House keeping tip…..

Posted on February 20, 2008 by Momzoo

I am always looking for little ideas and tips to help me with my household chores. I came across a little one this morning, in fact it is one I came up with all on my own and I thought I would share it with all of you!

When you childs sleeper looks like this after he has been crawling around the kitchen floor, it is time to sweep.

I will be posting another recipe tonight, and I promise I promptly swept the floor after taking this picture….

(Ok I must defend myself a little, this picture was taken right after I got the big kids off to school, so I hadn’t swept yet after breakfast. One of the minor annoyances of baking my own bread is that it is really crumbly, and this is the result!)

***

Division of Labor

Posted on February 18, 2008 by Momzoo

The other night someone commented to Mike and me that “Aimee works so hard!” Implying that Mike needs to help me out more because my work is harder than his. He came back with a quick “I work hard too!” Then the subject was changed and nothing more was said. It got me thinking about our division of labor and who really does work harder.

I work hard, from the time I get up until the time I go to sleep I am working. I am busy doing laundry, preparing meals and cleaning up meals for 7 people. I clean bathrooms and vacuum and wipe sticky stuff of floors. I kiss boo-boo’s, admire art and school work, cheer for small victories and wipe chubby bottoms. That is enough to make anyone tired! So yeah I work hard. There are also a lot of perks to my job. If I want to I can put off doing the laundry or ironing. I can fix tuna sandwiches or open a jar of spaghetti sauce for dinner. If I don’t vacuum the floors one day no one but me notices. I can take a nap during the afternoon, and I usually do. If I feel bored and restless I can take the kids to the park or to McDonalds and have a long lunch with friends. I am my own boss, and I only answer to myself.

Mike works hard. From the time he gets up until he goes to bed he is working. He has to be to work by 8, only gets an hour off for lunch, and can leave at 5 if his work is done. When he gets home he is helping with homework, bath time, kissing boo-boo’s and cheering those small victories. Once the kids are settled he may go play on the computer, or he might be working on various side jobs he has going. He takes the garbage out, changes light bulbs, hangs pictures, rubs my feet, and helps feed my animals. He mows lawns, digs holes, and shovels walks. This is all along with the church service he does that takes most of his Sundays and a few hours during the week. He works hard! He has perks, the evenings are mostly his, mostly, and if he wants to watch TV or play on the computer he usually can. However, he can’t put off items at work, he will be fired, he can’t go in late without asking permission, or he will be fired, he can’t leave until 5 and sometimes later depending on his work. He can’t sneak in a nap, unless he uses his lunch hour. He can’t have long lingering lunches at the park with his girlfriends like I do (I hope he doesn’t have girlfriends like I do…HA!) He works so hard!

Now, whose work is more important? Neither, they are just as valuable, just as needed. We are a team. We work together to build our life. He works hard, I work hard and together we work hard for each other and our children.

I have decided that no one will ever again imply in my presence that Mike doesn’t work as hard as I do. It is simply not true. I value what he does and I am so thankful that I married a man who is so willing to work so hard for me.

Healthy eating

Posted on January 24, 2008 by Momzoo

After reading some other blogs written by friends about healthy eating and the cost of it, I have been doing a lot of thinking. I will agree that eating healthy can be expensive. You can get a big loaf of white bread for 99 cents, where a loaf of whole wheat can cost almost 3 dollars, and they are smaller loafs. I have decided the trick to eating healthy on a low budget is making as much of your food as you can from scratch. I bake my own bread, and I figure it costs me about a dollar a loaf, and it is whole wheat bread (and so yummy!) Also when cooking as much as possible from scratch you avoid artificial flavors, additives and preservatives. Yes, fresh vegetables can be expensive, however a big bag of traditional carrots (not the baby kind) is very cheap and it really doesn’t take that lon

g to peel and cut up. This is a good reason to have your own garden. You can also get a bag of frozen vegetables for about 1.20$, not too bad! A ten pound bag of apples and a bunch of bananas or grapes (when in season) are all cheaper per pound than a box of cookies, and much healthier. I have a family of 7, and a 10 pound bag of apples lasts me about a month and a half, where as we can go through a box of cookies in an evening. I think it all comes down to how much time you are willing to spend on preparing food. To me it is worth it to feed my family good, nutritious food, while saving money. There are some items I am willing to pay more for. I am a big believer in organic milk and milk products, and that is a lot more expensive than the regular kind, about double. I do like to use sprouts, which can be very expensive, so I learned how to do my own sprouting. Same with yogurt, my family loves it, I make my own. I don’t use cold cereals either (except on Saturday and Sunday) I buy 2 boxes a month of Cherrios and that it is. I make my own granola, it is only a little cheaper but I know what is going into it.Here is a really good article related to healthy eating and budgets

http://www.bettertimesinfo.org/foodchallenge.htm
or
http://www.biblicalwomanhoodonline.com/blog.htm

P.S. In no way do I want to sound like I feed my kids 100% organic made-from-scratch foods, we eat our share of fast food and sugar! I would like to do better in this area!

I have a pet peeve that is sort of related to this post. It drives me up a wall when mothers say “oh, my kids won’t eat healthy, all they want are cookies/potato chip/juice….” I say…if they aren’t in the house, they can’t eat them. A child is not going to starve themselves. If they are hungry, and there are only apples in the house for a snack, they will eat the apple. I don’t buy chips, or cookies. The first reason is that if they are in the house I will eat them all, and we all know the last thing I need is more calories! The second is that if they aren’t in the house my kids won’t eat them. If you only offer the “good” stuff your kids will learn to like the “good” stuff. Now I am not saying that I never have treats, I love treats, but they are just that; a treat. I also have a dedicated “snack time”. I allow very little grazing. When the big kids get home from school they all sit down for a snack. I have a variety of snack foods. Cut up fruit, cut up veggies with dip, toast, sugar toast, hot chocolate and toast (wow that is a lot of toast!) pudding, fruit juice pops, yogurt smoothies (thanks Heatherann), graham crackers with peanut butter, graham crackers dipped in milk, cookies (I keep some in the freezer so they can be pulled out and baked quickly). They are things that are very simple, but will satisfy hungry tummies. Other times if the kids are hungry, they can always have an apple or a graham cracker. Remember, you are the mother; you are responsible for what goes into your kids mouths, at least when they are little. Don’t let a two year old decide what they are going to eat!

Training them up right

Posted on January 19, 2008 by Momzoo

I firmly believe in training or teaching my son to grow up to be a man. I want him to be able to provide for a family, do hard physical labor, maintain car and houses. In general, I want him to be a manly man.

However

There are exceptions

I think my daughters should know how to mow a lawn and take care of finances.

On that same token, I think my boy should be able to help around the house.

And it is never to early to teach him the art of laundry.

Here is my boy. He is saying “Ooooo, Ooooo”

that is his favorite word.

“Oooo Ooooo wassat” (“whats that”….his second favorite word)

“Now son, that is a washing machine, a pretty shiny new one.”

“See all the clothes go round and round…..”
(at this moment I would like to take second and say a prayer of thanks, that I am in my warm house watching my laundry being cleaned, instead of down at the lake banging them against a rock)

“Whoa, stay focused buddy…focus, focus….I have more to teach you….”

And this is where he makes a quick exit……

So much for that lesson!

Wonderful Busy Day

Posted on January 9, 2008 by Momzoo

I meant to post last night, but it ended up being a really busy, really late night

***

These were delivered early Tuesday morning

aren’t they beautiful

and shiny

and so pretty

they are going to solve all my problems

make my kids behave

make me lose 30 pounds

and make my PIC come home happy

***

well…..

not really

but they will make laundry a tad easier.

With my old dryer it took 4-70 minute cycles to dry a load of socks and kitchen towels. That same time for a load of Levis (with 7 people in the house I have a lot of Levis). A load of bathroom towels….oh wow….almost all day! I needed a solution…..

Ta-da……here is my solution….aren’t they pretty…..(sorry I think I already said that, but aren’t they?)

As soon as my PIC got home and ate dinner he got to work. These machines stack so we needed a little modification in the laundry room (really more like a laundry/pantry closet!)

I love a man wielding a power tool.

There is something so manly about it.

mmmmmmm……

Since the laundry closet had to be emptied, this is what our kitchen looked like, I also hadn’t cleaned up dinner all the way…what a mess….it is going to be a late, late night!

I need a coke!

Oh, Oh the washer is in…isn’t it pretty!!!

Hmm….thinking…..thinking….thinking…..

“STOP with the camera!” he says
I feel like the paparazzi

ya-ho…the dryer is in
whoa
Houston, we have a PROBLEM

See the plug

See where the plug needs to go
problem
about six inches too short
(This is when the camera gets put down.)
After a quick call to Home Depo, a 90 minute trip into town, and a custom, 40$ plug made (they don’t just make them longer than about 6 feet) we are on our way.