Recently, I started carrying a deck of cards in my purse.

I really dislike the disengaged way the kiddos and I have been “waiting” for things.  Waiting for pizza, waiting for a lesson to wrap up, waiting for orchestra to finish….You get the picture.  We have been blessed with an old iPhone that no longer functions as a phone, but runs apps fine, and an iTouch.  The kiddos love them, and they are a great help to me, but I think we have grown too dependent on them.

So, out came the cards, and we have really enjoyed them, can you tell?

Tuesday while doing school Little Man needed a black marker.  Well, all of the kiddos’ black markers were in use, so being a sweet and kind mother, I loaned him my Sharpie.

Parenting Fail!

Well, not really, but see he had his paper on top of his brand new 3-ring binder.  Can I just tell you how much I hate buying 3 ring binders?!?!? They are so expensive.  Well, that morning I broke down and bought six new 3 ring binders…. Hey, at least they were a BOGO, and I had a 15% off coupon, and I had my teacher discount….so, it could’ve been worse.

Back to my story.  So, he colored his paper, with a Sharpie on top of his six-hour old binder, and it bled through.

I was not a happy camper. 

That evening Mr. OverKill’s aunt came by and I mentioned what had happened.  She asked why I didn’t just take it off with a dry erase marker.

Huh?

I was willing to try anything, so using my trusty dry erase marker, I colored over the Sharpie.

Then grabbed a tissue and ….

Well look at that, good as new!

Who knew? I was tickled pink!!!  I haven’t had a reason to try this method out on any other hard surface…but I am curious to see what else it will work on!

When the kiddos were all very little, grocery shopping was always…interesting.  There was a time when I had 2 kids in the cart and 1 in the kid seat.  Not much room for groceries :) 

Today while we were shopping Tootle reminded me of a trick we used to use to get the kiddos in and out of the buggy.  This trick is particularly helpful if you are expecting. 

In order to get the small child into the buggy without having to pick them up, lift the back end of the buggy up, and….

Have the small child crawl in!  Brilliant, I know!  The child can exit the cart the same way ;)

It really saved my back during the frazzling days of lots of littles.

Yesterday, the kiddos and I got together with Ms. Kitty and her crew to make Christmas candy houses.   As a teen, my family and I used to make chocolate houses and then decorate them with candy for a fun Christmas project.  I did attempt to make them once with my kiddos…but they are young and there’s four of them…yeah it just wasn’t working.   Then, I met Ms. Kitty, and our Christmas house lives were changed forever!!!

She had the brilliant idea to use graham crackers instead of chocolate OR gingerbread.  And get this…you hot glue them together! 

Think about it, what kid actually eats the gingerbread, or chocolate, or graham crackers! 

Mine don’t!  The fun is in the decorating.

Check that out, Little Man used Kit Kat bars to make wood siding.

I know you can’t see it very well, but Tootle used mini-marshmallows to make her tree.  It was so cute!

And Sugar Belle, she was the last one to finish.  Check out the attention to detail….the red spiral trees were very precise….and had to be ALL Skittles :)

What a fun day we had with good friends.

Do you ever employ the “natural consequences” method of discipline in your home?  I am currently listening to two little girls trying to decide if they should preheat the oven before mixing cookies.  They know better than to come and ask me, because I have already informed them that I will not be helping them any time soon.  Why you ask? 

Well…earlier this afternoon Little Man needed help getting his laundry into the dryer.  He asked me for help first, but I was unable to help him right at that moment.  I instructed him to go ask one of his siblings for help.  They were all engaged in one thing or another but none of their activities were unstoppable.  He came back a few minutes later and informed me that no one would help him. 

Sigh….

I was very disheartened by this news.  I realize that helping Little Man with his laundry wasn’t on the top of their to-do list….But I had hoped they would be willing to be sweet.

No dice.

That is when I decided natural consequences might be just the trick in this situation.  I gathered up the other three kiddos and let them know I was disappointed that no one was willing to stop and help their little brother.  I let them know that I was going to go help him, and that I would not be helping the 3 offenders any time soon.

They left thinking, big deal!  Ha ha, five minutes later the question arose about a measurement for the cookies….five minutes after that, was the debate about the oven….I do believe they are getting the point that we all need pull together and help each other whenever we can.

This method can be used for all kids of things….if you put too much salt on your dinner, it will taste badly.  Shake, shake, shake, shake, shake.  Ewww, Mom it tastes bad.  Yep, now eat up!

Now, obviously I would not allow the course of natural consequence go so far as to severely injure my children. But, allowing them to experience the natural consequences of their actions can be a great teaching tool.

It is a sad thing to admit, but I haven’t had a napper in my home for a few years now. 

Sigh….

However, since we returned from Birmingham I have established an age-appropriate “naptime” for my kiddos.  Around 2:00, everyone grabs a book and heads to bed, even me!  It has been a welcome time of relaxation for the whole family.  It also accomplishes several objectives I had set for the kiddos over our break.

First, and foremost, it gives everyone a break from each other, and noise, and commotion. Second, we are continuing to improve our reading skills and are expanding our “reading repertoire.” Third, it sets the mood for what follows…read-aloud time and math drills.

It was amazingly easy to add this into our routine.  I really thought my older kiddos would balk at the idea. However, they have thoroughly enjoyed it, and have each finished reading books they had expressed interest in reading.

A little down time, it does wonders for the remainder of our day.

A couple weeks ago I was standing at a friend’s kitchen sink window and I totally fell in love with the view… She has a pool, and all our kiddos were out there playing, and she has such a beautiful back porch!  Then, I came home to this….

Sigh…

Sometimes there is also a neighbor or two smoking and drinking out there….not the most pleasant thing to look at while I cook and clean up. Not to mention the TV they keep out there….

So, I decided to do something about it.  The girls and I looked at some decorative window film, like this.  But, I really didn’t want to block out my view entirely. Mostly because I can see who is coming up to my door through that window. So, I decided to do something a little out of the box.  I know, you’re shocked right?  :)

Here is what I came up with. (Roses compliments of Mr. OverKill…awww!)

Mr. OverKill and I found these neat Command Clips at the orange big box store.

I chose them because I can easily move them around when I want to change the pictures, and they won’t damage my window.

Plus I can still see what’s going on in the carport if I need/want to.   The bottom row of cards are some Bible verses I really need to keep putting in my brain right now.  I found the “Deny Self” image through a blogging friend.  VERY cool.

Trust me, I know it’s odd… but I really like it, and I think it goes nicely with the couch in the kitchen ;)

My Mom has this fabulous tea pitcher, she’s had it for as long as I can remember. I wish I had a picture of it, it is so cool. One of the reasons it is so cool, is that it holds a lot of tea.  I would say a gallon, at least.

I have searched for a tea pitcher like hers for several years now, to no avail.  I’ve only been able to find half gallon pitchers.  And yes, they are easier to handle for pouring and whatnot, but a half gallon doesn’t go very far when you have a crowd of people over.

So, here is yet another “Trick of the Trade” from The Frazzled Mama.

First of all, pay no attention to my spotted window.  Thank you.

See, each of these mason jars of tea concentrate will make a half gallon of tea.  I add 2/3 cup of sugar, and 1 family size tea bag to each jar.  Then, I fill the mason jar with hot water.  Put the lid on and shake gently.  Then, let them sit until you are ready to use them.  When you are ready, pour the tea concentrate into your pitcher, and then top the pitcher off with water.

This way, you have tea ready, without needing tons of pitchers.

And any refined southern lady knows you have to have sweet tea for you guests. ;)

Originally posted in 2009.

When we remodeled our kitchen a while back, we covered the counter tops with large ceramic tiles.  I love my tiles, the way they look and the fact that they DON’T stain!

However, I have had to learn a bit more about cleaning grout.  What have I learned?  I have learned that my kitchen toothbrush is my best friend.

It really works well for getting the grout clean on the kitchen counter, especially before and after I need to roll out dough or fondant.

I just use my dishwashing liquid (like toothpaste, he he), and scrub the grout lines with the toothbrush.

The toothbrush also works well for cleaning the drain of my kitchen sink.

A kitchen toothbrush, it’s a good thing ;)

How many times have you come across a super cute, neat, fun, or interesting project that would be perfect to do with your kids, only to realize you just don’t have the time to do one more thing???  I would try to keep these projects in mind for when we did have a little down time, but remember who you’re talking to here? 

A couple of years ago, I started a file for just such things.  I started filing away printed copies of websites, ripped out pages of magazines, and scribbles of ideas on random scraps of paper. 

Now, when we have down time, a rainy afternoon, or take a week off of school just to have some fun, I have an arsenal of ideas right at my fingertips.