Monday’s Tips and Tricks

Linking to Weekend Bloggy Reading at Serenity Now.    

Back in the fall, I made some of my microwaveable heat packs to sell at Craig’s office.  I was originally thinking that I would use rice, but ultimately decided that I liked the deer corn better.  Unfortunately, that was after I had purchased a 20 lb bag of white rice.  I prefer to feed my family brown rice, and so only very occasionally do we eat white rice.  I was going to donate the big bag to a food pantry, but then in January when we all had a bit of a stomach bug, I made chicken and rice soup and opened the bag because that was the only white rice I had and I wanted it as easy on the stomach as possible.

I say all that to say this:  I didn’t know what in the world I was going to do with the other 19.9 lbs of white rice!

Then this week I was reminded of something I used to do when the kids were smaller, and thought it would make a good tip for today.  I used to keep a couple of rubbermaid-type boxes with lids filled part-way with rice and/or dried beans, along with a few scoops, funnels, cups, etc.  I would get the boxes out when I needed to keep the kids occupied for a little while, like while I was making supper. 

They would sit at the table or island for a good long while, scooping and pouring and feeding their tactile senses while I got something done.  It had educational elements too (what happens when I fill up this big cup and pour it into the little cup?  How many of these little scoops does it take to fill up this container?).  It was also good fine-motor practice. 

So this afternoon, I poured some of that big bag of rice into a box and figured 8-yr-old Pinkerbelle would play with it out of nostalgia, at least long enough for me to snap a photo.  And she did.

It’s what happened next that I found really interesting.  The thirteen-yr-old said “Hey!  Can I have a rice box too?” followed quickly by the 10-yr-old.  Eventually they combined their three boxes into one big cooler, and are now playing together with over 19 lbs of rice!  Fortunately, they are old enough now that they get to vacuum it up themselves if it gets all over the place (but Firstborn, being the typical type-A firstborn, is trying his hardest to make sure that nobody spills the rice out of the cooler).

Lest you be concerned that this is not an appropriate activity for young children, I got the idea from a bona fide early childhood educator when my boys were little and we were participating in Parents as Teachers, a free program that began in our state, Missouri, is run through the school districts, and has spread nationwide.  We would have monthly home visits with our educator, who would make sure they were hitting all the right milestones, and gave me ideas for enrichment activities.  There were also lots of activities at the district’s early childhood center, from play times, to parenting classes, all free.  (I have been surprised in recent years to hear a few young mothers say they don’t participate because they don’t think they need any help.  It wasn’t a matter of needing help, although they offer that if you do need it.  It was fun, it was gratifying to hear the ECE say “oh, he’s doing so well!”, and it gave me lots of ideas.  If you have children under the age of three, I encourage to see if Parents as Teachers is offered in your area.  So, I guess today’s tip is a two-fer.)

Now I’d love to hear your tips!  This is pretty much an anything-goes kind of party.  Anything that might be helpful to someone else is fair game.

• share a tip that makes your life easier
• you must link back to me in your post
• link to your specific party post, and not your general home page
• please be polite and visit several other participants and leave a nice comment
• I will delete entries that don’t link back to me or do not fit the party theme

Just a small comment about linky party etiquette…I am very reluctant to actually delete any entries, however it is only common courtesy for you to include the hostess’ link in your post.  Your link will forever be attached to my post, and could be visited a year from now.  But if my link is not in your post, I do not receive that same benefit, or any benefit really, from hosting your link.  Let’s think of it as a two-way street, okay?  Thanks.

 

Old Time Pottery Tour

Ever been to Old Time Pottery?  It’s a huge, warehouse-sized store full of all kinds of home decor, accent furniture, kitchen wares, linens, lamps…you name it, they’ve probably got it, and the price is probably right.

A couple of weeks ago, I snapped a few photos for you.  To give you an idea of the size of this place, there’s still about 1/4 of the length of this aisle behind me as I took this photo.

 

The floral department is one small (relatively speaking) corner of the store. 

 

They usually have a huge table piled with remnants of home decor fabric.  It’s sold by the piece (they don’t cut it for you), but at $4.96/yd, it’s a bargain.  This week, it was on sale for $3.96 a yard, and I’ve seen it even lower.

 

I liked this fabric a lot. The pattern was very large; this photo shows about 1/2 yard.  But, I didn’t get it.  Why, I don’t know.  Kicking myself!

 

Cotton sheet sets, 300-450 thread count, $19.96 any size.  I have a sheet set from OTP, and I like it very well.

 

These Pottery Barn-esque nightstands were $49.96 and came in white, red, black and green

                     

 

There have all kinds of dishes and glassware, including glass domes, for your cloche or mini-cake plate projects.

If you are having trouble finding a cheese dome at the thrift store, you can get one here for just $3.99, not that much more than you would pay second-hand.  The slightly larger one is just $2.99, for some reason. 

Old Time Pottery has 29 stores in 10 states.  If you’re ever near one, it’s a fun place to shop for your home! 

(Nope, I am not being compensated for this post.)

Alone

I’m getting a late start today.  Wanna know why?  Because school is in (yay!) and Firstborn, who is homeschooled, is at the office with Craig.  This is the normal Thursday arrangement, but with all the snow days and sick days we’ve had, I’m not sure that we’ve had a normal Thursday since Christmas.

So this morning I got up, made the lunches and got the younger two off to school, and then…I went back to bed!  Ahh, bliss!  I got up at 10, took a shower, had some breakfast, and now I’m sitting down at the computer. 

It’s always tempting on these kind of days to start ticking off things that need to be done, and errands that need to be run.  I think that’s a throw-back from the days of having little children.  If I ever had a rare moment without them, that was the time to get stuff done.  Now that they are in school, and Firstborn is old enough to stay home alone, I am able to do all those things during the day. 

I came to a realization today, however.  “Without children” is not “alone”.  Going to the grocery store without the kids is certainly much quicker and easier, and even enjoyable, but it is not alone.  There are a hundred other people there, all talking and making noise, even if it’s not directed at me.  Ditto going to Target, or even to the library.

I enjoy the company of my family and friends, but I need a good amount of alone time.  I might run out and make a couple of fun stops just for me, but I will spend the rest of the day at home, alone, in silence.  Maybe I’ll read by the fireplace.  I’m sure I’ll spend a good amount of time on the computer.  I have a couple of gift certificates to spend, so maybe I’ll do some online shopping.

But I refuse to go to Walmart.  I will not do chores or projects.  I might plan them, but I will leave the doing for tomorrow.

Because today, I am alone.  And I love it.

source

 

Linking up with Weekend Bloggy Reading at Serenity Now.

English Garden Party

My lovely bloggy friend Sarah of Modern Country Style is hosting an English Garden Party today.  She can do that because she actually lives in England!  The Cotswolds, no less.  I’m sure to her it seems quite normal, but to me it seems so romantic!  She has a real English garden; that’s it on her party button.

 

I have a typical American yard, but I do not have a green thumb.  Every year I set out a few baskets of annuals, and that’s about it.  However, I did some looking through my photos and found some shots of flowers and such to give us a little visual relief from this winter weather.  Enjoy!

Around here one of the first harbingers of spring is forsythia.  Our red house had a large back yard that was surrounded on two sides with huge forsythia bushes.  It was quite spectacular when they were all in bloom, but of course I don’t seem to have a photo of that.

 Here are my boys in that house with our forsythia Easter tree, 2003.

 

Pinkerbelle at the apple orchard, 2003.

 

And here she is with a pot of flowers from my brother’s rehearsal dinner, 2006.  Classic P.

 

House #10 had two of these spring-blooming trees in the front yard.

          

 

In our current house:  first leaf buds on the little maple tree in our front yard,

 

baskets newly hung on the porch,

 

and (later in the summer) my grandmother’s ice-cream parlor chair turned planter.

I wonder if the sap is stirring yet,
If wintry birds are dreaming of a mate,
If frozen snowdrops feel as yet the sun
And crocus fires are kindling one by one:
Sing, robin, sing!
I still am sore in doubt concerning Spring.

                             from “The First Spring Day” by Christina Rossetti

Hurry, Spring!

Valentine’s Wreath and the Chocolate Winner

My Christmas wreath has been on the front door since I put it up in December.  It wasn’t so extremely Christmas-y that I felt compelled to take it down right away.

But with Valentine’s Day quickly approaching, I decided to make a change.  Red berries worked fine with the theme, so I just popped the silver ornaments off and started from there.

I used some heart picks from Dollar Tree, and ribbon and a large glittery heart card from Target’s Dollar Spot.

 

I shortened the picks down to a couple inches, and just stuck them in groups around the wreath.  Then I punched holes in the card and hung it in the middle with some of the ribbon.

After about $3 and 15 minutes, here it is hanging on the front door again.

I received my chocolates from Heart & Soul Candies last night, just in time to try them out before I announce the winner.  As expected, they were very yummy!

Aaaanndd….the winner is #5, Amanda of Serenity Now!  Congrats!  (Thirty-two was the total number of entries including the participants of Monday’s linky party.)

Monday’s Tips and Tricks Party

{Today is the last day to enter my chocolate giveaway, plus anyone who participates in today’s party will get an additional entry!}  

Do you ever have issues with your brown sugar petrifying?  I keep mine in plastic Rubbermaid canister, and use it fairly frequently, but still sometimes ended up with a hard brick of sugar.

This summer when my sisters were here, one of them stuck a slice of bread into the canister, and it revived the hardened mess.  Now I keep a slice of bread in the canister from the get-go, and it stays nice a soft and doesn’t ever get to the point of fossilization.

I had heard of this trick before, but had never tried it out.  So I figure that there may be some of you who either hadn’t heard of it, or had never bothered to try it, like me.  I’m here to tell you that it works!

Your turn…please share your tips with us!

• share a tip that makes your life easier
• you must link back to me in your post
• link to your specific party post, and not your general home page
• please be polite and visit several other participants and leave a nice comment
• I will delete entries that don’t link back to me or do not fit the party theme

(Linky Tools is switching to a subscription service today, and is being bombarded with people trying to export their lists before they disappear, so if the linky isn’t working, leave your link in the comments.  Thanks.)

Dear Superintendent of Schools

In light of the weather events of earlier this week, I would like to thank you for putting the safety of our children first.  I was somewhat relieved when the students were sent home early on Monday, as ice had been falling for several hours and the roads were getting slicker by the moment.  Although I’m sure the bus drivers go through a rigorous training, no one should have to drive an enormous vehicle filled with giddy children on roads that could serve as an Olympic speed skating rink.

I fully expected that school would be closed on Tuesday, as the ice had changed to snow overnight and the forecast was for blizzard conditions and 12-18” of snow accumulation.  The whole metropolitan area was basically shut down, and it was comforting to know that my children were safely at home with me as the snow continued to fall all day.

I questioned whether there would be school on Wednesday or not.  Since we actually only got about 5” of snow, and it had more or less ended by Tuesday evening, I figured the roads would be in decent condition by morning.  However, when we got the call that once again there would be no classes, I was willing to give you the benefit of the doubt.  After all, some areas in our district are more rural in nature and it could have been that not all of the roads were clear.

Nevertheless, I was confident that school would reconvene on Thursday.  Imagine my surprise when the phone rang and the automated voice informed us of yet another snow day.  The roads were clear and the sun was shining, so my guess is that you were concerned about the below-average temperature.  Never mind that my kids played outside in the snow for three hours straight on both Wednesday and Thursday; I can see why you would be concerned about them standing at the bus stop for 5 minutes.

Should this ever happen again, please be assured that I, and I’m willing to bet the majority of parents, would be happy to drive the children to school.  I would dress them warmly, so you need not fear frostbite.  I have been under the impression that the school building is heated, therefore I would be comfortable with them spending the day there.  Should the outdoor temperature warrant, I would certainly be in favor of indoor recess, as so often happens in the event of other types of unpleasant weather conditions.

At this point, I am in full confidence that the school bus will be here on Friday morning to pick up the kids and carry them to a joyful reunion with their teachers and classmates.  The temperature is forecast to be 4 degrees higher than Thursday; I trust that you will take that into consideration as you make your decision.

Thanks again for your dedication the children.

Sincerely,

A Grateful Mother

Beauty After the Storm 02/03/11

 

{My bloggy friend Amanda was my inspiration for this post format.  She has written “Dear…” posts several times.  Visit her at Serenity Now.}

{Enter my chocolate giveaway!}