Summer colds

This fall I started a new adventure. I am an aid at one of the preschools.  I am loving it so far!  I get to work with great teachers and the students are really fun. Always keep you on your toes!  :)

Now you all know I have four kiddos, right?  Two of which have been in school for a combination of 5 plus years, right?  I thought that I would be able to "handle" the germs since I had already been exposed to many of them. Well, guess who was wrong. Me!  Lol!  With a whopping 3 days of school under my belt I started feeling it. And with the fourth day behind me it is official. I have my first cold of the year. I fear it will not be the only. Time to start dosing up on vitamin c and d and getting some good ol' OJ in me. 

I can only hope that I keep this cold to myself. I certainly don't need to share this with anyone else. I am very thankful today that I don't need to go back in to school until Thursday.  

So with that said, when you have a cold what so you do to combat it?  When you are entering cold/flu season, what do you do to prevent it?

Revisiting Old Loves

When I was 5, I began taking piano lessons.  I loved it.  I am now, at the age of 29, sorry I quit taking piano.  I played and took lessons for 10 years.  I was never the best in my class but I loved every minute of it.  I made it to contest twice and was an alternate to a state competition as well.  I cannot believe how much I have missed playing.  

Today we had the opportunity to move a piano into our home.  What I love the most is that the piano we received is not just any piano, it is a family piano.  This piano came from my husbands family.  His grandparents purchased this piano for his aunt to play.  She has been gracious enough to let us use the piano.  I am so excited!  As soon as I could, I sat down and played.  I don't even think the guys had shut the door to the house before I sat down and played.  

The reason for the piano being moved in is even more exciting.  Our almost 8 year old daughter is starting lessons next week.  I cannot WAIT for her to start tinkering on the piano.  I hope that our other kiddos (6, 4, and 2) will take an interest in the piano as well.  I would love to have them all play, or at least try it out.  I certainly hope that my love for the piano and music in general will be passed down to them. 

To my Daughter/To my Son...

This blog post has been going around today.  And I tried to sum up how I felt in a status update, and frankly, it wasn't going to happen.

I do not personally know the woman who wrote this.  I do not know what prompted her to write her post.  But what I do know is that she did not have bad intentions in mind. As a mother, we all want the best for our kids and she is just doing the best for her kids that she knows how, just as I am doing now.

My kids are in the 8 and under crowd.  But yet this is something that I think about often.  I wonder how we are going to deal with things like this.  How we are going to deal with the photos that are posted, taken, texted, etc.  I wonder how we are going to deal with how my daughters and son dress.  How they are going to behave when we as parents aren't around?  Are they going to be acting appropriately?  Are they going to be going with the crowd?  Are they the leader?  Are they the follower?

Then I remember that we as parents need to do somethings before they get to the point of the kids going out on their own.  Before they have access to Facebook and Instagram (and the like).  We need to do things right now.  My kids are in the pre-FB crazed stage.  My kids know Facebook exists to Mom and Dad but right now, they see it as a fun way to get messages from Grandma and Grandpa and other family.  They do not know the dangers of the internet.  My children, for the most part, are still innocent.

To my daughters:  My hope and prayer is that your Dad and I would raise you with self respect.  I pray that we will have instilled in you self worth.  I pray that I will have taught you how to present yourself in a Godly way.  No, I do not wish you to dress fully covered from head to toe but I do pray that you would learn a modest way to dress while still feeling good about yourself.  Just for the record girls, you do not need to show skin in excess.  You CAN be cute without all the flesh.  I pray that you remember that even though others may not have that level of self respect that it is ok for you to.  It is ok to not follow the crowd.  It is ok for you to be your own person.  I pray that you will protect your heart and your eyes for your husband someday.

To my son:  My hope and prayer is that your Dad and I would have raised you to have self respect.  I pray that you will not only value yourself but value others and see what they are worth.  To see that they are worth more than they think.  I pray that you would be able to stand up against what the world sees as "normal" for a guy.  I pray that you would be the difference.  I pray that you would protect your eyes and your heart for your wife someday.

As a parent, I need to remember this very important lesson.  My kids do NOT know how to act.  Just like I had to teach my kids to crawl, walk, talk, and use the bathroom, I need to teach them to act, dress, and post appropriately.  I need to TEACH them to be responsible and to have self respect.  If I do not teach them the world will and if I let the world teach them, I will not like the result.  I feel that far too often we give our kids too much "wiggle room" without the lessons to prepare them for what they are about to face.

I do realize that no matter how much I teach my children that they will run into situations and photos and whatever that do not line up with what we have taught.  So in that, we need to also teach our children how to filter.  We need to teach them how to filter out the bad and filter in the good.  In my mind, communication is key.  I pray that my children will feel comfortable coming to me and discussing the tough topics.  That they would feel that they can ask questions and get real answers.  The world is out there.  We are living in it.  What we need to remember is that we are not of it.  We are to be beacons of light for Christ.  I pray that my children would see that in myself and their Dad and I pray that someday that they would be that way as well.

Mayo...Homemade!

Who knew?!  I was very skeptical when I read the blog about making your own mayo.  I wasn't sure it would work or how it would taste.

My first attempt was a learning attempt (not a failure, because I learned something).  I poured my oil in TOO slowly as opposed too fast.

My second attempt was PERFECT!  The taste is amazing and the consistency is perfect.

I found the recipe/tutorial on Pinterest and thought, I could do that!  :)

Here is the recipe...

Homemade Mayo

1 egg, room temp
2 T lemon juice, jarred works best for consistent acidity, room temp
1/2 t dry ground mustard
1/2 t salt
1/4 plus 1 cup light tasting olive oil, NOT extra virgin olive oil


1. Put egg and lemon juice in blender and let them come to room temp together (30-60 minutes).
2. Add lemon juice, dry mustard, salt and 1/4 c olive oil.  Blend on LOW for about 30 seconds.
3. GRADUALLY add 1 cup olive oil.  A THIN, continuous stream of oil.  This should take about 2-3 minutes (Mine worked great at 2 minutes 10 seconds, I had my timer going...lol).  DO NOT DUMP in the 1 c of oil.  It will not work.

It is VERY important to have your ingredients all at room temp.  It will give you the best consistency and results.  :)

Here are the links to the original recipe and tutorial that I followed.  I will post my own version later.  :)

Recipe

Tutorial

Organization

For as long as I can remember I have been disorganized.  Since purchasing my iPhone my schedule has become more and more organized as I continue to find out the things that the phone can remind me to do and such.  I continue to try and get my home organized.  Today as I was perusing Pinterest I stumbled upon this blog and post on daily/weekly chores to be done.  I have printed off the list for me, the blank list for me to use with the kids, and the blank chores page so that I can add the bigger items that I would like to get done (perhaps on the weekend?).  I will be "laminating" them with clear contact paper and hanging them on my bulletin board in our office/living room area.

How do you keep organized?  Any helpful tips?  What do you have your children do?

Homemade Laundry Soap

When my regular detergent was no longer available for a period of time I ran into a serious problem at home.  I had laundry to do and no detergent to do it in.  So, after some research, I took matters into my own hands.

I went directly to those who I knew would be able to help me, my friends on Facebook.  :)  With their guidance, I was able to locate a recipe that I was comfortable making and thought might work well with in my situation.  I went to the store, quickly located what I needed, as the items were all sitting on a shelf right next to each other and came home to make some laundry detergent.

The recipe I used can be found here.  I followed the directions and ingredients to a "T" and so far so good.  I have done 8 loads of laundry in this soap and have loved the results so far.  The clothes smell fresh and I can see some of the colors a bit brighter.

I think my favorite part was that I was able to make one batch for about $2.  It works out to be $0.06 a load!  What a savings!

Menu for this week

I am trying out some new meals this week and thought I would write about it as well.  :)  So here it goes.

The Plan:

Sunday:  Lasagna (regular and eggplant lasagna) with garlic bread, salad and mixed veggies.
THIS WAS FANTASTIC!  My lasagna didn't fall apart, it wasn't too sloppy and was VERY delicious.  The eggplant one was (from what I heard) the best.  It reflected so as there is less of that left of that than the regular one.  :) WOOT WOOT!

Monday: Tacos/Taco Salad

Tuesday: Burgers with Butternut Squash fries

Wednesday: Lettuce Wraps with quinoa, black beans, and avocado

Thursday: Chili

Friday: Pizza (either zucchini or mushroom pizza for me)

Saturday: Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

Sunday: Slow cooker ham and white bean soup

Monday: Crock Pot chicken with mixed vegetables

I am SO excited to try some of the new recipes.  Look for reviews on the Butternut squash fries, the lettuce wraps, the stuffed cabbage rolls and the slow cooker ham and bean soup.

Hopefully there will be pictures too!  :)