my DVR. Plus, my reality TV shows are still airing new episodes despite the Olympics (if you can believe it) so I have to tape them overnight too.

DVR definitely works for me...BIG TIME.

Summer Fun

I have a really good excuse for not posting anything yesterday.

I was being mugged, robbed, exploited and ripped off!

Yeah, you guessed it. I was at Six Flags.

I went there voluntarily, and only because I had free tickets, but it still makes me mad that they are out there scheming how to get even more money from families out to have a little summer fun. Here is a breakdown of the various costs of going to Six Flags:

Parking: $15 and a 2 mile hike for regular, $18 for preferred, no free areas

Locker Rental: $11 for the smallest size

Tube Rental: (Yes, if you want a tube at the water park you have to RENT one. They do have free ones floating around but they only let a few out and you have to stand in line to wait for them before you can go on a slide. If you have rented a tube of course there are no lines.) $8 or so, not sure because I didn't rent any

Lunch: $20 for one hamburger and fries and a child's popcorn chicken meal, no drinks

Rides: Included in the price of the ticket, right? Nope. Not all of them. There are now a few rides that you have to pay to ride. $20 to be exact for one session on the trampolines and slingshot rides.

Other great things about Six Flags:

You are not allowed to take food inside. Old ladies that check your bags upon entry will throw it away if they find it. Bored teenagers that check your bag will mumble something and pass you on through with all of your junk food intact.

They have a few sand beaches in the water park instead of the customary concrete ones and all of their landscaping has wood mulch around it instead of rock. How very organic, right? How very dirty is more like it. All of that sand and mulch gets tracked out and washed out on to the sidewalks where you have to walk on it all day. Then it washes off of your feet into the water. Nice, huh?

The speed slides open 2 hours after the rest of the waterpark, and only then if enough of the bored teenage workers show up to man them. (A bored teenage worker actually explained this to me.)

There are some rides that do not allow you to take any personal items on them, even if you hold them etc. Some of them have little tubs at the entrance/exit to put your things in while you ride. The ones that don't charge you a $1, 1 time usage locker fee.

In conclusion:

GO TO HOLIDAY WORLD IN SANTA CLAUS INDIANA INSTEAD!

Holiday World is a holiday themed amusement and water park in rural southern Indiana. It is very family oriented and is more fun than any other amusement park I have ever been to.

Our family has always loved Holiday World. (The school only gives free tickets to Six Flags, unfortunately or we wouldn't even darken the doors.) It is the polar opposite of Six Flags.

Parking is free, and includes a shuttle to the front gate of the park.

Soda is free. Yep, just refill your cup at the drink stations all day long.

Sunscreen is free. Yep, just squirt a handful out any time you pass a pump.

Tubes are free and in abundant supply.

No need for lockers. We haul all of our stuff around in a wagon and leave it in a central location. We have never had a single item stolen.

Awesome water park with lots more rides and fun kid play areas than Six Flags.

Adult tickets at Holiday World cost the same as a kids ticket at Six Flags.

I will say that the roller coasters are not as thrilling as those at Six Flags and there aren't as many of them but my kids won't ride any of them anyway. There are plenty of other great rides (Scrambler, Tilt-o-Whirl, Octopus, Swings etc.) that they enjoy.

If you've never been to Holiday World you should really try it some time. You can check it out HERE. Holiday World works for me!

For more great Works For Me Wednesday tips go to Rocks In My Dryer.

One, Two, Three, Four

This week we had a specific challenge for WFMW. We had to come up with a recipe that uses 5 or less ingredients. One, Two, Three, Four was the first thing that popped into my mind.

It is a yummy and completely unhealthy dessert. The name is also a reminder of the recipe. Here it is.

1, 2, 3, 4 Dessert

1 cup butter

2 cups sugar

3 cups flour

4 eggs

Mix the four ingredients together and spread 2/3 of the mixture onto a cookie sheet. Dump 2 cans of pie filling on top of the mixture and then drop dollops of the reserved mixture on top of the pie filling.

Bake at 350 for 30 mins.

Nothing could be easier.

For oodles more 5 ingredient or less recipes head over to Rocks In My Dryer.

More Power

I have never been a tooth person.

Don't get me wrong....I have teeth, all of them actually, except my wisdom teeth.

I just don't enjoy working on them.

I've always hated brushing my teeth. I don't like the taste of toothpaste or the feeling of all that foam in my mouth. I do brush my teeth because I know I need to but I don't like it and I never, ever, ever floss. It is just too annoying and time consuming and painful.

I also don't go to the dentist unless it is an emergency.

The thought of all of that scraping and poking and digging gives me little nervous butterflies in my stomach just thinking about it.

I know. I am a horrible and disgusting person. Sue me.

Anyway, I have always hoped that my dental discrimination wouldn't rub off on my kids. I don't think it has. They love to brush their teeth, but they're 8 and 4 year old boys...they don't keep up with it very well.

Until now.

Because they were practically giving them away at CVS last week, I got two Oral-B Pulsar electric toothbrushes. The boys think they are the best invention known to mankind. They are brushing their teeth multiple times a day...just for the fun of it.

They love the buzzing sound and the tickly feeling it makes on their gums.There is no need to set a timer...unless it would be to make them stop brushing and go to bed. They cover each tooth multiple times with the spinning bristles.

Now if I could only teach them how to use a small dollop of toothpaste instead of half a tube at a time. Oh well, baby steps, baby steps.

So, electric toothbrushes definitely work for me, or at least for my kids.

For more Works For Me Wednesday Tips head over to Rocks in My Dryer.

Summer School

I can't believe I'm saying this but....

Summer School works for me.

Not the kind where the kids go to the school for remedial courses but the kind where I sit down with them at the table every day and we "do school".

I am not a homeschooling mom. I do not have the patience to instruct my children in anything or be with them 24 hours a day.

But, this summer I really wanted to make sure that my oldest didn't forget all of those addition, subtraction and multiplication facts that we've studied all year and I needed to get my 5 year old ready for kindergarten. Plus, they both need to work on their penmanship...big time.

Not to mention the fact that left to their own devices for 8 hours a day they will simply bicker with each other until I can't take it anymore and lock them both outside. We need some structure.

So far it has really worked well. Ryker quizzes Cainan on letter recognition with flashcards and Cainan quizzes Ryker on math facts (as an added bonus Cainan gets to practice number recognition when he reads the answers on the back of the flashcard too.). Cainan practices writing his name while Ryker writes letters to his teacher or friends. We make homemade cards and work in some age appropriate workbooks. Ryker also practices the piano and Cainan sorts items by shape, color and size. I plan on doing some baking with them (which they both love) to practice measuring, fractions, and just plain old cooking skills.

Granted it has only been one week, but so far we are all enjoying it. Kinley even gets in on the fun by sitting in her high chair and coloring or reading books. They don't know it but we are going to take them on a "field trip" to the City Museum later this summer.

As crazy as it sounds, summer school at home is working. Hallelujah!

Ladybug Tea

If you live in the midwest...and maybe other parts of North America...you know that the first few warm days of spring bring on the ladybugs.

I call them ladybugs. I'm sure that is not their technical name but if I ask Brian what the technical name is he'll give me the 10 minute kingdom, phyllum, genus, species report and I just don't feel like it right now. So....for our purposes in this post they will be referred to as ladybugs.

These little buggers can get in the tiniest holes and then climb to the far reaches of a room and pile on top of each other in the corners. When you've got 20 foot ceilings, like I do, it's a problem.
You can vacuum them up every day (if you can reach them) but they just keep coming back.

They fly around and bounce off of the lights all evening and in the morning they are covering the floors and counters. And, on top of that, they give off a horrible smell when threatened or frightened. Oddly enough they find the vacuum cleaner to be both frightening and threatening. As well they should.

In short...they are a nuisance!!

But, amazingly they don't taste bad.

My cat and dog eat them all the time and my toddler snacks on them occasionally too.

I always thought they (the pets and toddler) were crazy, but as it turns out their flavor isn't as potent as their odor.

As Brian made my tea one evening he remarked, "Eww, I've got to empty this water out. There are like 5 ladybugs floating in here. You really ought to keep the spout covered on this teapot."

The funny thing is I had already made 3 cups of tea with that water that day and hadn't noticed anything odd about it at all.

So all you adventerous tea addicts out there, give it a whirl. Ladybug tea! Who knows it may be good for the memory or relieving joint stiffness or regrowing hair? If only it straightened spines I would be harvesting those little babies like you wouldn't believe.

Please don't ever drink tea made of insects (dead or living) without the expressed written consent of Major League Baseball a medical professional.

For other (more inspiring and helpful) ideas go to Rocks in My Dryer.

Make Your Own Detergent

Well, it is Works For Me Wednesday again and this time I actually have something to add.


I made my own laundry detergent and it really works!!


There are lots of recipes online for powder and liquid laundry detergent but I found a great recipe and explanation of how all of the components work here.


I made mine out of 1 cup of Borax, 1 cup of Washing Soda and 1 cup Fels Naptha soap shavings. I mixed up a big batch and started using it. I use 1/4 cup in each load.


It seems to work just as well as any other detergent and I actually like the smell of the Fels Naptha soap. It is a little strange not to see any bubbles or suds in the machine, but hey it works, so who cares.


I will warn you that I also tried to make my own dishwasher detergent. It does not work. It is horrible as a matter of fact. Everything came out scummy and with a film on it. See....

The glass on the right was washed in the homemade detergent and the glass on the left was washed in Cascade.

I used the 1 cup Borax, 1 cup Washing Soda, 1/4 cup salt recipe and then put vinegar in my rinse agent dispenser. It still didn't help. It bothers me that there is no soap in the recipe...and the fact that it doesn't actually clean anything.

I've never wanted to handwash dishes so badly in mylife. I take that back....I've never wanted to handwash dishes in my life, until now. I'm so glad to have my good old generic Great Value dishwasher detergent back.

For more great ideas head over to WFMW at Rocks in My Dryer.

Kid Swap

Kid swapping works for me. No, this isn't the kind where you sneak out of the nursery with the one that sleeps for 12 hours straight every night and leave your collicky little one behind. This is the temporary kind where you get free babysitting one day a week or so.

I have a friend who has one child in school and two at home. Bingo! Me too! Both of us want to volunteer at the school, chaperone field trips, and be room mothers, but there is always the question of what to do with the little ones.

So we started a kid swap. One day a week I keep her two kids for the morning while she works at the school. The next week she takes my kids and I enter the world of second grade....just temporarily, thank goodness.

It gives us some time away from the house and in the school with our older kids and it gives the little kids a great chance to have a playdate. If field trips come up we work out an equitable schedule for swapping.

I highly recommend kid swapping to anyone who stays at home with their children. All you need is someone else with roughly the same number of kids at approximately the same age as your own. Then you just have to set up a schedule that works for both of you.

When I only had one child at home I used to swap with someone else and we each took the other child for an entire day every week. It was awesome! The boys loved each other and got along great. They took naps at each other's houses with no problems, so it made it easy. It was wonderful to have one whole day every week to myself. I would volunteer at the school for half a day and then do my grocery shopping, take a nap, or read a good book for the other half of the day.

Now, I don't think I could handle having 4 kids around one day every week, so we have set it up on an every other week basis. Be flexible and do what works for both families. Also remember that your swapping partner for this year/semester may not work out for next year/semester. My old partner has both kids in school now, so she obviously doesn't need to swap anymore. My new partner is moving out of town over the summer, so now I'm recruiting for next year.

Anybody going to have one little 2 year old girl around home next school year?

For more great WFMW tips go to Rocks in My Dryer.

Watercolor Painting Made Easy

My four year old is an artist. Just ask him. He'll tell you all about it. His favorite medium right now is watercolor painting. My sister gave me this great tip for providing the little Picasso with lots of clean, un-spillable water to wet his brush with.

Just fill a six hole muffin tin with water. Fill each hole half way and let them paint to their heart's content. It can't be tipped over (accidentally anyway) and there are 6 pools of clean water for them to use.

Give it a try and for more great WFMW tips head over to Rocks in My Dryer and read them all.

Make Playing Easier

This is my first ever WFMW post. It is supposed to be a "best of" theme but since this is my first one I guess this is my best. This idea did not originate with me. It came straight from the Family Fun Magazine. Here is it.

It is a chip clip being used as a card holder for little hands. It worked perfectly for my 4 year old. He always has trouble holding on to his cards and usually ends up laying them all out and making us promise over and over and over and over not to look at them. We played a rousing game of Sesame Street Uno and never even saw a peep of his cards, however, it is harder to lose on purpose that way so use this tip at your own discretion.

For more great tips click on the graphic above and read them all.