Merry Christmas Everybody!
I am sorry that I haven't posted in a while. Life gets away with me!
I just wanted to wish y'all a very Merry Christmas. May the Lord bless you!
New Day
Friday, December 23, 2011
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Thursday, Nov. 3
I really need to go make some coffee. I've been up a while but things are slow this morning. I got my sheets halfway changed and then was sidetracked by the children. Then I somehow ended up on here.
Yesterday I went to the hospital with my mom to see my grandmother. She had surgery for intestinal cancer. I hope they got it all. She is doing fairly well considering. She's a tiny woman and that big hospital bed swallows her. I hope she can come home soon. The doctor wants her to go to a rehab place but she has plenty of family and friends to take care of her right at home. Also, her sister in law (my great aunt) is a retired nurse... anyway hopefully the doctor will change his mind. She is on liquids for a week. A friend brought in chocolate bars yesterday and I about had a fit! That was so mean as this lady is also a nurse and knows she couldn't eat them.
Today is bedroom day. My bedroom is in pretty good shape so I just need to finish the bed and sweep the floor. Then I want to take some of the children upstairs to help me pick up the playroom. It won't take long for that either. I have about three loads of laundry to do today. I just might be able to fold the two loads I didn't get to yesterday as well. Then I'll be all caught up! Cool! Laundry has always been my biggest challenge. So if I can keep this habit going- and the washer stands faithful in continuing to work- then I should be able to keep the ball rolling.
The floors needing the most attention today are the kitchen and dining room floors. I'll feel better with that done!
We're working on creation in science and so this is neat to have the littles learning what we take for granted in knowing. It's easy to forget that the children don't know what we do. We have begun using Exploring God's Creation. This is to supplement the Prairie Primer.
We have a lot more school to do as we didn't do any yesterday. This year seems to be going pretty well. So this gives me peace of mind.
Supper? Hmmm, I might make some Chicken Divan. Dalton has been craving curry for a while and that has a bit of curry powder in it. We all love Indian/Sri Lankan/ Oriental food so much. That means a lot of curry!
Have a great day in the Lord!
Yesterday I went to the hospital with my mom to see my grandmother. She had surgery for intestinal cancer. I hope they got it all. She is doing fairly well considering. She's a tiny woman and that big hospital bed swallows her. I hope she can come home soon. The doctor wants her to go to a rehab place but she has plenty of family and friends to take care of her right at home. Also, her sister in law (my great aunt) is a retired nurse... anyway hopefully the doctor will change his mind. She is on liquids for a week. A friend brought in chocolate bars yesterday and I about had a fit! That was so mean as this lady is also a nurse and knows she couldn't eat them.
Today is bedroom day. My bedroom is in pretty good shape so I just need to finish the bed and sweep the floor. Then I want to take some of the children upstairs to help me pick up the playroom. It won't take long for that either. I have about three loads of laundry to do today. I just might be able to fold the two loads I didn't get to yesterday as well. Then I'll be all caught up! Cool! Laundry has always been my biggest challenge. So if I can keep this habit going- and the washer stands faithful in continuing to work- then I should be able to keep the ball rolling.
The floors needing the most attention today are the kitchen and dining room floors. I'll feel better with that done!
We're working on creation in science and so this is neat to have the littles learning what we take for granted in knowing. It's easy to forget that the children don't know what we do. We have begun using Exploring God's Creation. This is to supplement the Prairie Primer.
We have a lot more school to do as we didn't do any yesterday. This year seems to be going pretty well. So this gives me peace of mind.
Supper? Hmmm, I might make some Chicken Divan. Dalton has been craving curry for a while and that has a bit of curry powder in it. We all love Indian/Sri Lankan/ Oriental food so much. That means a lot of curry!
Have a great day in the Lord!
Monday, October 31, 2011
Wow, What a Tiring Day!
I begin this entry under hesitation as I am intoxicatingly tired. Today was a very busy day. It seems like days ago when I visited our local produce stand and grocer to buy some supplies to make some chow-chow. It was actually just this morning. This is a type of relish made from leftovers of your summer harvest. We had tomatoes to take off the plants before the frost came. The only bad thing is, the tomatoes were green. I am saving the biggest ones to ripen inside but the small ones were in danger of waste if I didn't preserve them.
I am very blessed to have found a food processor at a yard sale Saturday morning. That saved me at least $20! It worked like a charm today, thankfully. We not only used it to chop the tomatoes, cabbage, onion and peppers for the chow-chow but we shredded additional cabbage for some chinese dumpling (pot stickers)and even more cabbage and carrots for coleslaw.
Brittany worked with me in the kitchen a lot of the day and that was a delight. She helped keep my mind off my grandmother having surgery for intestinal cancer. She and I both are amazed at how much work went in today!
So, now we have 19 pints of chow-chow for the year. I am glad that all jars sealed. I have no idea what the stuff will taste like as I lost my Mom's recipe and had to try one I know not much about. It seemed basic so hopefully the chow chow will be.... basically good. There's more green tomatoes but I think I'll just hope for the rest of those tomatoes to ripen indoors.
It's almost 11pm and it's past my bedtime. This is my story of the day I made chow-chow in 2011. Goodnight.
I am very blessed to have found a food processor at a yard sale Saturday morning. That saved me at least $20! It worked like a charm today, thankfully. We not only used it to chop the tomatoes, cabbage, onion and peppers for the chow-chow but we shredded additional cabbage for some chinese dumpling (pot stickers)and even more cabbage and carrots for coleslaw.
Brittany worked with me in the kitchen a lot of the day and that was a delight. She helped keep my mind off my grandmother having surgery for intestinal cancer. She and I both are amazed at how much work went in today!
So, now we have 19 pints of chow-chow for the year. I am glad that all jars sealed. I have no idea what the stuff will taste like as I lost my Mom's recipe and had to try one I know not much about. It seemed basic so hopefully the chow chow will be.... basically good. There's more green tomatoes but I think I'll just hope for the rest of those tomatoes to ripen indoors.
It's almost 11pm and it's past my bedtime. This is my story of the day I made chow-chow in 2011. Goodnight.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
House Cleaning and Homeschooling
House cleaning and homeschooling is truly an art! It takes organization and stamina. It takes alertness and flexibility. With all that said, despite my lacking in each of these departments...it is possible. :D In addition to all this, it also takes a desire and the right attitude to do it. It's all in the mindset of taking pleasure in tidyness. It takes an eye for getting rid of clutter.
Flylady is a wonderful tool to teach good habits! On and off in my 21 year marriage, I have been a side-tracked home executive. Once a routine was set and the ball was rolling something would come in and shuffle things up. Sometimes it was the wonderous event of another child entering the family. Sometimes it would be illness. Either way, it happens! Then it takes some determination to get the ball rolling again.
I do have a few tips that helps me keep the house going and I think could be helpful to share here.
1. delegate: You cannot do it all on your own, nor should you have to. It's not doing you or your children any favors for you to try and do it all. Write out a plan for each child to have their own chores. Teach everyone to be giving at times and pitch in to help others- even if it isn't their job.
2. Routines: Have routines in your life! Having a plan is key. Having routines that you do every day will become habit and later you'll find you've done things without even knowing it! Now isn't that nice? Flylady teaches to have that morning routine of getting up, getting dressed, make bed, swish toilet, swipe counter and sweep floors. Your bathroom will smile right back at you! Your bedroom will as well. Begin your laundry first thing. This is the one that I often forget. :D The key though is to have laundry as part of your routine. Do it each day!
3. Have designated days or weeks to work in certain areas of your home. Flylady teaches to do this in weeks. I do this by the day. Monday is livingroom day. Why did I chose Monday? Well, I don't know what your livingroom looks like on Mondays but if it looked like mine, you'd want to do it too! There's something about detailing the livingroom first thing on Monday mornings that makes concentrating on school so much easier.
Tuesdays are dedicated to the kitchen. Tuesdays works great for me as it gives me a full two days before we head for our monthly shopping trip. I use the Tuesday before that big shopping day to clean out the fridge and examine the pantry in order to write lists of what to buy and menus.
Wednesday is our laundry day. This is where I catch up on folding wash and working in the laundry room/ family closet. Wednesdays are good for me because we have church that night and I need to pick out clothes anyway. So on Wednesdays I also pick out clothes for church that night, Sunday clothes and also any outside activities we may have the following six days.
Thursday is bedroom cleanup day. Why Thursday? Well,long ago I used to listen to a radio show that came on a few hours on Thursday (the Flylady show!) and the radio, at that time, was in our bedroom. So while in there I had plenty of time to clean in there. So it became habit to do this on that day for me. The children also cleans their rooms on this day. The girls, especially, are excited to show me their tidy rooms when they're done! The little ones always want me to come and see right away what they did. :D
Friday is bathroom day. This is the day I like to really detail the bathrooms. Isn't it most common to have guests on the weekend that needs to use your bathroom? It is here! So I like doing this in the morning and having it all fresh just in case.
In our house this leaves the playroom and the school room. If we get to it, this then gets done on Saturday. I must admit, these rooms don't get done as they should. As a matter of fact, our schoolroom and the laundry room are the two worst rooms in my house. I'm still establishing habits in these rooms for myself and the children.
On Saturday we work on outside chores as well.
Make sure that you have a time limit for the detail cleaning.
4. Make it a habit to put things away. Teach this to your children. THIS INCLUDES THE MESS MY CHILDREN ARE MAKING AS I TYPE THIS- THIS VERY MOMENT. Teach yourself and your children to wipe up and pick up behind yourself. You will thank you. Your children will thank you. Your children's spouse will thank you. Your grandchildren...do you get the picture? Okay. Before you leave each room think to yourself, "how can I make this room better before I leave?". It will become such a habit that you'll do it no matter where you are. I catch myself wiping the counters in public restrooms.
5. Keep a notebook or binder with lists, lists, lists and more lists. Make this your brain. When you have to teach on owl pellets, integers, phonics, conjunctions, human anatomy, spelling words and so much more, you have no more brain cells to work and remember all the cleaning chores you have! WRITE A LIST. Example:
Monday (livingroom): vacuum between cracks on floor, clean under couch and loveseat, mop, sweep cobwebs from ceiling.
Tuesday (kitchen): clean ceiling fan, clean out 'fridge, clean bottom drawer of stove
Wednesday (laundry)
Thursday (bedroom) clean off dresser, vacuum closet floor
Friday (bathroom) clean tub and shower, clean fan over toilet, detail toilet
Get the picture? Access what is going on in each room and what needs to be done first. When I first began this my house was a WRECK and I didn't know where to start. So I just began with what bothered me most or what was husband's first choice or what NEEDED done first. Believe it or not, after weeks of keeping this plan there will be days when you will be done before your time is up! Then you can sit down and type posts like this. ;D Keep a running list of what you want to do next, but allow for time for when disasters slip up might take top priority.
6. Do quick tidies throughout the day. Make everyone stop and pick up. Make. this. a. habit. Teach the children that you are not looking for perfection but that there has to be a cap put on how far you'll allow disorder go. Make it a game. Tell each child that they need to pick up 7 things each and put the things in their homes. What? You say with seven children plus a mama that this would be 56 things to pick up. That isn't possible to have that much to pick up if you picked up earlier. Do you wanna bet? Besides, if they do run out of things to pick up, tell them to go down the hall or into another room and pick something up.....or make it just 5 things.
6. Have an afternoon routine, after you're done with school. Mine is checking the kitchen and diningroom floors to see if they need attention. Do any other floors need a quick mopping as well. Is there something I should do to head toward our goal of making supper? What rooms needs a room rescue the most? Make that room make you have a nice "aaaaaahhhhh" feeling when you walk in. No matter though-- do it quick!
7. Clean up after every meal and while you're cooking! Assign a person to a day for dish duty so the same person isn't stuck in the kitchen each day. Here I have them load/unload the dishwasher after lunch and after supper. Whoever does the cooking washes the cookware and also wipes all down in the kitchen.
8. Don't sit and watch t.v. unless you have something to do. My main things are menu planning, folding clothes or floor exercises. Just don't sit being unproductive. It causes......ummmm....unproduction. Yeah.
9. Don't strive for perfection. Not that you could ever achieve this. I mean, perfection is a good goal but be fine with leaving something for later. It will be okay. After all, aren't things looking up anyway? So you're moving in the right direction.
Before you know it, you will feel peace and not frantic if someone pulls in the yard to have a surprise visit. Ask me how I know. You will also have time in the morning and then also in the afternoon for school goals as well.
Flylady is a wonderful tool to teach good habits! On and off in my 21 year marriage, I have been a side-tracked home executive. Once a routine was set and the ball was rolling something would come in and shuffle things up. Sometimes it was the wonderous event of another child entering the family. Sometimes it would be illness. Either way, it happens! Then it takes some determination to get the ball rolling again.
I do have a few tips that helps me keep the house going and I think could be helpful to share here.
1. delegate: You cannot do it all on your own, nor should you have to. It's not doing you or your children any favors for you to try and do it all. Write out a plan for each child to have their own chores. Teach everyone to be giving at times and pitch in to help others- even if it isn't their job.
2. Routines: Have routines in your life! Having a plan is key. Having routines that you do every day will become habit and later you'll find you've done things without even knowing it! Now isn't that nice? Flylady teaches to have that morning routine of getting up, getting dressed, make bed, swish toilet, swipe counter and sweep floors. Your bathroom will smile right back at you! Your bedroom will as well. Begin your laundry first thing. This is the one that I often forget. :D The key though is to have laundry as part of your routine. Do it each day!
3. Have designated days or weeks to work in certain areas of your home. Flylady teaches to do this in weeks. I do this by the day. Monday is livingroom day. Why did I chose Monday? Well, I don't know what your livingroom looks like on Mondays but if it looked like mine, you'd want to do it too! There's something about detailing the livingroom first thing on Monday mornings that makes concentrating on school so much easier.
Tuesdays are dedicated to the kitchen. Tuesdays works great for me as it gives me a full two days before we head for our monthly shopping trip. I use the Tuesday before that big shopping day to clean out the fridge and examine the pantry in order to write lists of what to buy and menus.
Wednesday is our laundry day. This is where I catch up on folding wash and working in the laundry room/ family closet. Wednesdays are good for me because we have church that night and I need to pick out clothes anyway. So on Wednesdays I also pick out clothes for church that night, Sunday clothes and also any outside activities we may have the following six days.
Thursday is bedroom cleanup day. Why Thursday? Well,long ago I used to listen to a radio show that came on a few hours on Thursday (the Flylady show!) and the radio, at that time, was in our bedroom. So while in there I had plenty of time to clean in there. So it became habit to do this on that day for me. The children also cleans their rooms on this day. The girls, especially, are excited to show me their tidy rooms when they're done! The little ones always want me to come and see right away what they did. :D
Friday is bathroom day. This is the day I like to really detail the bathrooms. Isn't it most common to have guests on the weekend that needs to use your bathroom? It is here! So I like doing this in the morning and having it all fresh just in case.
In our house this leaves the playroom and the school room. If we get to it, this then gets done on Saturday. I must admit, these rooms don't get done as they should. As a matter of fact, our schoolroom and the laundry room are the two worst rooms in my house. I'm still establishing habits in these rooms for myself and the children.
On Saturday we work on outside chores as well.
Make sure that you have a time limit for the detail cleaning.
4. Make it a habit to put things away. Teach this to your children. THIS INCLUDES THE MESS MY CHILDREN ARE MAKING AS I TYPE THIS- THIS VERY MOMENT. Teach yourself and your children to wipe up and pick up behind yourself. You will thank you. Your children will thank you. Your children's spouse will thank you. Your grandchildren...do you get the picture? Okay. Before you leave each room think to yourself, "how can I make this room better before I leave?". It will become such a habit that you'll do it no matter where you are. I catch myself wiping the counters in public restrooms.
5. Keep a notebook or binder with lists, lists, lists and more lists. Make this your brain. When you have to teach on owl pellets, integers, phonics, conjunctions, human anatomy, spelling words and so much more, you have no more brain cells to work and remember all the cleaning chores you have! WRITE A LIST. Example:
Monday (livingroom): vacuum between cracks on floor, clean under couch and loveseat, mop, sweep cobwebs from ceiling.
Tuesday (kitchen): clean ceiling fan, clean out 'fridge, clean bottom drawer of stove
Wednesday (laundry)
Thursday (bedroom) clean off dresser, vacuum closet floor
Friday (bathroom) clean tub and shower, clean fan over toilet, detail toilet
Get the picture? Access what is going on in each room and what needs to be done first. When I first began this my house was a WRECK and I didn't know where to start. So I just began with what bothered me most or what was husband's first choice or what NEEDED done first. Believe it or not, after weeks of keeping this plan there will be days when you will be done before your time is up! Then you can sit down and type posts like this. ;D Keep a running list of what you want to do next, but allow for time for when disasters slip up might take top priority.
6. Do quick tidies throughout the day. Make everyone stop and pick up. Make. this. a. habit. Teach the children that you are not looking for perfection but that there has to be a cap put on how far you'll allow disorder go. Make it a game. Tell each child that they need to pick up 7 things each and put the things in their homes. What? You say with seven children plus a mama that this would be 56 things to pick up. That isn't possible to have that much to pick up if you picked up earlier. Do you wanna bet? Besides, if they do run out of things to pick up, tell them to go down the hall or into another room and pick something up.....or make it just 5 things.
6. Have an afternoon routine, after you're done with school. Mine is checking the kitchen and diningroom floors to see if they need attention. Do any other floors need a quick mopping as well. Is there something I should do to head toward our goal of making supper? What rooms needs a room rescue the most? Make that room make you have a nice "aaaaaahhhhh" feeling when you walk in. No matter though-- do it quick!
7. Clean up after every meal and while you're cooking! Assign a person to a day for dish duty so the same person isn't stuck in the kitchen each day. Here I have them load/unload the dishwasher after lunch and after supper. Whoever does the cooking washes the cookware and also wipes all down in the kitchen.
8. Don't sit and watch t.v. unless you have something to do. My main things are menu planning, folding clothes or floor exercises. Just don't sit being unproductive. It causes......ummmm....unproduction. Yeah.
9. Don't strive for perfection. Not that you could ever achieve this. I mean, perfection is a good goal but be fine with leaving something for later. It will be okay. After all, aren't things looking up anyway? So you're moving in the right direction.
Before you know it, you will feel peace and not frantic if someone pulls in the yard to have a surprise visit. Ask me how I know. You will also have time in the morning and then also in the afternoon for school goals as well.
Listerine...yes, Listerine!
Okay, so when I talk of "Listerine", I do also mean the off brand as this is what I mainly use. Listerine is a wonderful way to have a fresh mouth by killing germs but that's not all, my friends!
It's good for cleaning as well. Yesterday I mopped my floor with it and even after rinsing out the mop, it still smelled Listerine fresh. Do you want a fresh smelling toilet? Use Listerine! Seriously. Try it!
It's good for cleaning as well. Yesterday I mopped my floor with it and even after rinsing out the mop, it still smelled Listerine fresh. Do you want a fresh smelling toilet? Use Listerine! Seriously. Try it!
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Susan Watson
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