Home With My Tots

Outgrowing Nicknames

2014-06-19T08:15:00.007-04:00

Princess turned six this year. After she turned six she informed me that she had outgrown her nickname baby doll. This instantly saddened me. Not because she did not like her nickname anymore, but because she was growing up to fast. It has taken me sometime and a lot of reminders from Princess to quit calling her baby doll. I still do it a little and anytime I do, she instantly reminds me to not call her that. I know with eventually I will stop all together.

Has your child ever told you that they have outgrown their nickname? If so, what did you do? Feel free to leave a response. Thanks for stopping by!

Christina

2014 Summer Bucket List

2014-06-12T08:48:00.002-04:00

It is getting to be that time of year again. The kids are finishing up with school and if you are like me, you’re wondering what am I going to do with them all day long? Last year my family started a new tradition of doing a summer bucket list. I came up with it by myself and told the kids what we were going to do each day. While my kids enjoyed this I could tell that they wanted to be involved more. This year I decided to let help pick what to put on this list. Each day they are going to take turns choosing what we are going to do. They loved this idea so much and cannot wait to start working on checking things of our list. Below is the list that my kids and I came up with. Hope you enjoy and find some inspiration for your own family.

SUMMER BUCKET LIST 2014

1. GO TO THE ZOO

2. GO TO AN AMUSEMENT PARK

3. HAVE A PICNIC

4. PLAY RED LIGHT/ GREEN LIGHT

5. ~~PLAY HORSE OR PIG~~

6. ~~HOPSCOTCH~~

7. WATCH THE SUNSET

8. EAT ICE CREAM FOR BREAKFAST OR DINNER

9. MAKE PLAY DOUGH recipes are from Motherhood on a Dime

10. MAKE HOMEMADE POPSICLE recipes from tipnut

11. FLY A KITE

~~12.~~ ~~CATCH LIGHTENING BUGS~~

13. GO STAR GAZING

14. PLAY IN THE RAIN

~~15.~~ ~~SPOT SHAPES IN THE CLOUDS~~

16. MAKE CAMPFIRE FRUIT AND SMORES CONES from kids activities Blog

17. GO CAMPING IN OUR BACKYARD

18. BUILD A SAND CASTLE

~~19.~~ ~~HAVE A WATER BALLOON FIGHT~~

20. GO TO A BASEBALL GAME

21. GO BERRY PICKING

22. GO ON A HIKE

~~23.~~ ~~VISIT A FARMERS MARKET~~

24. DIET COKE AND MENTOS ERUPTION found at Science Kids

25. DIY SLIP AND SLIDE from Inner Child Fun

26. DIY BUBBLES from Homemade Bubble Solutions

27. HAVE AN OUTDOOR MOVIE NIGHT

28. MAKE HOMEMADE ICE CREAM

29. MAKE LIQUID SIDEWALK CHALK from smashed peas and carrots

30. HAVE A FAMILY GAME NIGHT

31. GO ON A TREASURE HUNT

~~32.~~ ~~RUN THROUGH THE SPRINKLER~~

33. MAKE SOLAR SMORES from Spoonful

34. GO SEE FIREWORKS

35. DIY WATER BLOB from Clumsy Crafter

36. GO TO THE MOVIES

37. MAKE TRIPLE BERRY NO-DRIP POPS from Kraft Recipes

38. MAKE A TOILET PAPER BIRD FEEDER from Homeschool Antics

39. GO ON A SCAVENGER HUNT

40. MAKE A MILK JUG BALL CATCHER found on Lakeshore Learning

41. DO AN ICE EXCAVATION ACTIVITY found on Gluesticks

42. GO BOWLING

43. WATCH THE SUNRISE

44. MAKE AN OUTDOOR TENT FORT

45. MAKE A BACKYARD WATER PARK

46. MAKE TRAIL MIX

47. GO TO THE PARK

48. PLAY MINI GOLF

49. VISIT A CHILDREN'S MUSEUM

50. SWING IN A HAMMOCK

What are you doing this summer?

Thanks for stopping by!

Christina

Menu Plan

2014-02-03T09:53:00.001-05:00

Menu Plan for the week of Feb 3 – Feb 9^th

First of all because of my food intolerances I have become for the most part a virgin diet for life person. For those of you who do not know what I am talking about you can read more here. Basically I try not to eat Dairy, Gluten, Eggs, Corn, Peanuts, Sugar, and Soy. I personally have problems with Dairy, Gluten, Sugar and Soy. So my menu is sometimes different for breakfast for myself, then what I make for my kids.

Breakfasts for myself I will be having either Protein Shakes or Oatmeal. The oatmeal is Gluten Free, Dairy Free old fashioned oats. I eat this with cinnamon, Sugar free vanilla coconut milk, and fresh fruit on top.

For my kids they will be having:

Cereal x4

Oatmeal

Pancakes

Waffles

Dinners:

Brown rice pasta with a homemade meat sauce

Chicken Taco’s in the crockpot with homemade taco seasoning and served on brown rice tortilla

Pork Stir Fry

Salad with grilled chicken

Tuna Noodle Casserole this is a no recipe experiment. I am going to use brown rice pasta and coconut milk in place of the cream soups. I will post pictures later in the week with the results.

Out

Chili

Thanks for stopping by!

Christina

Menu Plan and a Virgin Diet Update

2013-07-16T09:31:00.000-04:00

I know I have not been on my blog in a while. This summer has just been a majorly chaotic one. I guess that, that is partly my fault. I try to keep our summer pretty busy with activity so that the kids will not be bored. Because of this my blog and sometimes the house work seems to have suffered. But to me the important thing is my kids and enjoying this time while I have it.
Now on to my diet update. Well I can happily say that I have finely made it too stage two of the diet. This is the testing phase. Last week I tested eggs and found out that I do not have any problems with them. Starting today I am supposed to be testing Soy. Now I am not a huge fan of soy. I sometimes like a little soy sauce with my Chinese food, or I sometimes like veggie burgers. But that is the extent of it. I originally was not going to even test soy, but while I have been on the diet I have started reading labels and soy is in so many things, that I ended up realizing I needed to test it. That being said brings me to my menu. It is not quite a complete menu. I have only found two things that I want to make that are legal with the diet. I am supposed to test for 4 days, so I still need to figure out two more. If anyone has any ideas, I would more than welcome the suggestions.

Week of 7/16/13 - 7/22/13

My breakfasts are still just protein shakes.

Kids Breakfasts

Cereal x3
Waffles x3
Smoothies with Blueberry muffins

Dinners

Boca Veggie Burgers
Baked Soy Lemon Chops from all recipes (except instead of the vegetable oil that the recipe calls for I will be using extra virgin olive oil)

Non Soy Items

Baked Herb Lemon Chicken from Andicakes
Brown Rice Pasta with Meat Sauce
Grilled Chicken Salad

What are you eating this week?

Christina

Breastfeeding and Biting

2013-06-21T12:41:00.000-04:00

I would not by any means say that I am an expert on breastfeeding. In between my 3 kids I have breastfed for a total of 39 months so far. In that time I have had my fair share of issues. From clogged milk ducts to latching problems. But to me one of the most painful issues is biting. Now with my 1st two I got lucky cause they teethed late. There was biting but it was not nearly as painful because there were not any teeth. Both princess and captain curious stopped relatively easy for me. Now I am on to number 3 and he is being a real pistol. He has 2 teeth and is work on number three. The real problem is he keeps biting me. Little man has bitten me so hard I have bleed. I have tried everything I can think of to get him to stop but nothing is working. I have tried taking it away, telling him NO, I even cried the day he bit me so hard that I bleed. He did cry that day but then he went right back to biting. Short of quitting nursing I do not know what to do. Do you have something that works? I would love to hear any feedback that anyone can give.

Thanks

Christina

thredUP

2013-06-20T11:00:00.002-04:00

Are you a thrifty mom or dad? Do you have a hard time paying $10, $20, or $30 for something your kid is only going to outgrow in a few months?

Would you like to earn money by selling your kids gentle used clothes?

If you answered yes to any of these questions then I might have the sight for you. I am in love with this site called thredUP. They buy and sell gently used kid's clothes. I fell in love with this company about a year ago. And to me they have only gotten better with time. They just recently also started buying and selling gently used or new Women's clothes. I know right it does not get better than that. I am not embarrassed to say that I buy gently used clothes for my kids and myself all the time. And it works out great. I am always so proud of my finds and always seem to get so many complements on them. I highly recommend thredUP.com they have been a true blessing to me. You can check them out by clicking on the picture below. Do you have any stores that you really like? I would love to hear from you!

Christina

Disclaimer: This post contains an affiliate link. By clicking on the link and purchasing from the site, I will receive a small commission.

Father's Day

2013-06-16T13:52:00.001-04:00

Happy Father's Day! I am off spending the day with my wonderful husband and children. Hope you all enjoy the day. I will be back to writing tomorrow.

What are you doing for Father's Day? I would love to here from you!

Christina

Menu plan 6/10 - 6/16

2013-06-10T13:06:00.000-04:00

I restarted my diet today, so I am back to two shakes a day. The breakfasts below will be what I will be feeding the kids.

Breakfasts

Cereal x3
Oatmeal x3
Eggs with Fruit and Turkey Bacon

Dinners

Homemade Chicken Tacos on Brown Rice Tortillas with Mexican Style Quinoa from
Lynn's Kitchen Adventures
Lime Marinated Steak from Budget Savvy Diva
Brown Rice Pasta with Sauce
Thymeless Lemon Halibut from The Virgin Diet Companion Cookbook
Grilled Chicken Salad
Chili Lime Chicken Skewers from The Virgin Diet book by JJ Virgin
JJ's Herb Rubbed Pork Tenderloin Roast from The Virgin Diet book by JJ Virgin

The Virgin Diet update

2013-06-07T11:21:00.002-04:00

1^st of all I want to start by saying that I am sorry that I have missed the last two weeks of menu planning. With Princess off for the summer I have been trying to rearrange my schedule. I am working on trying to find a happy medium, so that I can do everything I need to do. So far our summer has just been mad chaos, which has caused me to not have enough time to work on my blog. Hopefully in the next few weeks here I will have ironed out all the kinks and be able to get back to posting regularly.

Now on to my diet update. So far on TheVirgin diet, which for those of you who do not know what this is, it is an elimination diet. Anyway back to my point, so far I have lost 15 lbs in 3 weeks. I have been learning a lot from this diet. For example before this diet I did not realize how much stuff corn and soy hide in. I now know they are in a lot of what I was eating and I also know that I am almost positive that I have intolerances to both.

This diet is not easy by any means. Especially when you have to have food you cannot eat in the house for the rest of your family. It takes a lot of will power. You have to really want to improve your health to do this diet. For me, my health was the whole reason for doing this. I had been suffering from stomach issues since I was a teenager. Maybe even before that. Through the years I have had pretty much every test possible run on my digestive tract. I have been diagnosed with countless things. But shortly after every diagnosis the symptoms have always come back, sometimes with extra symptoms with them. I had come to a point where I had just accepted this as just part of my life. Just something I had to deal with.

Then one day I was researching the internet and came across information about food intolerances. I started talking to my mom about it and she found JJ Virgins page here. She got the book and started talking about it. I knew it sounded like something I needed to try, but was not sure I wanted to spend the money. In the meantime my mom started the diet. Once I saw the changes that were taking place with here I knew for sure that I was going to give it a try. So I bought JJ Virgin’s book, read it and went and bought the supplies for the diet. I have to say it really has been amazing I have had more energy than I have had in years. (And I do not even get to sleep through the night thanks to little man.) My skin is clearer. And the best part I have not had any stomach problems in 3 weeks. This was something I had been dealing with prior to the diet on a daily basis.

Now I have had to restart the diet twice, and am going to have to restart it for the 3^rd time on Monday. But I know with a little perseverance I will figure out what all had been causing my problems. And for me that is an amazing thing. To be able to know that I may not have to deal with my issues that I thought were just a part of my life. If any of this sounds like something you have experienced or if you just want to know more please feel free to check out JJ Virgin’s page here.

Christina

Stocking Up for Summer at the Dollar Store

2013-05-31T13:17:00.001-04:00

Summer is quickly approaching and the kids will be done school soon. Princess finished school last week. Depending on what you have planned to do with your kids this summer, it can become quite expensive. That is when I turn to my trusty Dollar Tree. Now you may not be able to get everything, but you can still get a decent amount of stuff. They have everything from picnic supplies to pool noodles, and arts and crafts supplies. A lot of what I got coincides with my Summer Bucket list here. Here is what I was able to get on my trip on Sunday to the Dollar Tree.

Water Balls - these are great for in the pool or for water fights.

Water Guns - another fun item for water fights.

Water Blasters - These are like water guns, but much easier for little ones.

Water Catchers

Fishing Fun - I plan on putting the fish in our baby pool and letting the kids have fun with it.

Kites - I know there is only 1 in the picture, but the package came with 2 kites.

Bug Kits

Craft Sticks - The package says craft sticks they are actually just popsicle sticks.

Safety Scissors

Pooh's Number Match

Crayons

Scribble Pad

Glow Sticks - These came in fun shapes, but they have regular glow sticks there also.

That is what I got on my most recent trip to the Dollar store. Where do you go to stock up for summer? I would love to hear from you!

Christina

Liebster Award Nomination

2013-05-21T19:57:00.001-04:00

Woohoo! I am excited to announce that I have been nominated for a Liebster Award. Thank you very much for this Nomination Mrs. AOK. I graciously except the award and I am sending the blog love right back at you.

    OK so you are probably asking yourself "What is a Liebster award"?   Well I am going to tell you!

     The word Liebster in German means dearest or lovely. The Liebster award is given to new up and coming bloggers with less than 200 followers. While the Liebster award is not a trophy or certificate you are being recognized. This award is a nice way for new bloggers to get to know other new bloggers.

If you are a nominee you are in no way obligated to accept this award. If you do however choose to except there are a few things that you will need to do.

Here is what to do if you accept the award.
   1. Send blog love back to the blog that nominated you and link back to them.
   2. Nominate 5 - 11 new bloggers who have 200 or less followers.
   3. Answer the questions posted for you by your nominator.
   4. Share 11 random facts about yourself.
   5. Decide on 11 questions to ask your nominees to answer.
   6. Contact your nominees and let them know that you have nominated them for the award after you have posted yours.
   7. Have fun! Alright I added that one myself!

   Now for the lucky bloggers I have chosen to Nominate for the Liebster Award!

                                          Tan'Chae's Creations

                                          Dressing Room Diaries

                                         Meredith @ A TIPical Day

                                         Cristy @ CHill Thoughts

                                         Rachel @ Vintage Honeybee

                                         Nicole @ Diary of an Untidy Clean Freak

                                         Leanne @ Oh My Daze!

The 11 Questions I have to answer are:

   1. Where are you from?   The United States east coast. I will not say what state for the safety of my children.

   2. Why do you blog? I blog for myself! While it is nice to think that I might touch a few lives. I really do it so that I can remember these days when my kids where young and I was a Stay At Home Mom.

3. Tattoos? No! Never wanted any!

4. Favorite movie of all time? Braveheart! I know not exactly one that you would expect!

5. If I could live in any era ____? Renaissance era I just love the clothes from that time period.

6. What is your favorite blog? Money Saving Mom I love Crystal's blog.

  7. What book are you reading? The Virgin Diet by JJ Virgin. This is actually my 2nd time reading it.
  8. Coffee or Tea?   Both, I like to drink a cup of coffee in the morning and tea in the evening.

9. Who inspires you? Boy that is a loaded question. A lot of people inspire me. God, My Husband, My Children, My Parents, My Sister, My Brother ........ and the list goes on.

10. If you could eat dinner with 3 celebs, politicians, or philosophers who would you invite? {living or dead} OK there are lots for this one but if I had to choose 3 it would be Ray Charles, Wayne Brady, and Ryan Reynolds.

11. If you could have one super hero's powers who would it be? Spiderman or in my case I guess it would be Spiderwomen.

11 Random Facts About Me

1. I have been in 22 of the 50 states in the U.S. I hope to see all 50 before I die.

2. Besides the United States I have been to 4 other Countries.

3. I love breakfast food but I think I have an intolerance to Gluten and Dairy.

4. I did gymnastics for about 11 years of my life.

5. When I was little I wanted to be an Olympic gymnast

6. Some days I think it would be easier to go back into the work force, than it is to stay home with the kids. But I would never trade getting to be with them.

7. I cannot watch action packed or horror movies at night time. They give me nightmares if I do. But I can watch them in the day time and be fine.

8. I love to dance.

9. I sometimes feel like I was supposed to be a country girl, but I am not.

10. I love my country music!

11. I never broke a bone until I became an adult. Then when I did I broke 4 bones at once in my foot.

Questions For My Nominees

         1. What is your favorite TV show?
         2. Have you ever traveled to another country?
         3. Name something you love about yourself?
         4. What is your favorite color?
         5. Who is your favorite President?
         6. What is your favorite type of food?
         7. Do you believe in ghosts?
         8. If you had only one day left to live and you knew about it what would you do?
         9. What is your favorite sport?
         10. Do you fold your pizza in half, keep it flat or eat it with a fork and knife?
         11. What is the craziest thing you have ever done?

       Everybody be sure to go check out Mrs AOK!

Christina

Menu Plan for 5/20/13 - 5/26/13 and Diet Update

2013-05-20T14:37:00.000-04:00

I have only been on The Virgin Diet for 6 days now and I have already come to some conclusion about my family and my health. First of all I definitely have some kind of intolerance. I will find out what I have the intolerance to in a few weeks. The results in these 6 days have been amazing. I feel so much better. My stomach has not bothered me for 6 days. I had skin problems, alright I had adult acne, but that has started to clear up. And I have so much energy more than I have had in years.

If any of you out there have stomach issues like IBS, I would highly recommend you check out JJ Virgin’s The Virgin Diet. It really does help. You can check out her site or buy her book click here.

Now back to my conclusions my 2^nd and 3^rd conclusions where that I have been feeding my family way to much processed food, and that I have not been feeding them enough fruits and vegetables. So that is changing in our household.

Below is my menu for the week. For Breakfasts you will once again see that I have two different plans for my kids and for my hubby and me. For dinners we will all eat the same thing.

BREAKFASTS
For my husband and me it will be protein shakes all week.

For the kids

Cereal with fruit x3
Oatmeal with fruit x2
Scrambled Eggs with Turkey Bacon and Fresh Fruit
Waffles with Fruit

DINNERS
All of the dinner recipes this week are from The Virgin Diet Companion Cookbook by JJ Virgin

The 5 minute “Insane Man Hunger” cure
Slow-Cooked Coconut Ginger Pork with Broccoli and Brown Rice
Leftovers
Lemon Rosemary Broiled Salmon
Paleo Turkey Bolognese
Marinated Chicken Kebobs with Grecian Salad
One Pot Southwest Chicken Breasts

What is your menu plan for the week? Feel free to leave a comment! I would love to here from you!

Christina

Cleaning Schedule

2013-05-18T10:15:00.000-04:00

Cleaning is something that I have struggled with since I was little. It is not that I do not like the house to look clean, because I love it to look clean. It is more the fact that I have come to realize my problem is that I am a perfectionist. I want everything to be perfect all the time. While that would be nice it is just not ideal when you have three small kids in the house. Because of this with the birth of each child I have had to re-adjust my cleaning schedule and figure out what works best with the new addition. I have come to figure out that breaking it up throughout the week works best for me. This allows me to have more time with the kids each day. Below I have included my weekly cleaning schedule. At another time I will share my daily and monthly.

Monday - Bathrooms and Changing the Sheets on all the beds.
Tuesday - Bedrooms
Wednesday- Kitchen and Dining Room
Thursday- Living Room and Family Room
Friday - Office, Laundry Room, and Play Room
Saturday - Outdoor work and Errands
Sunday - Rest

Do you have a cleaning schedule? What is your weekly cleaning schedule like? I would love to hear from you!

Menu Plan for 5/13/13 - 5/19/13 and The Virgin Diet

2013-05-13T13:10:00.001-04:00

I have had some stomach issues for a very long time now. I have had all sorts of tests run on me and all they have really come up with was a gallbladder malfunction that I had removed and IBS. For a while I accepted that I just had to deal with the pain and issues I was having. But recently I stumble upon information about food intolerance's. Then my mom told me about a book titled The Virgin Diet by JJ Virgin. She teaches you in this book about food intolerance's for the 7 main foods and also about why they are bad for you. I have to say after reading her book I am convinced that I have food intolerance's. On Wednesday this week I will be starting The Virgin Diet on my quest to see if I really do have any intolerance's. So my menu plan is going to be a little different for the next couple months. If you want to know more about the book or this diet you can check out the website here.

BREAKFASTS
I will be drinking a protein shake for breakfast every morning starting Wednesday. I will give you the menu plan for my kids breakfasts.

Kids
Oatmeal with fruit x3
Cereal with fruit x4

DINNERS

Breakfast for Dinner
Out
Lemon Pepper Chicken
Herb-Rubbed Pork Tenderloin Roast from The Virgin Diet book by JJ Virgin
Spaghetti Squash "Pasta" with Meat Sauce form The Virgin Diet book
Grilled Salmon
Chili Lime Grilled Chicken Skewers from The Virgin Diet book

Mother's Day

2013-05-12T14:35:00.001-04:00

      Happy Mother's Day! I am spending mother's day resting. I wanted to share a funny store about a gift that Princess made for me at school for mother's day. Princess made me several beautiful pictures for mother's day but at school they also did this questionnaire titled All About My Mom! Now I imagine that the answers were all probably pretty funny. Below is what the questionnaire said. Princess's answers are in between the lines and my responses are in the (). Hope you enjoy and hope you all have a wonderful mother's day.

All About My Mom!

Let me tell you about my mom!
She is __5____ years old.   (Not even close but it is funny that she thinks I am her age.)

She likes to _______take care of my babies__________________________________________.
(Um I do not have a clue what she means unless she is talking about her baby dolls.)

The best thing she cooks is ________Egg Salad_____________________.
    (Not the best thing I cook but it is one of her favorites)

Her favorite food is
____________Chicken Nuggets______________________.
    (Wrong but I give her credit for trying to guess.)

Her favorite thing to do to relax is
__________________do her e-mail____________.
     (Probably because she sees me working on my blog a lot. She thinks whenever someone is on the computer they are checking e- mail.)

We like to ______fold laundry______________________ together.
     (I do not really enjoy folding laundry but she does)

She is really good at ______ironing_________________.
       (This is funny because she has never seen me iron anything)

As you can see my mom is special because
_________flowers_________________.
(LOL um I do not think she understood this question.)

Chores for Preschoolers

2013-05-10T09:35:00.001-04:00

Are your little ones always asking to help? If they are anything like mine they are. My kids Princess and Captain Curious are always asking to help. Princess will say, "Can I help mom?" and then Captain Curious always follows with, "I help please mommy?"   What do I do when they ask this question?   I find something for them to do of course. I was recently thinking about giving the kids some chores to do. Some of these are daily and weekly. Also some are by themselves and others are with help. Below is a list of what I came up with.

DAILY CHORES

________   Put dirty clothes in the laundry basket

________   Set table or help set table

________   Clear your dishes from the table

________ Clean up toys

For my older one Princess I have a few extra daily chores.

________ Help dry any plastic dishes

________ Help change laundry around.

Both of my kids love to empty the lint trap. But for Princess she also likes when I hand her the wash and let her put it in the dryer.

________  Put any of your laundry away.

Princess loves to put her clothes away.

WEEKLY

________ Help dust

________ Help sweep

Princess sometimes helps with cleaning the bathroom. But I do not use toxic chemicals. I only use a white vinegar and water solution, and sometimes baking soda. I will talk about this another time though. My point is that what I clean with is safe for her to be around. I also never force this on her it is only if she wants to help with the bathroom. Do your kids have any chores? What do they do to help? I would love to hear from you!

Christina

Menu plan 5/6/2013 - 5/12/2013

2013-05-06T14:23:00.001-04:00

I usually love this time of year, but for us so far this spring has been kind of lackluster. Summer will be here soon, which if you are like my daughter Princess then you just cannot wait for it. When summer comes my menus will be changing. I will be doing a lot of stuff that I will not need to cook on the stove or in the oven. I also am getting ready to start doing some freezer cooking, so that will be changing my menus in the next few weeks.

BREAKFASTS

Oatmeal with Fresh Strawberries and Bananas X 2
Cereal X2
Homemade Blueberry Muffins and Smoothies
Scrambled Eggs
Out - I do not cook on Mother's Day

DINNERS

Hot Dogs with Corn and Salad
Mexican Lasagna
Spaghetti and Homemade Meat Sauce
Crab Cakes with Rice and Salad
Homemade Pizza
Grilled Tuna with a Teriyaki Sauce and Grilled Veggies
Out

Summer Reading List

2013-05-05T15:24:00.001-04:00

The other day I was thinking about all the books that I want to read for myself or to the kids. I came up with an idea to do a sort of summer bucket list, except instead of activities it would be for books I want to read. Hopefully I can make it through all of them this summer. I have separated the list up in to categories and then I choose 10 books for each.

BOOKS I HOPE TO READ TO MYSELF

NOVELS

1. ~~Heart of Gold~~ by Lacy Williams

2. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

3. The Preacher's Bride by Jody Hedlund

4. The Fixer Upper: A Novel by Mary Kay Andrews

5. A Turn in the Road (Blossom Street) by Debbie Macomber

6. The Penny Tree (Nal Accent Novels) by Holly Kennedy

7.Hannah's Journey (Love Inspired Historical) by Anna Schmidt

8. The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs

9. Knit Two (The Friday Night Knitting Club) by Kate Jacobs
I know this is kind of cheating because it is a 2 part series, but my feeling is that it is two separate books so it counts.

10. Texas Neighbors: The Key/The Promise/The Neighbor (Heartsong Novella Collection)by Debra White Smith

SELF HELP/ FOR THE HOME/ PARENTING

1. Essential Home Remedies: Staying Healthy With Simple, Natural Home Remedies From The Pantry And The Garden by Sue Woledge

2. The Early To Rise Experience: Learn To Rise Early in 30 Days (Early To Rise Series) by Andy Traub

3. Simply Stylish: How to Revamp Your Wardrobe for Chic Style at Any Age by Carrie Foster

4. The Stress Free You: How to Live Stress Free and Feel Great Everyday, Starting Today by Elizabeth O'Brien

5. Tell Your Time: How to Manage Your Schedule So You Can Live Free by Amy Lynn Andrews

6. How to Sew: Basics by Various

7. The Art of Frugal: Feeding a Family on a Budget by Kaylee Cole

8. Not Your Mother's Make-Ahead and Freeze Cookbook (NYM Series) by Jessica Fisher

9. Funny Woman Guide to Get Organized NOW! or at Least Sometime Before You Die. . .
by Isabella McBride

10. How To Take Better Photos - Your Guide To Taking Better Pictures From Any Camera
by HelpMePublishing.com

BOOKS I HOPE TO READ TO MY KIDS

KIDS PICTURE BOOKS

1. The Bible Tells Me So, Volume 1 (First Steps Devotions) by Paul J. Loth
I actually plan on doing this whole series with my kids.

2. What Does It Mean To Be Green? (What Does It Mean...?) by Rana DiOrio

3. The Ugly Duckling (Illustrated) by Hans Christian Andersen

4. I'll Follow the Moon (Mom's Choice Award Honoree and Chocolate Lily Award Winner)
Written by Stephanie Lisa Tara
Illustrated by Lee Edward Födi

5. Cougar Cub Tales: I'm Just Like You by Sharon Cramer

6. The Elephant's Child by Rudyard Kipling

7. ~~Pinkalicious~~ by Victoria Kann

8. Bear Circus by William Pene Du Bois

9. Julius, the Baby of the World [JULIUS THE BABY OF THE W] by Kevin Henkes

10. Amelia Bedelia Collection (I Can Read Book 2) by Peggy Parish

KIDS CHAPTER BOOKS

1. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

2. The Adventures of Peter Cottontail by Thornton W. Burgess

3. Strawberry Girl 60th Anniversary Edition (Trophy Newbery) by Lois Lenski

4. Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle by Betty MacDonald

5. The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes

6. The Complete Tales of Winnie-the-Pooh by Ernest H. Shepard

7. Junie B. Jones Is a Beauty Shop Guy (Junie B. Jones, No. 11) by Barbara Park

8. Elmer and the Dragon (My Father's Dragon) by Ruth Stiles Gannett

9. ~~Thank You, Logan! (Hopscotch Hill School)~~ by Valerie Tripp

10. Wild Horses (A Stepping Stone Book(TM)) by George Edward Stanley

Disclaimer: This post contains an affiliate link. By clicking on the link and purchasing from the site, I will receive a small commission.

Pantry Clean Up and Organization

2013-05-01T16:03:00.000-04:00

My pantry has been a mess lately and it has been driving me crazy. I have been doing my spring cleaning lately and I decided that today I was finally going to attack my pantry. I took everything out wiped down the shelves and then put it all back in, but in an organized fashion. Below I have included before and after pictures of my project.

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After
The plastic bin and the fabric bin in this picture are from the dollar store. That is tea bags in the fabric bin. Tea is a small obsession of mine. I will talk more about that another time. How do you like to organize your food storage? I would love to hear your comments!

Christina

Menu Plan for the Week of 4/29/13 - 4/5/13

2013-04-29T10:06:00.002-04:00

It has been kind of hectic around here lately. So I have been trying to keep our menu plans as simple as possible. Here is our menu plan for this week.

BREAKFASTS

Cereal x2
Waffles
Pancakes
Smoothies with Cinnamon Toast x2
Scrambled Eggs with Toast

DINNERS

Meatballs Sandwiches
Ground Turkey Tacos
Pasta with Sauce
Skillet Tuna Casserole from Lynn's Kitchen Adventures
Upside Down Pizza Casserole from Food.com
Out
Chicken Enchiladas

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Mother Nature

2013-04-25T21:33:00.002-04:00

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So I was exhausted today because little man has not been sleeping well the last few nights. I started thinking about what I could share today. That is when I decided to share some pictures of these birds that were flying around my parents’ house the other day. My kids loved seeing the birds and love looking at the pictures too.

I hope you enjoy them as well!

Christina

Swagbucks

2013-04-23T12:44:00.003-04:00

I have written before about different sites that you can earn a little something extra from. Well today I have another one for you. Swagbucks is a site that you can earn points for doing things like answering surveys, answering poll questions, watching videos, surfing the internet, and even shopping. The points you earn can be redeemed for merchandise and gift cards. So far I have earned 4 or 5 gift cards from them. So if you want to earn a little something extra, go ahead and check them out. You can check them out by clicking the link here.

Happy Earning!

Christina

Disclaimer: This post contains an affiliate link. By clicking on the link and purchasing from the site, I will receive a small commission.

6 Things to Do with Kids to Celebrate Earth Day

2013-04-22T13:52:00.002-04:00

In honor of Earth Day here is a list I came up with of 6 things you can do with kids to celebrate Earth Day.

1. Take a walk with your kids, take a trash bag with you and pick up trash while you walk. For older kids you could turn this into a game and see who can pick up the most.

2. Have a nature scavenger hunt.

3. Plant a garden, or flowers.

4. Read a kids book about Earth Day. There is a bunch of books at Amazon.com

5. Make an Earth Day craft with your kids. One idea is take a paper plate and give your kids blue and green markers or crayons, and let your kids color and draw their version of Earth.

6. Print out an Earth Day Activity Packet at Spoonful.com

These are just some ideas of things you can do with kids to celebrate Earth Day. I am sure there are lots of other things you could do as well. I hope you enjoy this list.

Happy Earth Day!

Christina

Menu Plan for the week of 4/21-4/27

2013-04-21T18:35:00.001-04:00

I am working on spring cleaning this week, so I decided to keep this weeks menu very simple.

BREAKFASTS

French Toast
Smoothies and Cinnamon Toast
Cereal x2
Oatmeal
Scrambled Eggs, Turkey Bacon, and Toast
Homemade Waffles

DINNERS

Salmon Burgers, and Salad
Crockpot Sesame Chicken
Beef Barbecue Sandwiches
Breakfast for Dinner
Turkey Loin Roast With Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
Homemade Pizza Night
Crab Cakes with Salad

10 Things to do with kids on rainy days.

2013-04-18T14:13:00.002-04:00

Have you ever heard the words from your kids, "I'm board"? I am sure like many parents you probably have at least once. I find on rainy days I especially here this. With summer time coming and the kids being out of school, we all will probably here those dreaded words at least once. Below I have compiled a list of 10 things to do with kids when it rains.

No I am not going to tell you to get your kids to sleep. I just thought he looked so cute and peaceful. If you're a Mother of little ones like me, you probably wish you could do this on a rainy day.
Now back to my list.

1. If it is a warm day and it is not a thunderstorm. You could let your kids go play in the rain. Even better you could go play in the rain with them. Let them jump in the puddles. You could even put them in there swim suits for this.

2. Do a science experiment with them.

3. Make some DIY play dough with your kids and let them have fun with it afterwards. I usually throw a rolling pin and some cookie cutters out for my kids to use with the play dough. The Internet is full of recipes for DIY play dough. Here are a few links for some, Modern Parents Messy Kids, Betty Crocker, and the imagination tree.

4. Play a board game.

5. Read a book.

6. Watch a movie together.

7. Build a fort. After you build it hang out in it with your kids. Even better is if you combine building a fort with either reading or watching a movie.

8. If it is a thunderstorm, count the seconds between thunders.

9. Put on some music and have a dance party.

10. Do a craft project, or try cooking a new recipe with your kids.

There are endless possibilities but I hope this will help with some ideas.