Planning, Planning, Planning

If you are stopping by from Jenna's Journey, I'm glad you stopped by for a visit! 

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A week or so ago, I posted this photo in one of my Too Cute posts:

This idea supports the concept that it takes 21 days to make a habit (I've also heard that it then takes 21 days to keep that habit . .. ) It got me thinking about some habits I would like to establish as we start moving towards fall.  For me, summer is my hardest time for being consistent in anything.  There are multiple reasons but the biggest one is the heat.  I love it when summer consists of 70 degree, non humid days.  I'll take an 80 degree day here and there just so we can go to the beach but for daily life, I need 70 degrees.  I tend to do a lot more of "nothing" during the warm . . .hot . .humid days of summer then I do during spring, fall or winter which means I lose some habits and let some things go that I may have established through the other three seasons.  On the hottest of days (and weeks) we are "trapped" in the living room/boys bedroom because that area is cooled off by a window a/c unit which means I get even less done. Well, I get a lot of reading done if that counts for anything! Summer is also the time I start thinking of new ways to organize my daily schedule, cleaning schedule, goals and more because, lets face it, I have a lot of down time on my hands.  Putting thoughts onto "paper" (a blog counts as paper, right?) sometimes helps me think through things and it might offer you some inspiration too.

1. Daily Dues.  My daily dues are balancing the checkbook to the online account, updating our daily budget records from my husbands job and spending, and making the to do list for the next day and thinking ahead for the week and even the month so I know what is coming up!  I had this fully under control until June.  Then it is like my brain dumped that portion out and I haven't kept up with it for two months.  I've already started working on this to get back into the habit of making the first thing I do after the boys go to bed is . . my Daily Dues.

2. Daily Schedule - Several Months ago I posted my "new" schedule for each day.  It worked great until I started babysitting again.  I gave myself a month to get used to that new change in our day and then it was, well, June and I went into summer mode.  I'm already thinking of my new plan for the fall especially since I'll be homeschooling three boys in two different levels.  I want to go back to a goal I had a few years ago of "Simplify" and work on cleaning more stuff out and lightening up the look of everything in our home whether that means cleaning off surfaces or updating some paint . .. I just want a fresher, more modern look.

3. The basement.  My nemesis in this house.  I think if it were a pretty basement, I would keep it clean and neat but since it isn't, I have a harder time with it.  I do have my plan, though, of cleaning out, selling, and organizing things.  For instance, back in middle and high school I won an award almost every year in youth group - a plaque.  They take up one storage bin in my basement and it drives me nuts because they will never go on a wall anywhere.  I plan on taking a photo of each one, the whole group, and maybe even typing up the information for each one so I can add that stuff to a scrapbook and then, yes folks, tossing the plaques.  My kids can see what I won but they won't take up a spot in storage. When all is said and done, I will have color coordinated storage that is hopefully cut in half of what I have now.  I'm also hoping to earn a little money selling some stuff through an on-line "garage" sale in my area so I can pick up the new stuff I want to set up our office/classroom/craft room.  My kids are going away for a week so the basement will get done that week if it kills me (which it won't - it really should only take a total of about . . 4-5 hours to get it all done and another few hours to do some moving and get the "play room" set up finally)

4. Cooking - My husband has said over and over that my cooking has improved so much since we got married.  He's right.  Actually, since I quit working to stay home, my cooking has improved because I have time to cook.  I've been more and more inspired recently by watching various cooking shows to improve and venture out into some more creative things.  I'd like to master a few things like . . .cupcakes and cakes.  I struggle with those for some odd reason.  I also want to refine my recipe book even more and get rid of things I won't make, the things we don't love, or the things that flop and have a recipe book full of recipes that we love.  I'm still hoping to find some simple cooking classes along the way too.  I've also been working on making sure that I have healthy foods to eat for my breakfast and lunch so I am continuing to refine recipes that are easy and that I can make ahead and eat throughout the week.

5. Devotions and Prayer Time - I think most of us struggle with this one.  I have some things I want to do concerning the boys within this time - scriptures verses to pray for them, journals to keep, and my own quiet time.

6. Budgeting - I have a budget; I have a savings plan; now I need to stick to it.  We have plans for this fall, goals for next year, and dreams for 5 or 10 years down the road but without a budget it's hard to achieve anything, isn't it? 

I like to have my plan in place by the beginning of September so that I can start the fall strong!

Too Cute Not To Toot!

If you are stopping by from Jenna's Journey, welcome!  On Tuesday's, I post craft ideas (or recipes or other inspirational ideas) that I would like to try and complete.  Please feel free to poke around this little old blog and don't forget to let me know you stopped by :-)

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When I think about how many of these posts I've done, it kinda blows my mind.  I've shared a lot of crafts, recipes, and inspirational ideas over the past few years (and re-shared several, I'm sure).  Then, when I think about how many I've done, I realize I am sad, sad, sad at following through. hahaha  Granted some things I've posted that I thought were great but later realized were either more work than they were worth or, I didn't really like them anyway.  I still love looking for new ideas though and for me, this is a great place to store them and share them!

Sometimes the inspirational ideas can be the best so I thought I would share a link to this article from Living Well, Spending Less.(I did read the article already and she has some great things to say)

This next idea comes from a blog called Coast where the author gives a really great tutorial for making rock monster magnets.  You could make them yourself (so they are all neat and stuff) for the fridge OR make it a fun project for the kids and get some really awesome, handmade magnets to use.

And the well has run dry this week.  Some weeks are more inspiring than others :-)

I've got plans to make August my "crafting" month and have picked out my projects.  Here's hoping I get them all done!

4th Annual Commenting Challenge by Jenna's Journey

Welcome to 'The Unworking Mom".  If you are visiting from Jenna's Journey, I'm glad you stopped by! 

A little about me :-)  I started this blog about several years ago after being impacted greatly by a blog that I read.  I realized that I, just maybe, could have an impact on someone else by sharing things from my life.  I called it "The Unworking Mom" because, as a stay-at-home mom, that is the impression, isn't it?  In reality, I work harder now then I ever did as a supervisor in a financial institution.  I enjoy this outlet of "adult conversation" in the midst of lots of little ones running around. I do kinda work as I babysit for a friend - so we have a 3 year old and a 6 month old in our house every weekday too!

My family consists of my Husband of 12 years, Darryl, who is a Cab Driver and a musician.  We have two boys, Josh and Nate, who are 4 1/2 and 3 1/2; best friends, brothers, and always on the move.  We also have two animals - our Dog, China, who is about 12 years old (we rescued her so we aren't 100% sure of her age) and our cat, Misty, who is 17 years old.   

I enjoy trying to keep my sanity by scrapbooking - I try to attend at least one crop a month as it gets me out of the house and into a room with adults.  Reading is another favorite activity and I love my Kindle :-)  As a family, we love to go to the beach.  Living within driving distance of the great lakes makes it easy to head to the beach on the weekend and enjoy the sun, water, and cooler temps in the summer.  When I get time, I enjoy playing the piano and singing as well but that often takes a backseat with the little's around all day.The other big thing I do is homeschool my kids.  This year we are doing k-4 and preschool so it is busy!

The only way I connect with my readers is through this blog :-)  I'm not into twitter and haven't set up a facebook page yet for the blog :-)

I'm a "schedule" blogger - I have my blog schedule ready to go a month in advance so I hope you enjoy reading my regular posts after this "extra" post!

K-4 - Starting off with a bang!

I picked a perfect week to start school.  Why?  Because the tempurture every day was out of this world hot so staying inside was our only option.  As I mentioned previously, I only started Pre-K with Josh this week, much to the chagrin of the other two boys.  They kept asking, "Is it my turn too?".  I do know I made the right decision though because this is allowing me to get Josh into a routine, work out the bugs in our routine, and spend time helping him focus.  When the other two boys start in a few weeks, he'll need to be able to do some things on his own while I work with the others.

In case you are new to this blog and are wondering why we started school now . . .I have chosen to do a 6 week rotation for school.  We do 6 weeks of learning and then get one week off.  This allows us to take a break, gives me time to catch up on everything from cleaning to appointments, and helps us all not to get bored with the daily routine.  By starting now, we will be able to take most of December off and also finish up somewhere around mid May.  If we happen to get behind on some lessons, we can always work into December a little or even go longer into May and wrap things up.

Our first week is review.  We are only doing our general K-4 work that I purchased from Confessions of a Homeschooler for a very reasonable price.  I really love this curriculum because it fits my style of teaching.  She also has made everything so easy to use, print, and incorporate into our day.  This was truly the perfect choice for us and, honestly, I wish I had used her Pre-K unit with Josh last year.  (I'm using that unit with Nate this year.)

Here are a few snapshots from our week.

 We started our lessons with a puzzle.  Our review this week is of Upper and Lower case letters.  Notice who is sitting on the table?  He wanted to be part of school so much!

 Lots of activities this week verses worksheets.  Here he is matching clothes pin letters to a letter wheel.

 During the afternoon, while the munchkin and princess were napping, the boys and I hibernated in their room (which was at least comfortable in the heat thanks to blowing cold air from our bedroom into theirs).  We used various alphabet manipulative that I had to match letters to a game board.

 On Tuesday, we had the A/C running in the boys room and living room so I set up the card table in their room to use as a work place for me as well as the place to do school. 

 I told my husband that sometimes Pre-K will make me want to poke my eyes out.  This one of those moments.  I had made two sets of spoons - one set with uppercase letters and one with lowercase.  Josh had to match the spoons to the board.  He did great but it took about an hour . . .between singing the alphabet song over and over, seeing if he could balance the spoons on his nose and more . .well, I'm surprised I can still see straight HA! 

This is where we "live" right now :-)  The boys and Darryl are playing cars and trucks.

 What do you do when you can't go outside and play because it is too hot?  Turn your kitchen set into an indoor slide HA!

 Josh and I worked on his gaming skills.  Here's the real deal - Josh has a hard time playing games.  He doesn't like to follow the rules OR bends them to make sure he wins and he doesn't like to share or take turns.  He is a 100% first born and always has to be in control.  I'm using little games like this one to help him learn how to play.  Today, besides reviewing letters and counting, we worked on taking turns and counting the right spaces.  He actually won fair and square which was good for him.  Next time though, he really needs to learn the art of losing . ..

So, he is smarter than the average bear.  With this activity he had to match the clothespin letters to a wheel based on the beginning sound of a picture.  He started with a few he knew as I had laid out the pins in random order.  Then, after looking back and forth at the wheel and pins he said, "I'm going to put these in ABC order mom".  He did, then he started with the "A is for Apple" and had it easy as he just went around the wheel one pin at a time.  To his credit he did say the name of each picture before he pinned it.

There's a snapshot of our week!  We did more than what is pictured but this gives a general idea of the activities we did.  I had planned some other fun afternoon activities but those were post-poned due to the heat so hopefully we can get to them next week.

Randomness

I have misplaced my July blog calender so I have no idea what I planned to blog about today.  Oops.  So, for today, I'll just share some random things

1.  My checkbook balance never matches what I have in my head.  It is always, always less.  I hate when that happens.  When I worked at the bank, the first thing I did when I sat down at my desk each morning was balance my checkbook to what showed online.  It was always perfectly balanced.  I have decided I need to pick up that habit again - every evening after the kids go to bed the first thing I will do is update my checkbook AND input my husband's info from work on that day.  21 days to make a habit so here. we. go!

2. Rice Krispie Treats or really good in hot weather :-)  I made some last week and they got better and better each day.  My kitchen is so hot that they are staying super soft and squishy.  I may or may not have finished off the pan while I was working on this post.

3.  Three boys, one baby, a dog, a cat, and two adults are a lot of people to fit in two small rooms during the day.  Why are we squished into these two rooms?
Because it is THIS hot outside . . .. 

 Yes, that says 100 degrees and no, that doesn't sit in the sun either.  We have had 5 days where the heat index has gone over 100 degrees.

So, on Monday evening we bought one of these.  Now we have one in our bedroom but, we bought one to put in the boys room which opens into the living room.  During the day, we blow the cold air into the closed off living room and actually have a living space that is comfortable.  I am beyond thankful for this little piece of "heaven".  I'm not sure how the boys and I would have lasted through this entire week of heat without it.

4. I love my dog.

She's been so hot this week that she has ventured into places she usually doesn't go . .. the boys room :-)  The AC is her favorite thing so laying in their room offers her the coolest location.  Isn't she sweet?

5.  I've started my Christmas "window" shopping.  The boys are getting to an age where it is really fun to look for toys and games and other activities for gifts plus they are starting to make requests.  I have noticed that toys go on clearance in June and July so I'm making notes to set my budget next year to save for Christmas in the first half of the year instead of the second half.  There are alot of things I could have picked up if the line item was full :-)  That's ok - I know more sales are coming! 

Not much else random around here .  .. just trying to enjoy summer on the days it isn't a million degrees!

Fun in the Sun

We are truly enjoying our summer this year.  I thought I would share some more of our fun with all of you!

On Sunday, July 7th, Darryl called me when he was heading home from work at about 12:00 noon and said, "Hey, do you want to go to the beach?".  Folks, this is a milestone.  I used to have to beg to go to the beach - Darryl is not a sun lover at all so sitting on the beach was not his cup of . .. coffee HA  He has learned to love it especially because it is always cooler at the lakeshore.  Needless to say, I had a picnic packed and the kids ready to go when he pulled in the driveway 45 minutes later.  

The boys loved putting their beach chairs in the water.  It was just too cute.  We played at the beach for over two hours - it was actually getting cloudy and chilly, if you can believe that, when we packed up and headed for a picnic table for dinner.

On Saturday, July 13th, we headed to my mother-in-laws for the day and, for only the second time in almost 12 years, I got to ride in the boat!  It seems like any time we go there it is broken OR one time, it broke while we were on it HA!  This was also the first time the boys were on the boat too. 

It was a fabulous day on the water and at their house on the lake.  We enjoyed a cookout after the boat ride too and the boys had tons of fun playing with bubbles :-)

We headed to the lakeshore on Sunday, the 14th, as well because it was hot and humid but I never took my camera out.  We spent a lot of time in the water before heading to our favorite Pizza place - Bernie O's.  It was soooo good and the first time we had eaten there this summer.

Also over the past weekend, we started work on a project - or really Darryl did.  Power washing!

 Josh likes to make all kinds of funny faces when I take his picture . .. .

Nate is always just a tad more serious. . ..

Do you know why we are power washing the house?  Because we are getting ready to paint YEAH!  As soon as the summer heat goes away we'll paint - probably the beginning of September.  I can't wait to have a new color on this house!

Food Friday - Rice Krispie Treats; 2 ways

My kids had never had a Rice Krispie treat until a week ago.  Isn't that just ridiculous? HA!  Well, last week I decided to treat them to one of the passages of childhood and make some but I have two versions!

Traditional Rice Krispie Treats
adapted from Rice Krispies.com

Yes, these are just your traditional Rice Krispie Treat that used to be printed on the box!  If you are like me, this is a recipe that I never added to my Recipe Book so I thought I would share it.  I do alter the recipe .. . I double the butter and add about 6 cups of mini marshmallows (a full bag).  This keeps the treats softer and much more run to eat! 

The original Recipe: 

3 Tablespoons butter
4 cups mini marshmallows
6 cups Rice Krispies

Melt the butter and marshmallows together until smooth; stir in the Rice Krispies.  Once mixed, spread into a 9x13 pan and let cool.

Butterscotch Rice Krispies Treats
adapted from . . .a friend

So, here's the deal.  When you make these, also make the traditional version . . .then feed that version to the kids and hide these to keep for yourself.  Yes, they are that good.  I could eat the whole pan.  While they are still warm.  Yum!  Here's my tip - keep these in the fridge to keep them from getting too melty but, if you are taking them to a gathering, they are fine left out of the fridge and or then a little less "krsipie" when you eat them.  Either way, they are awesome!

1 bag (12 oz.) butterscotch chips

Melt with 1 cup peanut butter

Add 6 cups Rice Krispies Cereal

Press into 9x13 pan and refrigerate until firm