Blogs I Know · Fun

I’m it

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Children at Play on the Beach - Edward Henry Potthast
Children at Play on the Beach - Edward Henry Potthast

Tina tagged me so now I am it (eeek)

All I can say is…. at least it wasn’t the 25 things you don’t know about me version:

6 Things you might not know about me…

  1. I play World of Warcraft.  Actually my husband and I play together.  My dad plays with us too.
  2. I absolutely dread using the phone.  I will put off calling people to an absurd extent.   I think the very insecure part of me worries that I will be an unwelcome intrusion into other people’s time.
  3. I really would love to take riding lessons.  I love horses and I love riding, but I never really get the chance.  Ballroom dancing is also on that list.  I wish we could go dancing more.  Kyle and I took lessons years ago and I really enjoyed the dancing and the time together.  Sometimes we dance in the kitchen and the children laugh at us.
  4. I enjoy homeschooling much more than I thought I would, but sometimes I feel like I am not that good at it.  Then I hear my children discussing things in a respectful and intelligent way and I figure I can’t be doing that bad of a job.
  5. Part of me would enjoy going back to school, but I can be so obstinate I am not sure I would enjoy it as much as I think I would.
  6. I love working jigsaw puzzles.

And now for the hard part… who to tag 🙂

A Catholic Mother’s Thoughts

Apostle to Suburbia

Become what you are

Far From the Box

Happiest at Home

Westward Wagons Ho!
Here are the rules:

Rule #1 ~ Link to the person that tagged you:  Did that above.
Rule #2 ~ Post the rules on your Blog.
Rule #3 ~ Write 6 random things about yourself.
Rule #4 ~ Tag 6 people at the end of your post.
Rule #5 ~ Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their Blog.
Rule #6 ~ Let the tagger know your entry is up.

Blogs I Know

Bathroom Bliss in a Box…

darcee3 Comments

When you have more than two children organising toiletries in the bathroom can be a bit of a challenge, especially if you don’t have a separate “kid’s” bathroom.

I stumbled upon a solution a while back that has worked wonderfully for us.  The bathroom boxes.  I purchased six inexpensive plastic totes from the container store and an inexpensive bathroom rack (yes a tape measure was used in order to make sure everything worked together).  Each child has their own tote and the totes are stored in place one a small shelf and four on the new rack.

The bath rack with four totes
The bath rack with four totes

In each box is everything the child needs:  brush, toothbrush,  tooth paste, a cup, shampoo, bubble bath, lotion… all those personal items that they need.  When it is their bathroom time they can pull their box and then put them away leaving the bathroom clean for the next clan member.

To make this idea even more cool I could turn on my creative side and let the children decorate their boxes.

You can (as always) see more of the Works for me Wednesday ideas at Rocks in my Dryer.
worksforme

Reflections on the Day

Reflections on the Day – February 4, 2008

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reflections

Reflections on the Day for February 4, 2008.
We have a lot of sunshine, cool weather, the children can’t decide if they want to be inside or out.

Plans for today – I need to go shopping.   We need some milk, eggs, the typical grocery stuff.

I am wearing – My mossy green top, brown pants and my comfy slippers.

I am feeling – Meh.  Dad and I got the last of the Elders of the Alliance done this morning.  This finished the meta achievement for me.  Dad has to finish the Omen part and grab the Elder in Winter’s grasp.  Both of those are easy. I normally don’t touch WoW until after dinner, but getting into the opposing faction capitals in prime time would be nuts!  This morning it wasn’t bad at all.  Last night was our guild “alt night” instead we hit all the Northrend instance elders and finished off the Elders of the Dungeons .  Dhrin tanked and we picked up a couple friends from way back in our Ony raid days,  Gorakul (used to ping the map during phase two) and Kalfallon from White Kodo Clan.  They were so nice.  Helped us finish off the Elders. They asked dad about his talent points and then spent the next three hours helping him respec, walking him through switching to beast master, getting him a glyph or two.  Dad was so happy this morning.    Bob and Duke were also on vent playing Starcraft last night they stopped in and talked a while. Really great evening.

I am hearing – The two little naughty ones are trying to get water into the dinning room to play with the little people fountain.  They would have gotten away with it at least for a little while if they hadn’t started screaming about the water as soon as they started it up.  Christopher is practicing his piano.

I am thankful for – Really good children.

In prayer – Kyle while he is traveling and Granny.

The Children:

Ashley – Is working tonight.
Rachel – I didn’t make her dentist appointment this morning, there was just no way I could get all the way over there by 8:30 with the four younger ones in tow.
Christopher – Love his new piano book.
Hannah – Is working on a crossword puzzle.
Joshua – Thinks I should learn how to play Lego Batman.
Sarah – Refuses to tell me why her hair is wet.

The Homefires:

Kitchen – Christopher and I did a good clean up in there this morning.
Craft-room – The First communion dress project is coming along.  I am almost done with the embroidery and then I will post the next installment.
Music – Today is music lesson day.
Lucky Room of the Day – The office.

My pleasant thought for the Day –

“A good character is the best tombstone.  Those who loved you and were helped by you will remember you when forget-me-nots have withered.  Carve your name on hearts, not on marble.” ~ Charles H. Spurgeon

A picture worth a thousand words –

Hannah in the sunny cold
Hannah in the sunny cold
Food

I am so totally re-inspired

darcee4 Comments

Last year I read both “In Defense of Food” and “The Ominvore’s Dilema” by Michael Pollan and had an epiphany of sort about food.  The quality of our food both in terms of nutritional value and enjoyment and the ethics of getting our food suddenly seemed more important than just the basic idea of getting the most for the buck.  Never again would I look at a “frugal” shopping site where mom buys a ton of cheap, crappy food for $35 a week and think “wow, I wish I could do that”.

Then, of course, reality sneaks in and my shopping and menu planning get swept aside as I try to balance all the different parts of my life.  But this morning I read something that so inspired me to start thinking about food quality again:  “ I saw a rat roasting in Peanuts Plant”

All I can say is “ewwwwwwwwwwwwwww!”

Blogs I Know · Simple Woman's Daybook

The Simple Woman’s Daybook – February 2, 2009

darcee4 Comments


The Simple Woman’s Daybook
is hosted by Peggy at the Simple Woman.
Thank you Peggy.

FOR TODAY : February 2, 2008
Today is sunny and bright.   I am completely exhausted and it isn’t even noon.  Kyle left this morning.  We had to be at the airport at 4:30.  Coffee is my BFF today.

Outside my Window – Happy groundhog’s day.  Any hapless marmot who wanders out is bound to be stunned by the big burning thing in the sky.

I am thinking – How very unhappy I am with the GoDaddy super bowl ad and their advertising in general.  

From the learning rooms – My mind is turning to Lent,  Ash Wednesday is February 25th.

I am thankful for- A husband who loves me.

From the kitchen – I made a couple of loaves of bread last.

I am wearing – Brown pants and a black sweater.

I am reading – On Basilisk Station — still.

I am hoping – That Kyle has a good trip.

I am creating – Hannah’s first communion dress.  I am using my wedding dress and you can see the progress so far.  I am also putting together my 2009 planner… we aren’t talking about what happened to January.

I am hearing – The music on the radio.  Hannah and Josh are doing their phonics and Josh is driving me mad.

Around the house – Nothing exciting today.  Just the usual Monday crockpot dinner, ballet and CCD.

One of my favorite things – Coffee – I have a couple of coupons from Dutch Brothers thanks to my homeschool group.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week – More sewing, a little knitting and some work.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you –

Daddy has his hands full
Daddy has his hands full
Blogs I Know

Dump the Cereal

darcee7 Comments

Clavin loves his Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs and my kids are fond of similar such breakfast treats, but the health and expense of  children’s breakfast cereals is questionable and has bothered me for a while. 

sugarbombs

 I will admit my lazy side was unwilling to fight the inevitable battle that would rage and quite frankly it was just too easy to pull the bag off the shelf, dump the cereal in a bowl and be done with breakfast.

Well, thanks to an extended snow storm back in December we made the huge jump to breakfasts without boxed(or bagged) cereal.  We have had oatmeal, french toast, coffee cake, muffins all sorts of eggs and breakfast goodness.  It was a little bit a hurdle the first week or so.  But I found that getting breakfast cooked and on the table wasn’t as onerous a task as I thought it might be. 

The kids like the new breakfast plan better than I imagined they would.  Of course I have had a couple requests for cereal, but overall they seem to be happier.  Now I am not deluding myself into thinking that pancakes have much more nutritional value than cold cereal – but since we are out of the cereal habit we are having more eggs, toast and juice and fewer chocolate frosted sugar bomb days — which feels like a great victory.

You can (as always) see more of the Works for me Wednesday ideas at Rocks in my Dryer.
worksforme