Happy Homemaker Monday!

On my bedside table:

The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff - What a great book, I'm loving it.
Crochet wash cloth that I'm making, some magazines and a basket with my lotions and potions. *snicker*


On my TV:
Paranormal State
Dancing with the Stars
Dresden - Disc 1
Dresden - Disc 2


On the menu for tonight:
Pasta e faglioli


On my To Do List:
Sweep and Mop floors
Change kids bed linens
Finish putting laundry away
Commissary for some items


New Recipe I tried last week:
Apple Puff Pancake


In the craft basket:
Crochet Dish and Wash cloths - have to finish one for a giveaway
Finish sewing the fabric Easter eggs


Looking forward to:
Starting my new 30 Day Shred DVD from Jillian Michaels, today. I've read such great reviews and I'm excited to start it.


Homemaking Tip for this week:
Check out Chore Buster, it is a great website where you can:

Enter in people and chores
Specify how hard / undesirable each chore is, and how often it should be done
ChoreBuster automatically generates a fair schedule of chores
Schedule emailed to you daily or weekly - no need to log in

I'm going to be using this for my kids chores, I think it will help a lot.


Favorite Blog Post of the week (mine or other):
My View of Bath by Linds at Rocking Chair Reflections. Loved all the beautiful photos she shared.


Favorite photo from last week:

Love my crochet eggs and the fact that the kids placed them in the refrigerator made them even cuter.

Lesson learned the past few days:
You and your husband are the only people who can look out for your children's welfare, they rely on you to keep them safe. When Jasmine had an incident at school last week, I didn't let it go, I contacted the teacher and made sure the issue was taken care of and the girl involved was punished for what she said.
Listen to your children, that's the lesson I am constantly being reminded of.


On my Prayer List:
Soldiers overseas
My husband and children



Devotionals, Scripture Reading, Key Verses:

1 Tim. 4:7-8: Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come (NIV).

Flubber Time....

I'm always on the lookout for fun kid crafts and this one has now become one of our favorites. It was fun, it wasn't messy like I thought it would be and it was definitely educational.

After school yesterday, we came home and pulled up the link that I shared with you all on Wednesday, here at the Wanna Try That post.

In goes the food coloring. The kids couldn't decide on which color to make it so they ended up using yellow, red, blue and green and ended up with this really cool funky color.

In goes the Borax and water

Right away the chemical reaction of the borax and the glue starts happening and it's SO neat to watch what it does. What fun!

The result was hours and hours of fun, the kids had a blast with the Flubber and have already asked me to make more.

FLUBBER

1 8-ounce bottle of glue
2 cups of warm water, divided
food coloring
1 1/2 teaspoon Borax powder
bowls for mixing

Pour the whole bottle of glue into a big bowl then fill the empty bottle with 1 cup of warm water and add that to the glue. Stir it up until it thins out.

Then add several drops of food coloring and mix that in.

In a separate bowl mix the Borax and the second cup of warm water until the Borax dissolves.

Stirring CONSTANTLY, slowly pour the Borax into the bowl of glue. Stir and stir and stir until it forms into a goopy, slimy, mass.

Remember to store it in an airtight container or it will dry out.


Before I leave you, I have to share these photos of my handsome husband in his new DCC (Dedicated Crew Chief) Maintenance Suit.

Doesn't he look great?

Living Life!

So it goes, that when you think you may have some time to sit down and chat a bit, you realize you don't. You are on the roller coaster of life, going day by day and trying to grasp everything coming at you.

It's been a busy and interesting week around here. We've had some issues at the kids schools, for the most part it's a wonderful public school with very attentive and wonderful teachers, but I think that sometimes even the best schools can have their meltdowns, their little "no no's".

My biggest pet peeve is when I see children insulting each other and saying things that make me wonder "just what are you learning at home?". Look, I'm not perfect and neither are my kids, but I like to think that my husband and I have instilled in them morals and values and respect for other human beings, my children are respectful and considerate of others and would never say hurtful things.....and by that I mean, the kind of talk that makes you cringe, makes you think why a young girl/boy would EVER say something like that and think it's acceptable....

Take yesterday for example, I picked up the kids from school and I could tell that Jasmine was upset. When I asked her what happened, she said that one of the girls in her class.....fourth grade, mind you.....told her and her friend to "shut up or I will bash a hole through your teeth". Excuse me?!?!?!

As a parent do you let it go or do you do something about it? Because the way I see it, my children rely on my husband and I to keep them safe and to watch out for their best interests. So, as soon as we got home, I shot off an email to her teacher, explained the situation and told her in no uncertain terms that my daughter is NOT used to that kind of language and that I expect the other girl to apologize for what she said and that if the teacher doesn't take care of it, then I will step in and personally contact her parents.

A little bit pushy? Maybe. But I don't think so, I think that if we let these small things go, they will quickly escalate from a "bash a hole through your teeth" to something more serious.

Anyway, the teacher was very cooperative and understanding and informed me that she would be talking to the girl and her parents.



So, onto other things, there seems to be more colds and sniffles going around, a couple of kids at school have been sick at home AGAIN. So when I picked up Nicholas from school yesterday and he was running a low grade fever, coughing, runny nose and congested, I thought....NOT AGAIN!

But, last night I did the Vicks thing on the feet again.....I had heard about it before and I had done it but I didn't use the socks and now I believe that is what makes the difference. I rubbed both his feet with tons of Vicks, put on some nice warm socks and tucked him into bed. NO meds for the low grade fever, I'm tired of pumping medicine into their little bodies, unless the fever is extremely high, I don't want to resort to medicine. Anyway, within 30 minutes he was sweating, and I mean SWEATING. He must have sweated out all the bad stuff, because he woke up this morning 100% better, what a change, it's like night and day. So if you've never tried the Vicks trick...do it!


What else is going on? Oh, I got my laptop back, finally. They had to replace the power cord and the hard drive, on a laptop that was a month old. Thankfully it's under warranty. It feels good to have my own computer back, I don't mind using Curt's but you know how it is, when it's someone else's you're always worried you may break something.

I'm also working on some Crocheted Kitchen Towel holders, they work up really fast and I love their look hanging from the Oven door. With kids, they tend to wipe their hands and then the towels end up on the floor, this way, they're going nowhere.

I'll be having a little giveaway next week with some of the crochet things I've made, so if you like the cupcakes, donuts, easter eggs etc....be sure to keep an eye out for those.

I thought it would be fun to end this post with something I always used to do when I first started blogging, it kind of rounds up the day for me and helps me keep track of what I'm doing.



WHAT I'M COOKING:

Lunch will probably just be Grilled Cheese sandwiches.

Dinner is Crockpot BBQ Pulled Pork. Extremely easy to make and the kids love it.



WHAT I'M WATCHING:

The Wings of the Dove from Netflix
Farmhouse
Most Haunted



WHAT I'M DOING:

Post office
Laundry
Sweep and Mop
Making flubber with the kids after school

Slow Cooking Thursday!

Don't forget to add your name to Mr Linky and a link back to your SCT post so others can come by and see your recipe too.

As always, share your slow cooking recipes but if you REALLY REALLY don't have one and still want to participate, then you can share any kind of recipe.

World's Best Chili Verde
Marta Norton, Redlands, California

RECIPE INGREDIENTS:
3 lb. boneless pork roast, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 1/2 bell peppers, chopped
2 large garlic cloves, minced
2 cans tomato sauce
1 7-oz. can green chilies, chopped
2 medium onions, chopped coarse
1 tsp. chili powder
2 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 cup lemon juice
3/4 cup beef broth
2 tsp. salt to taste
2 jalapeños, chopped fine (optional)
1. Combine all ingredients in a crockpot. Mix. Cook on low for 8 to 9 hours. Serve with flour tortillas, shredded cheese, sour cream, and guacamole.

Wanna Try That Wednesday!

- I've been wanting to make Homemade Laundry Detergent for a long time, so while searching the internet for a good recipe, I came across this one from Instructables. Sounds easy enough!

- With all the craziness and the recalls on Peanut Butter lately, I'm thinking I may just start making my own, and maybe even get the kids involved.

- I'm going Easter Egg crazy, crochet and fabric etc, but then I stumbled across these Secret Pocket Easter Eggs and thought....YEAH, I should make one each for the kids and hide it during their Egg Hunt. I'm sure they'll love that!

- I just have to try these Baby Bluebird Cupcakes from Annie's Eats, I mean, have you ever seen anything cuter?

- And if that is enough to make me drool, I came across this Butterscotch Finger Cake which I just absolutely.positively MUST TRY.

- I'm always looking for great movies to add to my Netflix Queue, and North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell is one I am wanting to see. Unfortunately it's not available at Netflix, but I'll have to hunt it down somewhere else.

- I'm starting my Spring Cleaning and Julia at Ohdeedoh, posted a wonderful link to help us courtesy of TLC.

- I LOVE English Muffins and Pennies on a Platter has a great recipe to make some.

- My kids love bubbles and I hate buying them because they make a mess, and they're sticky and half the time they don't work right. But when I saw the huge bubbles Candace at Sparkle Power made, I just knew I had to try them. Guess what we'll be making this weekend?

- Since I'm into crocheting right now, I'm thinking this Crochet Clothespin bag may just be my next project.

- I smiled when I read this post from Attic 24. She summarized so well what I feel with my children and how sometimes it's so easy to get caught up in the everyday life and instantly say no to every little question the kids ask.

- Oh and before I forget, we're also making Flubber this weekend. I saw it over at Scribbit and then this morning over at Knowledge House Academy, it just made me want to go ahead and make it. Should be a very productive and fun filled weekend with the kids, there will be tons of photos to share, I'm sure.