Take a peek behind your electronics….does it look pretty bad? Even though mine were all moved out just a few short months ago, dust and certain items are beginning to accumulate again. This week we’ll focus on cleaning behind the electronics, such as your TV, DVD, stereo, and whatever else you have in a main room. If you are feeling ambitious, clean behind all of them in the house including TVs in bedrooms and other rooms which have electronics in them. Be sure to post your progress, or at least a note to say you’ll be joining us in this week’s challenge! Read More →
April Fool’s Day is my favorite holiday next to Halloween, mostly because I get to torment my kids freely without any backlash. I’ve had several fun pranks on this day, but I’m always looking for more. Here’s a few successful pranks of the past: - Tape down the sink sprayer If you have a sprayer on your sink that only turns on when you turn on the water, then put a piece of clear tape around the handle. Last year I asked my son to water the plants for me after school, and he fell for it! The look on his face was classic, and one I’ll never forget. - I’m moving This one was played on a friend one year, who knew I’d never leave the area. Play this one on family members near by to freak them out a bit. This works especially well on family members. -SOLD! While this is more business related, you can still...
Last week my kids were on spring break, and they got a bit of a raw deal. The weather wasn’t so great, and it rained most of the week. On Saturday we even saw a rain/snow mix! Seeing the weather forecast ahead of time, I knew it was going to be up to me to entertain them at least part of the time. So we decided at least one day would be spent at our local YMCA where there’s a good sized indoor pool. We don’t have a membership since the closest Y is a good 25 minutes away from us, and just isn’t worth it for how little we get over there. However, we were able to get in for just $12 for all of us, and spend as much time as we wanted there that day. The kids had a blast and so did I! This is the perfect time of year to seek out local indoor pools, since it’s still just a bit too early for the regular summer pools....
So if you haven’t gotten the hint already, I love my bread machine. LOVE IT. And I have loved it for quite a few years. I don’t know what we ever did without it, and sometimes I think I use it more than the microwave. Just in case you aren’t sure if you need one or not, let me give you a run down of some of the things we’ve made in the last few months alone. 1. Bread Duh, right? Yes, we make bread in the bread machine. But we make lots of it on a regular basis. Which if that alone isn’t a good reason for you, think of this – we’ve given loaves of bread for gifts before, and they loved it. We also eat bread minus the nasty preservatives in store bought (did you know there’s high fructose corn syrup in it? So much for “in moderation” when it’s even in bread of all things!). 2....
Looking for new recipes? Then drop by our sister site, RecipesForMom.com! A few months ago we started redesigning the site and adding new recipes, and we’re still going strong! Currently you’ll find over 800 recipes available on the site, organized by both type of meal and main ingredient. So no matter what you are in the mood for, you’ll be sure to find a recipe that suits you and your family. Enjoy! Read More →
This is part three of our Garden Ideas Series, which will be talking about basic herb gardens and ideas for starting them indoors. See part one on flower seeds and part two on vegetable seeds. We’re trying something new this year. Never before have we grown herbs, but we will be this year for a very specific purpose – to keep the squash bugs away from our precious pumpkin patch. That, and we thought it would be fun to have some home grown herbs as well, since we do a LOT of cooking. Two types of herbs we started indoors already, and will be planted near our pumpkins along with several other types of flowers. These herbs are the following: - Dill This is one of my absolute favorite herbs, so I was pretty excited to see it on the list of potential plants which attract the squash bug’s enemy, the tachnid fly. I do love cooking...
This week I thought it would be a great idea to focus on shelves. I think we all have something up high, such as a place we dump things we’re attempting to keep out of the reach of children. While I’m going to focus on the shelves I have in the living room, you can focus on any area of the house. These shelves sometimes get loaded down with unnecessary stuff, or just flat out dusty because they aren’t often seen. If you have decorative items on these shelves, give those a scrub as well. Post your progress here and join us next week for another focus! Read More →
Looking for a great gift for your kids? Then try the Webkinz pet of the month for April – the Alley Cat! This adorable feline comes with all kinds of special bonuses and extras when you adopt them in April 2009. Plus you’ll get daily extras including extra chances on the Wheel of Wow, extra KinzCash, and lots more. Buy the Webkinz Alley Cat at Amazon for April 2009! Read More →
Since spring is almost here, it’s time to start planning and planting those seeds, bulbs, plants, bushes, flowers, and vegetables. If you need some help, Nature Hills has free catalogs available. If you are going to buy online or by mail, I highly suggest this particular store. Their prices are reasonable and selection is just outstanding. They’ve got just about anything you can think of for all gardening supplies, making this an excellent place to request free gardening catalogs. Click here to order a Free Nature Hills Nursery Catalog Read More →
There’s nothing harder than coming up with a craft for an 8 year old boy who would rather spend his time in front of the computer or video games instead of being with his family. Although while hanging out in a local craft store one day, the foam sheets caught my attention like they always do, and I finally figured it out. This particular boy loves to read, and has a large library of books he cycles though. Because of this (and his tornado of a room), we have to keep him well stocked on bookmarks. A foam sheet not only makes a “cool looking bookmark”, but is cheep too. If folded correctly, you can make six bookmarks from one 8×11 sheet (standard paper size, that is). Two bookmarks “sideways” and four long ways. They won’t all be the same size, but it’s a bookmark, so it doesn’t matter....
