Its good Enough!... Right??

Its good Enough!!!... Right?

One of my BIGGEST pet peeves is a dirty house, what if someone knocks on the door in the middle of day?? I can't really hide in the other room with a child making noise, the dog barking, music running, and my CAR in the driveway. Its a dead giveaway that your home, your just not coming to the door and I'll admit it.. I've told people "oh was that you, I just got out of the shower!"

When I first became a stay at home mom and my baby was a baby, it was easy to spend the day cleaning and keep it clean! Now that my baby is a running and exploring tot its not so easy (and I only have 1 so I can imagine you moms with 1+)

My house is generally clean, dishes, laundry, bathrooms clean (enough), but I have begun to purge! I think one of the hardest things to do is keep things clean when there isn't a space for everything. When its all a mess and cluttered its harder to clean.

Here's my rule, if you haven't used it... you won't miss it! Donate, sell it, purge it! I have along way to go before my home is perfectly organized but I am working on it! Here are some helpful ways to get organized!

 

And at some point I will be able to say Its good enough! :)

In the words of Henry David Thoreau, Simplify, Simplify. Here are the Get Organized Now! Top 10 ways to organize and simplify your life.

1. Find a place for every item. One reason things pile up on counters, tables, and floors is that they have no "home." "Make sure everything lives somewhere," says Sharon Lowenheim, a professional organizer in New York City.

2. Dump duplicates. Why have two nonstick spatulas when one is enough? Why have six hairbrushes or 17 coffee mugs? Lowenheim says that throwing out duplicates is one of the easiest ways to quell clutter. Her simple rule: One in, one out. "Anytime you get something new, get rid of something like it that is old," she says. Or, as Robertson puts it, "Before you bring home that big new flat-screen TV, figure out what you're going to do with the TV you already have."

3. Beware nostalgia. If you're a doting parent, it's not easy to discard a child's creation, whether it's pastel drawings from the second grade or that cooler-sized medieval castle

4. Stick to a schedule. Some spaces, like kitchen counters, need daily de-cluttering. Others can be tackled weekly or monthly

*For full article to go http://women.webmd.com/home-health-and-safety-9/10-ways-to-cut-clutter-in-your-home?page=3

Too Cute! Hair Accessories!

Check out this facebook page for some awesome homemade hair accessories!

Its called Tuesday's Child!

Tuesday's Child

www.tuesdays-child.com Hats, headbands and accessories for babies and girls...and expanding our line to include women's and boys' styles! Shop among our many designs, or contact us to custom order a design of your choosing. Here's just an example of the awesomeness!

http://www.facebook.com/messages/1457344119#!/pages/Tuesdays-Child/118547854869086

Hungry caterpillar - early literacy, sequencing, and math

The Hungry Caterpillar

This is such a cute story to read and there are so many fun activities that come along with it! I've done a lot with my students over the years and all the kids really do enjoy it.

With my students/daughter I spent a week reading the story with our other books during story time, than once they/she was familiar with it we began talking about the Caterpillar and what we already know about him such as his legs, what he eats, what he is born out of (now you may think you little one is too little to understand but I was doing this with 2 and 3 year old and they loved it). Than you are ready to make your caterpillars.

*Made from egg carton, paint it, glue eyes, put on antenna.

Next comes the chrysalis and cocoon, during this part of the book you can talk about the change the caterpillar is going to undergo, what else changes.. like seasons, trees, you!

*To make chrysalis and cocoon I folded to pieces of card stock into boxes and glued them together

Now the butterfly the best part! Children love when the butterfly comes. Now you can talk about colors, body shape and patterns. In addition to creating the butterfly you can have some printed out pictures of butterflies to decorate with different colors, patterns and such.

*To make butterfly take a piece of paper towel and paint with water colors, let dry. Color wooden cloths pins with different colors to make butterflies body. Pinch the paper towel in the middle and crunch it enough to allow it to fit into the opening on the clothes pin. Add eyes!

There are so many great ideas that go along with this book and many others that teach wonderful skills, also have you ever thought of using your child's favorite book as a birthday party theme!?

Here is a little game I like to play with students to get them into the book and learn through doing

1. Egg: Have children hold their ankles. bend down, and round their body like the shape of an egg.
2. Larva: Squirm like a worm.
3. Pupa: Crawl into a sleeping bag (large pillowcases, leap frog bags) with colorful kerchiefs inside.
4. Butterfly: Children pop out of the bag swaying their colorful kerchiefs behind them.





Homemade Soap

Homemade Laundry Soap...

  I found this site that says there are only 3 basic ingrediants...
1. the soap - can use any soap, it says the types shes tried are Ivory, Zote, or Fels Napatha.
2. Borac
3. Washing Soda (not to be confused backing soda)
4. Water its 4 cups to melt, 6 cups to intergrate, 1 gallon 6 cups to gel.

1/3 of the grated soap, added with 6 cups of water in sauce pan. 1/2cup washing soda, and 1/2 cup of the borax stir it all into the pan until everything is dissolved. remove from heat and pour it into bucket with 4cups of hot water. Stir it all together. than add 1 gallon and 6 cups. let it sit 24 hours its goign to make a light gel. use 1/2 per load. *dont worry if the final gel is not hard and has some extra water around it, still works great!
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*I made it and used it in several loads of laundry it works great, smells good, actually gets stains and such out of clothes and its cheap!!

Five Little Snowflakes

Five Little Snowflakes

Five little snowflakes with noting to do.

Along came another and

Then there were two.

Two little snowflakes laughing with me.

Along came another, and

Then there were three.

Three little snowflakes looking for some more.

Along came another, and

Then there were four.

Four little snowflakes dancing a jive.

Along came another, and

Then there were five.

Five little snowflakes having so much fun.

Out came the sun, and

Then there were none!

This is such a cute little song to do with children it teachers counting, number order, and when you do it with the hand movements they are learning coordination and so much more. At the end of this song my daughter and I always say "We're melting" and she laughs and laughs.

Also along with the song we do an art project!! yay. I cutout snowflakes and we decorated these (there are more to come with different way to decorate) these we did dobber art! I got bingo dobbers at the dollar store for her to use. Dobber art is fun for all ages because it helps them with fine motor and they love it!

There are a number of things that you can do with these snowflakes I am going to string mine on fishing line and hang then across a large doorway in my home so that we can sing, point and count the snowflakes as we sing the song. You could put them on your cabinets to decorate, on your walls, in front of your windows, on your windows and so many more places. Children love having their art displayed around the house if you can try to hang some of the art eye level so that they can enjoy their creations too!



Do you believe in Magic?

What makes children so happy? If you ask a psychologist they will tell you that when a child's basic needs are met they are content and therefore are able to be happy. I think children are naive, most often when people hear that word naive they take it as an insult and who knows I suppose when your talking to another adult and you tell them that they are naive it can be an insult but I don't mean it that way...

I think children are happy because their are naive... the very definition in Merriam-Webster says "naive - is marked by unaffected simplicity, lacking understanding and worldly experience..."

Children aren't tainted by the world, they look at everything with fresh new eyes. We are caregivers, whether your mom, dad, grandma, aunt, uncle, sister, brother, whoever... its our job to guide them. If we want to make an event wonderful or miserable that's how the event is going to turn out. We have the ability to control the outcome so we have to stay positive. Okay before I go on and on about being positive I am going to stop myself there and get back to my main point... which was... Magic!

The best part about being a kid is experience the excitement of the unknown, we forget that as adults because its been so long since we were able to experience that excitement that we are to far removed. But its important when you become the parent in the circumstance to let your child experience it. Let them believe in Santa, the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, let them believe in fairy tales of far off lands, and in those intangible things that they can not touch.  When asked how to develop intelligence in young people Albert Einstein said "Read Fairy Tales."!

"What IS this thing called imagination? Imagination is the power of forming a mental image of something not present to the senses or never before wholly perceived in reality. It is a creative ability or mental capacity for experiencing, constructing and manipulating mental images. "

Being a kid is the most important time in a child's life, it forms who they are going to be as adults, their character, their beliefs, their goals and their perspective on life. Having a creative sense of self is important so let them believe in Never Never Land for a little while, let them believe Santa comes through a key hole of chimney to deliver them presents. There is going to come a day when they no longer believe in such things let them have it while they can....Who knows allowing your child to have more of an active imagination they might use that to become a great composer, create a new invention, solve world hunger :)

Lesson Learned - "Let my child be a child... they have their whole life ahead of them to learn life's disappointments they don't need to be little adults now!"

Through a Child's Eyes - Visitor's Poem

by Stacey Deland
(Massachusetts, USA)

Light of day.
Has crawled out to play.
When you're awake.
They come out of the bay.

They skip and jump.
Come out to be seen.
Get you on your feet.
Make your wildest dreams.

It has the courage
To have fun all day
Instead of being boring
And doing work all the way.

It takes over children
Let them dream away
No one's alone
They all stand around to play

No matter who
I can honestly say
That all this happiness
Has hopefully come to stay

Just when you've forgotten
As you go to bed
When you wake up the next morning
It happens all over again

Life Path Number

Tomorrow is 11.11.11! I don't know if you think that's lucky or not but I sure do. Glynis McCants a numerologist says that 11.11.11 is a BIG DEAL! Its a master number in numerology and tomorrow is a launch date. 11.11.11 looks like a doorway so you have 3 different doors to choose!

What's that one thing that you've been thinking about doing in your life but have been putting off for along time? Thinking of getting married, perfect day, thinking of quitting smoking, thinking of babies (wink wink) tomorrow is the day to accomplish ALL your dreams. Glynis McCant says light a white candle and write down what you want to accomplish before the end of the year because its still possible!

Here is how to figure out your life number:

Example: Let's take Leonardo DiCaprio whose birthday happens to be tomorrow!

Leo's birthday is 11.11.1980 so you break that down...
1+1+1+9+8+0 = 20 and 2 + 0 = 2!


So Leo's life number is a 2! There are numbers ranging from 1-9.

I am a 9, so it says that I have a strong sense of compassion and generosity. You tend to be quite sensitive, as you see the world with much feeling. The number 9's very deep understanding of life is sometimes manifested in the artistic and literary fields. If drama and acting is not your forte, it will surely be an area of great interest and potential. Likewise, you may be able to express your deep emotional feelings through painting, writing, music, or other art forms.
The purpose of life for those with a 9 life path is often of a philosophical nature. Judges, spiritual leaders, healers and educators frequently have much 9 energy. The number is less inclined to the competitive business environment and may find this a struggle.

For the most part I think this hit it pretty on mark for me.

To view your life number and the full explanation of all of the numbers go to:
http://www.astrology-numerology.com/num-lifepath.html

Its kind of interesting to see how well your number fits you and its fun to do it for your children to see what their life number is and how many of the characteristics you can already see of it in them!
Have fun and share your numbers!!