An New Apron

The other day, I wanted to sew something. I wanted it to be quick. I wanted something I could do start to finished in couple of hours or less. I have several quilts in the works, but I really wanted to see a finish product. I also wanted to go to a quilt store & buy fabric. I love a quilt store.

However, I am trying to be better about living on a budget on & it didn't fit. So I tried to get creative. I came across a men's shirt similar to this:

It happened to be in a bag of clothes that needed sorting through before being donated to the local thrift store. I happened to find  a green & yellow one, both  a XXL. I decided I would use what I had on hand to make an apron. I turned that over sized men's shirt, into a brand new apron.

It is double thick, & has a pocket, which next time I will add some decorative edge on, so it stands out more. But it was quick & I am quite happy with the result.

It was fairly quick, & not to difficult. I am working on a couple of more t-shirt aprons & will hopefully be able to put a tutorial on in a few weeks. Do you have any t-shirts that would work? Don't get rid of them quite yet.  Anyways, happy Monday & we will talk to you soon!

Homeschooling with a New Baby

I have recently heard a few concerns about homeschooling with a new baby in the home. This is something we have dealt with this past year. I love my baby.

But adding a new baby to  life & then homeschooling, it challenging. So I thought I would share a few tips & tricks that work for us. Now keep in mind, I am not an expert by any chance. In fact, I debated whether or not I should even write this post, because I feel inadequate at times. But here we go anyways.

#1. Keep it simple.

For us the simpler I can keep things the more consistent we are with doing them. Life gets tricky enough by adding a new baby don't make it harder by adding complex curriculum as well.

One example is our history curriculum. Story of the World. I love it because it can be as simple as reading a chapter over lunch (which we do frequently) or as complex as building models. I can decide how much we do.

# 2 Be Flexible


The joy of a new baby is wonderful. We have loved watching our newest addition grow & change over the months. But this also had meant that our schedule isn't the same now as when he was a newborn & slept all the time.

     I know what time I want school to start in the morning & the things I want to accomplish & learn by lunch & after lunch. We don't go by an hourly schedule. The babe doesn't know that at 10:30 I really wanted him asleep so we could make things explode for science. Or that I need one on one time with my oldest. So instead I tell my kids when the baby is down for his nap this is the time we will be doing one on one stuff. When I plan knowing that I just have to be flexible I get less stressed out & we still usually accomplish what we need to.

# 3. Take advantage of mini learning sessions.

So your baby was sick all night & now your morning is spent in the Dr. office instead of homeschooling. Don't stress. Just use this time to teach your kids about staying healthy, doctor & nurses, spreading germs ect
.
The baby is taking an extra nap, great! Grab your kids & work on some extra projects you have been meaning to do.

Spend your time driving listening to books on tapes, reviewing phonics, or adding up house numbers. You get the idea.
    You may not have large groups of time any more, but 10 minutes here & there can certainly add up!

# 4. Record what you do each day.

This was taught to me by another homeschooling mom. I love it. I record little bits that we do throughout the day. Here is an example:

   

I just type mine up in the notes on my phone. It's small & I always have my phone with me. I can email it later to print out & save. You may want to use a notebook   Just jot down notes on what you did. You may notice that mine are not even complete sentences, just put something down.  It helps on those days were you feel like you haven't done anything to realize that indeed you are doing more than you realize.

# 5- Have a quick grab bag.

I have a shelf that has what I call my quick grab bag. These may be bought science experiments, dollar store crafts, or kits I put together when I had extra time.

    These are my life saver for days we need to go school but I was up all night with the baby & I am exhausted.  Or day one of my kids is sick. Or life got crazy & I didn't get things ready like my original plan. You know those days. I can grab one of these off the shelf & there we go. We have it all ready to go, it painless & quick & I feel good that we still did something that day.

# 6 - Have your kids help..

In the midst of our school day almost everyone has a time that they are responsible for the baby. Keep in mind my oldest is only 8, & even my 5 year old can be in charge if entertaining him for 15 minutes. My other boys can change a diaper, get him dressed, & feed him.  This teaches them responsibility & helps lighten my load as well.

# 7 - Last but not least - Enjoy it!!!!

In the end some days are smooth as silk & others are as bumpy as a dirt road. The trick is to remember they all grow up too fast! The homeschooling journey is like running a marathon & this piece of time is just a short mile in the journey. So enjoy snuggling the baby. He will be big before you know it.

( from Lay Baby Lay)

- Tiffany

P.S. I am linking this baby up to Hearts for Home Weekly Blog hop

Playing with Clay

Playing with clay. For Christmas we were given a huge tub of sculptors clay & my kids have loved it. I had every intention of teaching my kids a lesson from Deep Space Sparkle. They have wonderful lesson plans & instructions on how to teach our kids, but on this particular day we had just finished up a history lesson & used the clay to go as our additional exercises. The boys were to build a cup or bowl. My little dude, just made whatever his heart desired. We used the coil method. In which you make snakes & then coil them into the shape you want. 

After they are rolled out into long snakes you coil the clay into shapes you want. In our case cups.  Then if you don't want the coils you can smooth it with a little water & sponge.

             Then let them dry. It took our particular clay about 3-4 days of air drying. We did have the problem of having our handles fall of our cups, but I don't have a solution yet to this problem. I know there is one yet, but I haven't researched the answer. Sorry.

My little dudes Fish.

Once they were dry we added paint. It took ours about 3-4 days of air drying time, to be dry enough. I think you could add these into a warm oven to speed the process along, but we chose not to. 

We used an Acrylic paint that I had on hand already.  For my boys that wanted multiple colors on the same cup, we had a have a little drying time in between so the colors didn't mix.

They probably needed sealed once they are dry. We did have to wait patiently in between changing colors at 

times so that the colors didn't mix. They finished them & they looked fantastic. Sadly I don't have 

the finished pictures with me. (I will add them later).

All in all I would say the clay has been awesome for my boys. They are always begging to make things with it & have since created their own village. Creating cars, snow machines & a houses. Clay is something I will purchase more of & continue to use they have loved it.

Just as a tip, I always tape down freezer paper, (waxy side up) for any craft we do. That way my table is protected & it gives my boys a sense of their own working area. Once they are done, I rip of the freezer paper & throw it away & the mess is cleaned up. It works slick & my boys automatically get it out now.

Menu Monday - 8/20 & Menu Board

First of all I have been eyeing cute ways of displaying your weekly menu's on pinterest for quite sometime. Here are a few: MENU Boards,. just to give you an idea.   It has been on my make list for a while, but with so many things going on around here, I haven't been able to make it happen. That was until about 2 weeks ago, when I went to a family reunion.   I was thrilled to find out we would be making one, and all I had to do was bring my scrap booking supplies & magnets.

 I haven't put all my recipes in it yet, but it has been fun to have!  Okay onto this week:

This Week's Menu     
   As you know, we have been taking a few more Road Trips.  Also we are working out a of town a lot this week &  weeks to come. So you will be seeing a few more crockpot recipes, just because I can have dinner cooking & still be working. & as almost always there will be a few repeats for meals this week.  

Monday:
        B- Cream of Wheat/Oatmeal
        L - Leftover Chicken & Mashed Potatoes
        D- Creamed Potatoes & Peas

Tuesday: 
         B- German Pancakes 
         L- Undecided
         D - Crock Pot Santa Fe Chicken from Chef in Training

Wednesday:  
          B-  Waffles
          L - Macroni Casserole
          D- Crock pot Beef Noodles 

Thursday:
      B-     Cream egg on Toast
      L -    Tomato Soup & Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
      D -  Barbecue Blue Cheese Pork Chops from The Fit Cook

Friday: 
     B-  Sausage & Eggs
     L - Pork Fajitas
     D-  Beef & Broccoli (I am going to try this in the slow cooker & see how it works)

Saturday: 
        B. Cream Egg Toast
        L- Enchiladas
        D.-  Community Dinner 

Sunday:  
        B- Pancakes   
        D - Herb Roasted Chicken w/ Steamed Veggies 

Baking:  Homemade Wheat Bread,  Cookies for Mutal on Tuesday, & Sunday Treats 


As always I am linking up to Organizing Junkie. 
 

   

Growing Celery

So I saw this idea on Pinterest originally. ( I will try to track down the original, is at Chickens in the Garden). Anyways I thought it was fantastic, so I tried it & so far its working.

Growing Celery





Take your store bought celery. The one you used all the stalks on & are about to throw away in the trash. (Or in our case, to the animals.) Make a clean cut all the way across the top & a thin slice off the bottom. Put in water & it will start to grow.  When I have time, I am going to take this plant & put it in our garden. You plant it will stalk side up, just dig a small whole, fill it with water & set the end in the whole. Cover it with an inch or so of soil & water thoroughly. I plan on getting a whole row growing at different stages so I always have plenty of celery in the garden.


     The plant above is about a week old. I am so excited to grow my own celery & to propagate it out of the stuff I bought from the grocery store. I couldn't help, but share. So next time don't throw your celery in the trash, grow your own.

Homemade Tortilla Strips

Last night I was making dinner & on the menu was  Santa Fe chicken. After sampling it, I wanted some tortilla chips to go with it. We normally we have some on hand, but last night we were out. I remembered months ago I tried making some & they were good, so I quickly made some.





 Homemade tortilla chips
Ingredients:
Corn tortilla shells
Oil (I used canola, because that is what I had on hand)
Salt.

Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees.

Take your corn shell & brush oil on both sides of them. I stack mine one on top of another. Once all the oil is brushed on, I cut mine into strips.






Once you have cut them to the size & shape you want. Lay them out on a cookie sheet & salt them.





Then put then into the oven to bake. I bake mine 15-20 minutes depending on how hot it is. I turn them over with a spatula about halfway through the time they need to cook.
When they are as golden as you want pull them out & let them cool. I taste one ( and usually burn my tongue :0). sometimes I add a little more salt. Or any other seasonings you enjoy.





Once they are cooled eat & enjoy.

Homemade Laundry Detergent

My little Dude hand feeding the Pigs.

We do a lot of laundry at this house. A lot.  Some day I think my boys change their clothes more than girls, but then again, I doubt too many little girls spend part of their day trying to wrestle pigs.

See that is what happens almost daily when we head out to do chores.  3 little boys trying to tackle growing pigs. It funny to watch, but usually means a change of clothes when we come back in the house. Which is fine, but we do usually check the animals more than once a day . . . so our laundry pile grows quickly.  Back to the point . . .

We do a lot of laundry  & I finally discovered a home made laundry detergent I  like. It only require 3 ingredients & saves me a lot of $$. I usually go through about a big container of laundry detergent a month. (80+ loads a month)  Or close to. An average  of $15 dollars or so a month. Depending on which type I buy. This new detergent only cost me about $8.50 to make  & it last me somewhere between 3-4 months., usually closer to four. That means instead of spending  $15 or more dollars a month for clean clothes I only spend $2.25. It doesn't sound like much to some, but over the course of  a year I save over $150 dollars a month on only switching 1  item. That could add up.

Back to the soap. It saves some cash, I like it & it quick to make. You need 3 ingredients. Here is what they are:  a bar of  Fels -Naptha Soap, a Box of Borax, & a box of  Washing Soda. That is it.





Here is what you do.  Grate the bar of Fels-Naptha. Put in a big container, dump the other 2 boxes in & mix.  Mix it as well as you can.

That is it. Homemade Laundry Detergent.  It works, it's simple & you only need 1 to 1 & 1/2 Tablespoons a Load. I have a HE Washer Machine  & I use it all the time.

I keep a small container like this one: & the rest somewhere else & just refill as needed.

When I do run out, I do switch to a different laundry detergent for about 3 weeks, and then I go back. Someone once told me it was better for your clothes if you rotate your type laundry detergent a little. So I do, but I use this most of the time.

Try it.

Then use that extra $150 dollars  a year on something you really enjoy.