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Monday, May 31, 2010

Thank you

Thank you.

Thank you that my kids and my family live in America.
Thank you that we are still free.
Free to think.
Free to be anything we want to be.
Free to Live Hope and Dream.
Free to Believe.
Free to argue, Free to disagree, Free to debate.
Free to assemble and free to demonstrate our frustrations.
Free to have as many children as we want.
Free to choose our own destiny.
Free to homeschool our children.
Free to go where we want, live where we want.
Free to decide who runs our country.
Free to buy what we want, eat what we wish.

Because you gave your life so we and our children could live this way.
Thank you to those that are still fighting for our freedoms and rights.

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY

Friday, May 28, 2010

Quick tips

It takes less time to make lemonade then to think about going and buying some. Throw some lemon juice water and some sugar together add some lemons if you have them and done!!! ( the big bottles of lemon juice are at dollar tree)

It takes about 30 minutes to make enough laundry soap for 6 months to a year than it does to stand in the laundry aisle and pick out soap.

It takes about 10 minutes to mix up enough (for 8 of us) pancake mix to last 3 months.

Want some great smelling room spray- Take empty jars add some organic spices let steep in sunny window in water for a few days, strain add to bottle and spray rooms. I loveeeeeee lavender!!!

It takes less time to sponge bath a kid then fill up an entire tub of water and give them a bath. Plus IMO kids are bathed too much anyway. We bathe the kids 2 times a week here. Every night they get wiped down from head to toe. You can ask most Dr.s they will tell you 1 or 2 times a week is fine.

Homemade pancake syrup tastes so awesome you'll never go back to store bought and is so easy to make.

I have a stockpile of pantry staples that have extraordianary uses.
CORNSTARCH

dry shampoo for a pet, rub some into your pets coat and brush through.
untangle knots in shoes and necklaces.
freshen up carpets, sprinkle on wait 30 min and vacuum up
Marshmallows stuck together, Sprinkle some cornstach in the bag and shake it will absorb the extra moisture and unstick them.
put cornstarch in a container and poke small holes in the top and use for baby powder or talc powder for yourself.


SALT
Pour a line of salt where you have ants and they won't cross it.
add salt to boiling eggs and if one cracks the egg won't leak out.
Make your own wall patch with a mixture of salt and cornstarch, mix into a paste with equal amounts.
At the onset of a sore throat gargle with salt water.
I gave up coffee, But if you sprinkle a little salt on top of your coffee grounds in the coffee pot before brewing you can use less grounds because it enhances the flavor of your coffee.
sprinkle salt between sidewalk bricks where you don't want grass to grow.

TOOTHPASTE ( I have a ton , about 40 tubes of toothpaste. I am no longer using toothpaste with flouride because of what I have learned about flouride, But there are a 1000 uses for it other than putting in your body.

Remove crayon marks from walls with paste toothpaste.
Remove garlic or onion smell from your hands with toothpaste.
My kids love this one, Clean shoes with whitening toothpaste.
If you have scratches on a DVD, Try rubbing toothpaste or peanut butter on it and buff it should fill in the scratches so no more skipping.
Use toothpaste to scrub your fingernails clean.
Use as wall spackle to fill in nail holes.

DRYER SHEETS( I don't use these on my clothes, But I often can get them free with coupons and they have many other uses other than in the dryer, Any of the uses also work with dryer sheets that have already been used in the dryer, A second life for them)
Stuff in stinky shoes to eliminate odors overnight.
Use on your swiffer as a duster.
Pans with stuck on gunk, Place a dryer sheet in for about an hour, gunk comes right off.
WIpe your tv and computer screen with a dryer sheet to repel dust.
I also put these in the bottom of wastebaskets to help absorb odors.

Vaseline
remove gum from hair.
remove makeup.
use instead of harsh chemicals on baby's bottom or for diaper rash.
Razor burn in delicate areas, Use vaseline to soothe.
Chapped lips? Put on a coat before bed.


For more great and unusual uses using everything you can think of, Not to mention fun reading, Go to www.wackyuses.com I have been going to this site for years, when I get a stockpile of something I don't how I will use it all up. Have a great Memorial day, Michelle

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Home schooling the Twins

We have started daily 2 hour sessions with my twins last week. We have done little things here and there and they are learning constantly, but we started a little bit more structured schooling this week. I have spent the couple years slowly having them learn letter and number recognition colors and shapes, the normal preschool stuff. I wanted to wait until they were ready for writing and reading until I knew that it would not frusterate or exasberate their adhd. The boys are completely different in their learning as I expected. Jacob is quanity not so much quality and joshua is quality not quantity. This I saw was frusterating Joshua when we were learning because Jacob would get done with everything so fast and Joshua was paying more attention to him. So I mix up all the work and have them do different things at different times. This seems to be working. Now to just get Jacob to work on quality. We started this week with rebus rhymes and they seem to really like those, they have memorized the 2 books we were working on. They also are learning to write their names and numbers. Because I see that they learn more hands on rather then paperwork we don't focus too much on papers. We have netflix on the computer and the TV. So I let them one at a time search for movies that they like and spell them out to me while I am cooking or doing something else. They are rapidly learning how to work the computer and mouse and recognizing letters. I also keep all my magazines for them to look through. They love doing crafty things. So I will give them big sheets of paper to cut out letters and numbers and glue them on the papers. I have noticed that in the last few months their curiosity with math. They are wanting to know days weeks months and also simple addition. They are constantly asking me with fingers held up what 3 fingers and 3 fingers are etc. For the days weeks and months, I have made a large calender and we put fun little things on the calendar like today Sunday May 23rd is park day and the train rides at the park. So all week long they have been counting down the day until we go. They are also both getting training wheel bikes on Tuesday so they have been counting down the days and saying the days and numbers each day....about a 1000 times a day lol. Happy Sunday to you all , We are off to the park and the train rides!!!!! Michelle

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Harvested a Potato and a Tomato!!!

The twins were so darn excited yesterday as they pulled the first tomato off the plant and dug up one tiny little potato. We chopped and froze the tomato because they want to make spaghetti sauce when we have enough of them. The potato is snall but it is the second layer so gonna give it a few more weeks and then harvest some. They were so excited. I saw we have blueberries coming in and peaches growing on the tree. We also have beans and green peppers flowering. Onions and lettuce look good. Not so sure about the squashes, thought I would have had flowers by now, But we have had hardly any sun in 2 weeks so hoping the next few weeks they take off.

I can't even stress enough how going out in the backyard and getting our own food makes everyone feel.

Everyone is getting very excited here about June 1st. That is the appointment to find out the sex of the new baby. The girls want a girl and the boys want another boy. I don't care really but a girl would be nice for a change of pace hahaha. See some pinks again. Mostly the girls are dying to shop for stuff. I am going after the appointment to get Needed things. I am going to make my own cloth diapers this time instead of buying them, and also the wipes. I am going to use the same set up I had for the twins for cleaning them. Two small garbage cans with lids, One for dirty and one for just wet ones. That worked out well last time. I am also going to get a few glass bottles just in case the breast feeding does not go well. But I really hope it works out for me since I have never done it before.

Hubby got bumped off his regular turn at work and had to take a less paying job until another one opens up. Not so bad but hope it turns again soon. Have a great weekend all, Michelle

Monday, May 17, 2010

I loveee the GRILL

I had a little downtime and wanted to say hi to everyone!!!!

I love my grilllll love love love it. Although we not had hardly a sunny or dry day here in southeast Kansas in quite a bit, I grill. As soon as it stops raining for just a few minutes we grill. It is such an easy clean up and you can grill just about anything. Breads, veggies, meats even pizza. I have not grilled pizza before but hoping to try it out this year.
If you go to http://www.reynoldspkg.com/reynoldskitchens/en/info_page/Holiday_Central_Foil.asp
Reynolds has some great great recipes and tips on grilling everything. I cannot stress how easy the clean up is. Less dishes=pure bliss for me!!!!!!
Well gotta run about to have grilled BBQ chicken, potato salad and devilled eggs, Yummmmm. Happy grilling!!!! Michelle

Monday, May 3, 2010

Garden pics













Garden pics!!! Happy gardening Michelle

Busy and Productive weekend

We finally have a what appears to be 3 whole days of sunshine, It has been gloomy and rainy and chilly (to me). The rain is great for the garden, Not so great for kids with cabin fever. I am determined today with bright sunshine to get pictures of the garden today. I was noticing yesterday looking out the laundry room window that my potato plants are hugeeeee. I have to do some reading on potato plants because I quite honestly have no idea when you should dig them up. Anyone know??

Hubby is taking the boys to the park tomorrow for a whole day and a picnic lunch. I have to do some catch up on things I have gotten behind on. We have been out of waffle mix, ranch mix, pancake mix, pancake syrup and cream of chicken soup mix for quite sometime. I was going to make a dump cake last night with some cherry pie filling I had and I was out of cake mix. So tomorrow will be stocking up and dry food canning day. I have kept track of what and how much we use so now I have an idea of how much we will use in a 3 month period. I am going to make up enough of these mixes for 3 months. It is just really nice with so many and so much going on to just be able to grab it and make it.

Last night for dinner I made up the last ham I had from the stockpile from easter. The kids were very happy, But I noticed they were rationing the ham. They were rationing as to have enough for ham and potato soup tonight for dinner. Ham and potato soup is their favorite. I only purchase hams at christmas and easter unless they go on sale which is not often. So tonight is ham and potato soup. I also have quite a stockpile of black berries in the freezer so I think I will make a quick and simple blackberry cobbler.

I have to mention that my oldest son has applied for the maintenance position at the library. He has been anxiously awaiting a phone call from them. He is hoping they call him back on Tuesday when they return to work. This would be great for him, He would work 15 hours a week @ $10 an hour 8am-11am . Then have the rest of the day to build his and work on his computers and solar panels to sell. Wish him luck!!

Have a great Monday and if you have sunshine get out and enjoy it!!!!! Michelle