Kids and dishes

Yes she can. And you don't have to do it all. 7 year olds can put away dishes. #kiddieresponsibility #havethemhelp

Eating more veggies. Intentionally.

Summer break is upon us. Girls are home with a shared nanny. And it seems, they are always in the fridge. Starving and searching for food. My oldest has a huge aversion to green things. My battle has begun. She does like cucumbers and celery. So I bought a celery stalk and cut it up in "ready to eat" bites. And she loves chocolate. Nutella and peanut butter with cucumbers or celery? Yup. Now it all sits in the fridge ready to grab for a car ride or quick snack. 

Bye bye toys

If you have ever tried to give away or organize your kid's toys, today is your last day of cleaning up their messes. Drun roll please. This article will change you. I promise. One of my fav sentences is at the end of the article where Ruth says that her girls like not being overwhelmed by toys and it makes it easier to clean. Aha!! Read on...then get your black trash bags out and start filling it up. http://www.livingwellspendingless.com/2012/09/14/why-i-took-all-my-kids-toys-away-why-they-wont-get-them-back/

Check lists

If you check it, they will come. My girls Love lists. So this week I created one for the morning routine and another for the evening.

This has helped us keep track of all the tasks and activities that need to occur so we can make the bus and get to bed. It's also a great way for them to be more independent and manage their time. 

I also made a quick one today of some chores. I let them decide on the consequences if they didn't finish by 130pm. Here's my hastily written list.

They have a few hours to do all of this and I am not going to micro manage them. I promise. Let's see how the do!

Habit 7 — Sharpen The Saw

Balance Feels Best. What you role model and teachI:  take care of my body by eating right, exercising and getting sleep. I spend time with family and friends. I learn in lots of ways and lots of places, not just at school. I find meaningful ways to help others.  All the 7 habits - http://www.theleaderinme.org/the-7-habits-for-kids

Habit 5 - understand

Habit 5 — Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood. Here's what you role model: I Listen Before I talk. I listen to other people’s ideas and feelings. I try to see things from their viewpoints. I listen to others without interrupting. I am confident in voicing my ideas. I look people in the eyes when talking.

I am a huge offender of this one. I L O V E to give advice, suggestions...working on pausing and biting my tongue. 

Habit 4 — Think Win-Win

Everyone Can Win.
You role model and teach:  I balance courage for getting what I want with consideration for what others want. I make deposits in others’ Emotional Bank Accounts. When conflicts arise, I look for third alternatives.

I want most of the girls' toys out of the house. Like now. So I asked the girls to consider some options. They decided on creating two bins: one for charity and one for storage.  Belle wanted one bin but Janae wanted to put some toys in the shed. The deal is if she asks to play with the ones unseen in a year, then they stay, if not, then off to Goodwill. 

Grab the kids and watch this short Wreck it Ralph video on Win-Win thinking. 

Habit 3 — Put First Things First.

Habit 3 — Put First Things First.  Here is what you teach and role model:  Work First, Then Play. I spend my time on things that are most important. This means I say no to things I know I should not do. I set priorities, make a schedule, and follow my plan. I am disciplined and organized. ACTION - Have your child make a list of important roles - soccer player, student, member of the family, etc, schedule activities around these roles. Here are some coloring pages.  You talk, they color.

Homemade ice-cream, kiddie style

We have had this Sassafras battery operated ice-cream machine for 3 years. Belle brought it out last night and lucky for her we had the basics: 1 cup milk, 16 ounces condensed milk and 5 tablespoons cocoa.

We mixed it all in a bowl, poured it in the ice-cream maker, pushed the mix button and let it stir for 30 seconds. Then we pushed the freeze button and threw it in the freezer over night. The battery keeps churning the blades while the ice-cream freezes. A little strange but it worked!

Ice-cream for breakfast anyone? 

Buy a Sassafras at http://www.amazon.com/Sassafras-Deluxe-Ice-Cream-Lovers/dp/B008I3RJ1Y 

Jiffy cornbread waffles

Here's the scene...8am on Saturday morning and there's no pancake/waffle mix! Not cool. Here's what I did...grabbed a box of Jiffy cornbread mix, added an egg, lil sugar, some milk and oil.  Poured onto a hot waffle iron and 3 minutes later had tasty cornbread waffles. Make organic cornbread waffles with the Arrowhead mix. 

TV - the reward

TV is a reward for start behavior. Today the girls get to watch a show AFTER they put away their laundry, sweep the dining room floor and clean off the table. We are also doing a sticker chart for start behavior. Fill the chart and you get a treat from the dollar store.

bento lunches

Bento boxes are a fun way to pack and organize your kiddie's lunches. I bought my BPA-free Sistema lunch boxes at TJ Maxx for $3.99. The built-in compartments separate your food and eliminate the need to use one-use plastic baggies. They also have to go mugs which I have seen at Safeway for about $5. Bonus - My girls actually like packing their lunches now!

best cookies...ever

I can only take credit for finding them on Pinterest and taking the time to make em. This chocolate chip cookie ingredients are basic but you do interesting things like... browning more than a stick of butter on the stove, adding egg yolk, and stirring the sugar and butter for 30 seconds then waiting 3 minutes and then stirring again. The cookie was perfect. Here's a link to the recipe.  I also threw in peanut butter chips, peanut butter and walnuts to the remaining batter (far right stack of cookies). Another home run!  Let me know if you make these tasty rounds of joy.  

school mornings - part 2

So in this blog entry I shared with you my plan to ease up those nutty school mornings by requiring the kiddies to come dressed to the breakfast table. This has worked OK but the girls had way too much free time after breakfast. So I had to thrown in a few more gritty details: 

• clothes AND socks on AND hair done before breakfast
• brushing teeth occurs right after breakfast
• shoes are on feet immediately following teeth cleaning
• coat goes on next
• finally, play time can occur if there is anytime left...

 We actually only missed the bus once this past week! 

school mornings - the easy way

Monday can't come soon enough. Here's my plan to a scream-free, catch the school bus morning - girls only get to eat breakfast after they have their school clothes on and hair done. Very simple concept and will bring gobbles and gobbles of structure to very complex, time-driven hectic morning. Keep you posted. Please share your morning tips!

hydrogen peroxide

Lucky me. Got the stomach flu. Too much time on pinterest led me to an article on the benefits of hydrogen peroxide. Here's my favorite ones:  mix with vinegar as a disinfectant, use to remove stains, mold, clean mirrors. Read more tips here. 

pumpkin seeds

Picture taken by The Girl Who Ate Everything

Oh, they are addicting.  I snagged a pumpkin for 17cents a pound (that's cheap people), had the kiddies dig out the guts and seeds.  I didn't wash the seeds just tossed them and some of the slimy innards (trust me on this) with seasoning salt (no MSG), garlic salt and wee bit of olive oil.  Then I placed them in one layer on a cookie sheet with 1/4 cup olive oil and baked at 350 for 30 minutes.  Toss every 10 minutes to prevent burning and sticking.  The pumpkin flesh mixed with the salt will make these puppies sing in your mouth.  Ahhhhh-dicting. 

Blueberry pickin'

www.Blueberrycouncil.org

They are blue and oh so tasty...and...it's not too late to pick em.  Yesterday, I took the girls to pick blueberries and they loved it.  Here's a website listing all the farms in America and some tips on picking.  We made a blueberry crisp and a smoothie.  These yummy round bits of joy are also high in fiber, vitamin C, manganese and have antioxidant properties. 

bulk baby

I had a duh moment the other day...why buy expensive, yet oh so convenient, cute containers of yogurt, when I can buy larger containers of the same thing for less and then place them in small Tupperware containers for lunches.  And why cook five servings of spaghetti sauce when I can cook 10 servings so we have leftovers?

Soooo....now I'm buying the following in large-in-charge quantities:  applesauce, spaghetti sauce, almonds, trail mix, cold cereal, graham crackers, baked fish crackers and yogurt.  What do you buy in bulk or in large quantities?

Berry crisp cones

Forget ice-cream in a cone, how bout shoving blueberry crisp in that puppy? I snagged this triple berry crisp recipe from www.allrecipes.com and made some adjustments since I didn't have three kinds berries or enough to make the full recipe AND I wanted it gluten free.  I baked as directed  and then at the insistence of my soon to be kindergartner, threw some of the tasty crisp in a ice-cream cone; your kiddies will love it more! Here's my gluten free recipe: 

• 3/4 cups Marion berries
• 1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1/3 cup flax seed
• 1/3 cup semolina flour
• 1/3 cup soy flour
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 3/4 cups packed brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 stick cold butter

Here's what it looked like after I took it from the oven.  As you can see, I just used a pie pan.  This cone was not g-free but you can buy them.