by admin -

August Challenge ~ Face Time

For all of my readers who don’t know this, I have another blog with two other moms called Happy to be at Home. We are running a carnival of sorts titled End ’08 Great, six months of challenges to end the year right. Last month was Conquer the Clutter and this month the challenge is Face Time with the Kids. This couldn’t be better timing for me. As I attempt to plan for the upcoming school year, time with my kids definitely drops way too low on my “to-do” list. Even though I am doing something for the kids (school planning), I still need to spend “face time” with them every day.

This week I have committed to spending each morning, uninterrupted with the kids. No email, phone calls, bills, lesson planning, coupons, menu planning, blogging, etc… This is tough because my inbox is always full and my phone rings frequently throughout the day.

Today we spent the morning learning spanish, coloring, playing games and reading stories. Tomorrow we have a trip to Target planned. (This is a really big deal because normally I shop alone) I haven’t figured out Thursday and Friday yet, but I think we will probably take a trip to the park and possibly a bike ride.

The bottom line is I don’t have many super great creative kid ideas, because I don’t need them! My kids desire time with me, whether it is reading, playing a game, riding bikes, or helping me in the kitchen. It doesn’t matter what we are doing, as long as we are doing it together.

Here we are attempting to play memory with a two year old. Needless to say the game ended up being played like this;  pick four to eight pieces, see if you have a match, throw the piece if you don’t like the animal you picked, if you do like the animal make the animal noise and crawl around the house. My eight year old did not really like this version of the game, but he is a rule follower. The two and four year old had a blast!

by admin -

Am I Crazy?

Confession time… my kids dislike fruit and vegetables. Each child has a few favorites, but as a whole they squirm and grimace when something green in color is set in front of them. It is my goal to change this in my kids. I want them to like most fruits and veggies, and actually smile when they see a piece of broccoli on their plate. I have, in the past, hid fruits and veggies in other foods in an attempt to trick them into eating the good stuff. It has worked, but they haven’t developed a taste for all things healthy.

So, I have developed a plan. I am going to pay my children to try new foods. Laugh at me if you will, but I think my idea might work. Each day I introduce a few fruits and vegetables. If they try the food I pay them a dime. Yes I am cheap, my oldest kids actually laughed when I told them about the pay out, but it is working.

I made up a list with my kids names at the top and the fruits and veggies down the left side. When they try a food we put either a y (like it) or n (don’t like it) in the box under their name. I can keep track of which foods were tried and I now have a running list of healthy foods my kids like or dislike. Some of the items on the list are foods we eat regularly but certain kids don’t ever try them. Others are items I never buy because I don’t like them. My husband was excited about this plan until I informed him that grown-ups don’t get paid for trying new foods.

Our first food was yellow pepper. My child who loves yellow peppers was excited to earn an easy dime. The other kids were not as enthused.

Last night we tried sweet potato and broccoli. The broccoli was a big thumbs up, but the sweet potato was not a winner.

Today for lunch we tried strawberries and blueberries. My kids eat a lot of strawberries in smoothies, but don’t eat fresh ones very often. The blueberries were a big, big flop. No one liked them. At least they will eat the blueberries in smoothies. The strawberries earned a thumbs up.

We are heading out of town for the weekend so there will probably be little new foods tried, but I plan to start up again when we return home on Monday. If you are interesting in bribing your kids to try new foods, you can download my check-off chart.

by admin -

Summer Routine

The past few days have shown me the need for a summer routine. Usually we school through the summer, but after this year we needed a little break. We will probably pick school back up the first week of August, so until then we need to find something to do with all of our free time. Well, I don’t need to find anything to do with my free time, I have countless sewing projects, emails to respond to, bills to pay, rooms to paint, clothes to sort, furniture to paint, boxes to unpack, shelves to build, blogs to read, school planning to do, and a garage to clean. My kids however, don’t seem to have anything to do but to get into trouble.

So I have decided to start a little summer routine.

  • Wake up
  • Check email
  • Make breakfast (I hope to start the older kids making breakfast for the family at least a few days a week by the end of the summer)
  • Get dressed
  • Go to the park
  • Leave the park and go on a walk
  • Come home, eat a cookie on the front porch
  • Color/ draw
  • Eat lunch
  • Toddler Naps

That is as far as I have planned out my routine. In the evening Dad has been coming home and either taking them to the pool or the park to wear them out before bed. It is working. The kids love this routine so far because they know they get to play at the park and the big kids know they will get to hike. My oldest is also earning some P.E. hours because she has been playing basketball during our park time. The other benefit is that I am getting some exercise pushing the double jogger all over the base.

Here are some pictures from our park/hikes this week.

I hope I can keep this up throughout the summer, the kids are behaving much better and sleeping soundly at night.

by admin -

Protect Your Kids

I want to begin this post by saying that if I endorse a product on my site it means; I own it, love it, buy it as a gift for others, and I want you to love it too. I do not promote products very often, but when I do, consider me a believer.

A few weeks back I wrote a post about swim shirts. My kids have been wearing them for several years, and I believe all kids should be wearing them when they are in the pool, at the beach, or running around in the front yard sprinkler. One million people will be diagnosed with skin cancer this year, and every hour one person dies from skin cancer. Over 90% of skin cancer is caused by sun exposure. I have always known that skin cancer is dangerous ( I grew up in Florida), but I never really thought about how deadly it really is, until I met Rhonda.

Rhonda’s husband Darren was your typical outdoor guy. He loved to surf and snowboard and of course had many sunburns throughout his childhood. In 1996 Darren was diagnosed with malignant melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer. Darren stayed positive and lively for his three young boys, Ethan, Seth and Caleb and never gave up hope during his long five-year battle with the disease. On September 14, 2001, Darren lost his battle with cancer, at the age of 32.

Rhonda decided to take action with the hope of preventing another family from having to live through this type of tragedy. She started the Darren Lee Farwell Foundation on December 1st, 2001 to help fulfill Darren’s legacy. The Foundation was created to raise general public awareness of the ever-growing dangers of UV radiation from the sun; to educate children and adults as to how to protect themselves from over-exposure by using sunscreens, hats and UV protective clothing; and to facilitate early detection of skin disease by teaching people to be aware of their bodies and to look for the warning signs of skin cancer development.

After starting the Foundation Rhonda made a trip to Hawaii, and brought back some rash guard shirts for her boys. These shirts became so popular, but so hard to find, that Rhonda decided to start UV Skinz a company that sells swim shirts, shorts, hats and other accessories.

There are so many things I admire about Rhonda. When she was hit with a terrible tragedy, she made the best of a bad situation. Instead of looking back she set her gaze forward. Although I am sure she has had her moments, she has made it her mission to keep this from happening to others.

Her website is incredibly informative about why swim shirts are better than sun screen, and believe me as a long time user they are, facts about skin cancer, and her products are cute to boot. This month in honor of Darren’s birthday they are giving away A FREE SWIM SHIRT with any purchase for the entire month of June.

When my oldest son was little he had a severe reaction to sun screen. Every time we applied sunscreen his face would swell up and he would break out in hives. This kept us from taking him in the pool, except in the evening, for the first few years of his life. Thankfully he outgrew this allergy, but if we had known about swim shirts 12 years ago, things would have been a lot different.

I have been buying swim shirts for my kids for the past 5 years. I have purchased from many different companies including Target, Old Navy, Lands End, LL Bean, and local surf shops. The UV Skinz shirts blow away the competition. The sleeves are a little longer than most, for extra sun protection, and the fit is just right, not as tight as rash guard t’s but not so loose as to inhibit swimming. My son loves his UV Skinz shirt and wears it as often as he can, even if we are not going to the pool. In fact, tonight he is even sleeping in his shirt.

I would encourage you to check out Rhonda’s site UV Skinz. Skin cancer is 100% preventable if caught early! Protecting your skin during the first 18 years of life can reduce the risk of some types of skin cancer by up to 78%.

Your kids will thank you for it.

by admin -

Curing the Summer Boredom Blues

I have a love/hate relationship with summer. I love the warm days, cool evenings, green grass and fireflies buzzing around our yard. What I don’t like about summer is the trouble my children get into when their days are not structured by our school work. Many homeschoolers school through the summer, we do too, but not full time. I need a break and I always think that I am going to get so much done in my free time, then September rolls around and I wonder, where did the time go? This summer is going to be different (I hope). I think I have come up with a way to keep the kids occupied as well as get things accomplished around the house.

First make a list (aren’t lists the best). The list should include all the goals/ projects you would like to accomplish this summer. Then cross off about half the things on your list, let’s be realistic about this.

Have your kids make a list of things they would like to do this summer. Be prepared for things like; motor cross through the desert, go to Disney, sky dive, etc… Then go through their list(s) and make it more realistic.

After you have written down your summer goals and figured out which ones can be accomplished come up with a plan. If your kids want to swim at the neighborhood pool, then tell them how many times they can expect to be taken to the pool each week. Then make it your priority to take them. There are probably many tasks on your list that can be done by your kids, let them know what is expected of them and give them a time frame in which to complete their jobs. What I have realized about my kids and many others, is that they don’t like to be surprised with work. My kids do pretty well with their known responsibilities. It is when I pile task after task on them with no end in sight that they get discouraged and attitudes take a turn for the worse very quickly.

Here is a practical example. One of my summer goals is to go through all of our videos/dvds and get rid of the ones we don’t watch or like anymore. That is a job I can assign to my children, since almost all of our movies are animated! I will let them know that this has become their responsibility and give them a date for completion. What I won’t do is walk into the room while they are watching a movie, step in front of the television and say, “I need you guys to sort through all our movies, now.” Obviously there are times when tasks need to be taken care of immediately, but that is not one of them.

If when you ask your kids what they want to do this summer they come up with either completely unrealistic expectations or they can’t think of anything, here are a few ideas to help them along.

  • Join the summer reading club at the library. My kids love this, especially because there is almost always prizes involved.
  • Visit a nursing home. Many of the residents are very lonely and would love to see the smiling faces of children.
  • If you are going on vacation, have your kids research the area you are going to and find something interesting they would like to see or do there.
  • If you are not going on vacation have your kids take a virtual vacation. Have them find a place they would like to visit and research it.
  • All those games in the back of your hall closet… play them.
  • Let your kids plan and cook a few meals a week.
  • Get a pen pal for your child.
  • Research movies that are also books, have your kids read the book and then watch the movie to compare.
  • Find unique places in your area and visit them.
  • Have your kids start a wildlife journal.
  • Find an elderly person your neighborhood and have your (older) child help them for a few hours a week. They could mow their yard, clean house, or just visit.
  • With supervision, kids can go around the neighborhood and pick up trash.
  • Get a membership to a local museum, zoo, aquarium.
  • Teach your child a life skill this summer, you can read about it here.

What do you plan to do with your kids this summer? Please share your ideas so we can all have a great summer!