Homemaking Organized Blog

Archive for May, 2009

You know this is what every mom combs the internet for. Ways to keep young kids active and busy. With summer upon us even moreso although you will get a lot of respite when they take the play outside.

At four my daughter wants to live outside (rain, sleet, snow, you name it) but there are times when she is indoors.

I’ve been waiting to see what captures her attention as THE activity to immerse herself in. Most children have one (or two) things they love to do and can’t get enough of. For my nephew it was legos and trucks. Trucks still have him wrapped around their wheels but legos have kind of moved on.  At 16 that’s to be expected.

For me it was Barbies and baking. I didn’t start fixating on these until a little older than four but that was it for me…and playing office/library.

My daughter is captivated by bugs and bubbles. She will spend all day playing with her pet ladybugs and whoever else she manages to get a hold of. This is not good for me because I’m one of those that run screaming down the middle of a crowded street if I hear buzzing near my ear. And for some reason I always hear said buzzing because bugs love me. Blech! THEY LOVE ME! (‘scuse me I’m getting itchy).

But when the squirming gets too much for mommy I can always turn her head with bubbles. She loves bubbles and has since she was old enough to sit up. If you are like me you don’t have endless hours to sit blowing bubbles for your young child to pop and something about the battery operated bubble gun seems to leave the enjoyment of blowing them in the wind. Something about too many bubbles and not perfecting your pucker and blow.

So low and behold on my last trip to the store I found a little bubble contraption for young kids. It’s made so that if they knock it over, or hold it at a precarious angle none of the solution runs out. It has a little slot in the end for the bubble wand and is small enough for little hands. It’s called Zoo Friends No-Spill Bubble Tumbler Mini
It’s the first thing my Peanut asks for when she wakes up and the last thing she puts down before getting ready for bed. We take it on walks, in the bath, everywhere.

It recently ran out of solution so I looked up a recipe to make some online. Found this great one and it does make some nice strong bubbles for her.

I’ve been waiting for a deal like this. Since I’m officially going to start ‘real’ homeschool (kindergarten) this fall I’ve been doing my best to be prepared. Reading too much and relaxing too little. The Peanut is very excited and has been ‘organizing’ her pens and crayons and such.

The Old Schoolhouse Magazine is having a subscription sale. For just 48 hours, a one-year print subscription is only $15! Plus, as a bonus,new subscribers get 5 FREE We E-books of their choice. It’s the TOS Take/Get 5 subscription sale and it’s only good until midnight on May 26.

The Old Schoolhouse magazine CAN help you with homeschooling and is packed with well written, interesting tidbits for the homeschooling family.

Articles on how to start homeschooling, support for the homeschooler, tips for keeping it together while homeschooling, reviews on various curriculum, homeschooling products, homemaking tips (yes homemaking tips by resident Home Ec Columnist Molly Green), the latest news in the homeschooling world, and even short stories to entertain.

Starting as a small ebay business The Old SchoolHouse magazine has grown to be THE place for homeschool information.

If you’re nervous about homeschooling, or looking for good articles, tips, and stories to keep you motivate as you take on this wonderful position of teaching your own children then The Old SchoolHouse Magazine is the source to turn to.

It’s a beautiful full color, glossy magazine that is worth every penny. Christian parents with a heart for homeschooling will truly enjoy this magazine and what it has to offer.

I had been picking it up at the local bookstore but this beats the cover price anyday.

The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Magazine

I should figure out how to label these updates. I also need to post the pictures I took. I’m writing content before adding that great media but here is my exciting container garden update!!!

I know you have all been wondering and tearing your hair out for the next installment of The Container Garden – How Not To…

All kidding aside here is the update.

Carrots: I don’t know where these are. Seriously. My sister says I they come up as little tiny sprigs reminiscent of tiny chives but mine are so tiny there are almost invisible. She has bigger ones in her kitchen window. My verdict is still out on these. I have some mini tom thumb variety growing.

Corn: The corn sprouted so fast I’m a proud mama. I need to thin them now as my little Peanut and I planted 3 per hole. They have two long leaves each. These are also in the Garden Patch pot.

Cucumbers: My first two transplants died. I have another growing in my office but I’m not sure I even want to continue with him. I may put him in my rogue pot. More on that later.

Herbs: My aunt gave me one of those dollar store herb selections and I planted the whole pack in a pot. I’m not even sure what it was. It’s growing kind of. We’ve had a ton of rain so I had to move the water drain catcher thingsy from under most non-self watering pots.

Lettuce: We’ve eaten all of the transplants bought from Whole Foods…or is it Wild Oats? Oh well. My family says this was not a true  test of my gardening skills because they were already doing so well when I purchased them. My indoor flat is not doing well. I put it in more light but I think I’m going to scrap the indoor lettuce. The seeds I started in a pot (non-self watering) with some onions are doing really well. This was a mix from Seedsavers.org. I’m going to sow some more in a week or so to have continuous lettuce for a while.

Onions: These just baffle me. They are doing so well in a pot that I forgot to put the bottom on. They are big and I’m just going to leave them alone. I don’t even remember if I added fertilizer (keep notes unlike me). These were the onions I bought in a bunch at the beginning of the growing season. I put some more out a few weeks ago since they seem to like pots.

Potatoes: I am just so tickled at the potatoes. We have… well four pots actually but one is just

a very small pot I started so my daughter could really see the potatoes. We have 3 big Smart Pots on the ground and they are doing really well in there. We covered them with the next layer of peat moss/ soil mix.  We are following this method pretty much to the T. Just using Smart Pots instead of barrells.

Strawberries: These poor babies have been in a pot most of their lives. I’ve been carrying them around as we move hoping to put them in our backyard when we finally buy a home. I purchased them before I got married so they are about 12 years old now. They are in a Garden Patch pot and have several flowers on each little plant. I’m glad they didn’t give up on me.

Tomatoes: Tomaotes. So tempermental but so worth it. I have my second transplants outside permanently as of Sunday. So far so good. One did go and break in half on me so I gave that to my daughter who was making ‘soup’.  My first set all turned into my version of lazy compost except one plant which had hardened up and was growing well. It actually has a flower on it. Replace the Gold Medal I lost today. I don’t know which variety it is though so this will be interesting. All the tomotoes are in Garden Patch planters.

I have one rogue Garden Patch pot where I put thinnings and odds and ends to see what will happen. I really shouldn’t be wasting a self watering container like this but my husband and I like to do things like this for surprises.

Sarah Zeldman is looking for 8-10 women to join her “Beta’ Family Manager Coaching Group for FREE.

The group will run for 8 weeks and will feature one teleclass per week, recordings of the sessions (in case you miss one) and an exclusive forum where you can track your progress, get support from the group and have liberal access to me.

In order to join this group you will need..

1) Patience: As this will be the first group, there may be some snags along the way.

2) Feedback: Your comments, concerns and grievances.

3) Testimonials: A testimonial from you and a review on your blog. (Be honest, but gentle please!

and one more little thing…

4) *Optional, but strongly recommended* — Please pick up a copy of Kathy Peel’s latest book The Busy Mom’s Guide to a Happy, Organized Home: Fast Solutions to Hundreds of Everyday Dilemmas. Each coaching session will be focused on the content of a chapter of the book.

If you are interested in joining the Family Manager Makeover AIM “Beta” Group  simply send Sarah an email send her an email and let her know that you’d like to join.

You can read more about Family Manager Coaching here=> http://www.solutionsforbusymoms.com/family-manager-coaching/

Okay it wasn’t my backyard but it was my mother’s. So that’s near enough. It was a quiet Saturday afternoon. My daughter and I were visiting my mother who lives in a townhome with a teeny backyard cement slab thingy but I won’t get into that right now. My daughter was happily playing some toy or another and I was kind of deciding should she and I go outside when she seemed so content but I wanted her to get some air… yada, yada. Things I struggle with.

Anyway then I see this cute little starling bird come traipsing across my mother’s patio thingy and I was just about to call to my daughter who is a nature buff, although she enjoys bugs the most but she would appreciate a bird, when a hawk comes out of nowhere and grabs it. Okay my mouth is sort of hanging open in shock when seconds, I mean seconds, later a cat jumps up from the bottom to try and get in on the action.

The cat by the way is the clawless pet of the neighbor and realized soon enough that he was not in a position to enter this fight.

By this time my daughter has realized I’m catching nature in action and she wants to run out there. But I encouraged her to just sit back and let the food chain have it’s way. The hawk quickly flew off and all I could think was….

WHERE IS MY CAMERA!!!!