A Mom’s Life Made Simple

I don’t know how it is in other parts of the world but outside my window all I’ve seen for the past four or five days is rain, rain, and more rain! It’s hot and muggy and the lightening is scaring me to death! While I know that the plants need rain I truely believe they may drown before long!

There aren’t too many fun things you can do as a work at home mom when it’s raining. The kids get cabin fever, I get cabin fever, and well we all know that spells trouble. We are tired of playing the same games, reading the same books, and quite frankly I think my kids are sick of looking at eachother. So being the internet addict that I am I went searching for rain activities in which to my surprise I found quite a few cute ideas. Thank goodness for the internet!

Ideas from: http://www.nickjr.com/

DIEGO SPOTTING SCOPE

	Toilet paper roll
	Construction paper
	Glue stick
	Pencil
	Sticky tape
	Scissors
	Crayons or colored markers
	Glitter pens (optional)
	Stickers (optional)

DIEGO RAIN STICK MUSIC MAKER

Cardboard tube, such as from paper towels

RAIN STICK  (Sprout.com)

Materials

Long cardboard tube

Paper

Tape

Rice, uncooked beans or uncooked popcorn

Aluminum foil

Crayons or markers

Beads or feathers and glue (optional)

Instructions

1. Cover one end of the tube with paper and tape it shut.
2. Crumble up strips of aluminum foil and put them in the tube.
3. Pour a handful of rice into the tube.
4. Cover the other end of the tube with paper and tape it shut.
5. Using crayons, markers, beads or feathers, decorate your rain stick.
6. Shake your rain stick up and down to listen to the homemade sounds of the rain!

Today I am tackling all the mess that is staring at me that was left from my son’s birthday weekend. No we didn’t have a huge party but trust me, you wouldn’t know that by looking around! Instead of having a huge party we spent Saturday and Sunday playing games, watching movies, having water balloon fights and we even sent his sisters to stay the night at their Mema’s house so we could share time with just him.  So now I have dishes, bags of candy, trash, toys, and games EVERYWHERE not to mention the fact that I feel like I’ve been run over by a train!

Here are a few pictures from our fun day for you to enjoy while I get busy cleaning! (oh and high five for my fiance who tackled getting the boxes in the below picture up in the attic finally since they have been there since Christmas!)

Above were balloons filled with candy they were trying to bust them to get the candy

Remember to click on the picture to add your own Tackle It Tuesday!

1. working all night and getting no sleep due to my girls waking up early is not the end of the world.

2. Sitting here, listening to the sound of rain falling, I would love to say it’s relaxing but the sound of the thunder is to scary.

3. Chocolate tastes so good!

4. Sometimes, putting others first is my downfall.

5. The ocean is breathtaking, really.

6. Well, maybe there is something wonderful waiting for me around the corner. 

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to my son coming home, tomorrow my plans include having fun day with my son and his dad along with working early that morning and Sunday, I want to relax but I have to work all day!

~~We should never permit ourselves to do anything that we are not willing to see our children do.
       - Brigham Young

~~It is better to bind your children to you by a feeling of respect and by gentleness, than by fear.
-Terence

~~Level with your child by being honest. Nobody spots a phony quicker than a child. 
       - Mary MacCracken

~~If you want children to keep their feet on the ground, put some responsibility on their shoulders.

     -Abigail Van Buren

~~Your children will become what you are; so be what you want them to be.
       - David Bly

~~Childern need love, especially when they do not deserve it.

   - Harold Hulbert

I came across a post on Cafemom yesterday that was talking about school supply lists and how parents should just buy what’s on the list and keep their mouths closed about it. Well my first thought was this person must really be having a bad day and either they don’t have a child in school or their child hasn’t been in school very long! My thoughts on the school supply lists are that they ask for entirely too much! I understand having to buy items needed for my child’s education but seriously why do I have to buy soap and tissue for the whole class, why do I have to purchase computer disks and red ink pens when there are educational funds that are supposed to be used for this type of stuff I mean seriously NC began the lottery not too long ago letting the public know that it’s okay to play the lottery because the funds are going to the educational system… okay so where’s the money folks?!  

Kids can’t take as many trips in school as they use to because there are no funds.

They want to end art and music programs because there are no funds.

I have to purchase items that should be provided by the school like the four or five boxes of tissues come on now… so where is the money?

Below is my son’s supply list for this year, I think it’s an awful lot to have to purchase but hey maybe I’m just being hard to deal with. 

7^th GRADE

Language Arts

1” 3-Ring Binder

1 One Subject spiral notebook

5 Subject Dividers with tabs

1 2 Pocket Folder

Loose-leaf paper

Pencils

Red Ink Pens

Highlighters

1 box of tissues

Math

1-1/2″ to 2″ 3-Ring Binder

5 Subject dividers with tabs

Loose-leaf notebook paper

No. 2 Pencils

Colored Pencils

1 2-Pocket Folder

Calculator Recommended: Texas Instrument TI-34 Multi-View

1 Box of Tissues

Clorox Wipes

Social Studies

1-1/2″ 3-Ring Binder OR 3-subject spiral notebook with pockets

Loose-leaf paper

Colored Pencils

BLACK ballpoint pens

#2 Pencils

1 box of tissues

Clorox wipes

Science                                                       Computer Class 

1-1/2″ 3-Ring Binder 1-1/2″                          3-Ring Binder

Black or blue Ballpoint pens                         1 Computer disk

Loose-leaf paper                                            1 Computer disk case

1 box of tissues

Special Interests/Science AG Cluster Class (*ONLY IIDENTIFIED AG)

1-1/2″ 3-Ring Binder 1-1/2″ 3-Ring binder

Loose-leaf paper

Anyone who followed my last Tackle It Tuesday knows that laundry was my goal and nothing has changed this week! Over the weekend my dryer decided to stop working, that’s right you may cry with me for a brief moment if you’d like.  Now, I honestly didn’t think I used my dryer a lot but I was wrong… so very wrong. I now have piles of sheets, socks, underwear, towels, and the fact that my youngest daughter has decided to forget to go to the potty at nights again this week isn’t helping with the sheets!

So as I look at this huge pile of clothes while glaring at my dryer, how can you leave me in this time of need dear friend I beg but my dryer only sits with it’s lid closed waiting to be fixed or replaced. I decide to turn to my trusty friend the clothes line, sure it’ll be a challenge but I’m sure I can do it… yeah sure I can do since the weather man says it’s going to rain EVERY SINGLE DAY this week!   WHY OH WHY did you break on me dryer of mine!!!  

Today I tackle the laundry and the weather please let me come out a on the better end of the mix!

Click on the picture above and see what others are tackling this week and add your own!

I’ve been up working since 3am and I don’t get off until 8am. I’m tired, cranky, hot, and dreading the fact that when I get off work feeling the need to fall asleep my girls will be just waking up and ready to face the day with all their hyperness. Isn’t the life of a mother wonderful! 

So I’m thinking I need some fun things to keep them busy today so that maybe I can at least sit with my eyes closed for five minutes. If you find that I haven’t posted in a few days after this you may want to send someone to wake me up!

Here are some fun things to try if you’re a sleep deprived mom like myself: http://www.lifetips.com/

PUDDING PAINTING

Make a box of instant pudding. Take your children outside and let them fingerpaint with the pudding. After, they can lick their fingers and you can get out the hose for some water fun!!! A great activity for young children.

ICE CREAM AND WATERMELON FUN

Halve and scoop out most, but not all of the flesh of a honeydew melon. Pack the honeydew with rasberry sherbert and freeze. Slice the honeydew into pieces, and let children press chocolate chips into the sherbert to look like seeds. A fun activity for young children, and very refreshing

PAPER TOWEL TIE DYE

Show children how to put drops of food coloring on a paper towel to make designs and mix colors. Start with a dry towel, where the color stays in a fairly limited area. Then try a wet towel, where the color fans out. Experiment — mix colors, create designs or blend edges of the color bursts. Make sure you have a washable, non-staining surface underneath the towel!

 This is one of our puppies Sasha and she’s quite the daddy’s girl!

Lucky me, I have come down with some type of illness. I have a stuff nose, clogged ears, sore throat, fever, chills, sweats, dizziness, achy body… did I mention I just don’t feel good? I don’t know what happeded one day I’m at the beach enjoying the sun and the next day I’m feeling like I’ll pass out if I walk across the floor.

I hate being sick more then I hate eating liver! I would be fine if I could just sleep for a couple of days uninterrupted but as a mom that isn’t possible! So I’ll continue popping pills while dragging my self slowly in and out of my girls bedroom because walking those several feet feels a lot better then screaming at them from the other room.

I am one for home remedies and anything that will save me money so I searched online for a few cold remedies I thought I might share with you.

FROM: http://www.home-remedies-for-you.com/remedy/Common-Cold.html, http://www.homemademedicine.com/home-remedies-cold.html

~~Lemon is the most important among the many home remedies for common cold. It is beneficial in all types of cold with fever. Vitamin C-rich lemon juice increases body resistance, decreases toxicity and reduces the duration of the illness. One lemon should be diluted in a glass of warm water, and a teaspoon of honey should be added to it. This should be taken once or twice daily.

~~Garlic soup is an old remedy to reduce the severity of a cold, and should be taken once daily. The soup can be prepared by boiling three or four cloves of chopped garlic in a cup of water. Garlic contains antiseptic and antispasmodic properties, besides several other medicinal virtues. The oil contained in this vegetable helps to open up the respiratory passages. In soup form, it flushes out all toxins from the system and thus helps bring down fever. Five drops of garlic oil combined with a teaspoon of onion juice, and diluted in a cup of water, should be drunk two to three times a day. This has also been found to be very effective in the treatment of common cold.

~~Turmeric is an effective remedy for colds and throat irritations. Half a teaspoon of fresh turmeric powder mixed in 30 ml of warm milk, and taken once or twice daily, is a useful prescription for these conditions. Turmeric powder should be put into a hot ladle. Milk should then be poured in it and boiled over a slow fire. This mixture should then be drunk by the patient. In case of a running cold, smoke from the burning turmeric should be inhaled. It will increase the discharge from the nose and provide quick relief.

~~Salt water. A saltwater gargle — 1/2 teaspoon salt dissolved in an 8-ounce glass of warm water — can temporarily relieve a sore or scratchy throat

~~Put eucalyptus oil in 2 cups of boiling water and breath in the steam, this helps with congestion. 

~~Sage is used to cure sore throat, stuffed nose, gingivitis and coughs, is a powerful antiviral, antibacterial and antifungal. Use as a gargle. 

#1. TheSaladCaper’s question. Give me one weird food combination which has always been your comfort food.

I can’t think of anything except when I was pregnant I always had to put cheese in my vegetable soup which has carried over through the years now my son on the other hand finds comfort in eating peanut butter on bologna sandwich. 

#2. Name a food that begins with B.

 BACON  (i love bacon)
#3. Name a drink that begins with B.

Banana colada
#4. Share  a recipe for something that calls for broccoli.

Broccoli Quiche (http://southernfood.about.com/od/quicherecipes/r/bln11.htm)

Ingredients:

• 1 9-inch pie shell
• 1 (10 oz) package frozen chopped broccoli, about 1 1/2 cups
• 8 ounces fresh mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 1 cup milk
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 2 tablespoons margarine, melted
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 to 1 tsp pepper
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake pie crust about 10 minutes or until bottom is slightly brown. Let cool. Cook broccoli until tender; drain well. Combine milk, eggs, margarine, flour, salt, pepper and 3/4 cup cheese; whisk until well blended. Sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup of cheese over crust. Layer broccoli and mushrooms on cheese. Pour milk and egg mixture over all. Bake at 375° for 35 to 45 minutes or until a knife inserted in center comes out clean.
4 to 6 servings.