Glad you could join us...

DH (Dear Hacker),

I'm happy to see that you finally found my blog. (FYI, I've changed my password :). Yes you are right - most of the time we are flying by the seats of our pants. We have had many good ideas go bad, and we make many mistakes along the way. But you have to admit that there are times that we totally ROCK. (If I do say so myself.)

To be quite honest, I am glad that you pulled away from the DF, finished the ice cream, and typed away. I am getting a little tired of reading my own ideas and am itching for some advice from some really amazing parents. There are many people I know that are very good at things I am not. So I am planning on inviting guest bloggers. (The next post will be from Maggie and we both know how awesome she is.) And if you want, you can be one too.

I, however, cannot let behavior like this just slide. This was "inappropriate" and for that, you get The Eye. I think you see what I am saying.

All my love,

HMTQ

(Her Majesty, The Queen)

p.s. Nice try about Photoshop. We all know how technically challenged I am. :)

DH infiltrates blog

Psst! This is the DH, or so I appear to be named in blog speak, sneaking into the blog. I rarely read the blog, because after all, I'm living it. Plus, if DW is writing a post, guess who is doing the dishes, or cleaning the DGP's cage, or possibly eating ice cream so as to make more room in the DF? You got it, self-sacrificing me.

But I digress... Having read several posts, I feel it is my duty to let the readers of this blog know that you are all being hoodwinked. Reading the blog, you might think that we have this whole parenting thing figured out--I was almost duped myself! Don't let those photoshopped pictures (did you really think I would pose in a flowered cleaning apron?) and carefully edited blog posts fool you, in the interest of full disclosure you must know that we are flying by the seats of our pants.

There. Having gotten that confession out in the open, you are now free to believe anything you want to on the blog. After all, I'll be the first to admit that DW is a pretty remarkable mother. Perhaps I should log on more often to get some pointers.

Speed Cleaning with Jeff Campbell, kitchen clip

So here it is. The Speed Cleaning clip I have been promising. Jeff Campbell is cleaning the kitchen, but the principles are basically the same for every room. This clip is from a full video that you buy from his website http://www.thecleanteam.com/. I own this video and found it very helpful since I am a visual learner.

They cut this clip a little short. Here are the things he missed.

Caked on things, like dried pancake batter, on the counter. Spray with red juice and use plastic scraper.

Stove top. Take off burner grates on the left side, placing them on top of the right side grates. Clean left part of stove. Then replace and switch, placing the right ones on top of the left ones.

Oven. If you have burned thing inside the oven, spray with red juice and use plastic scraper to scrape off. Also, you can clean the glass on the oven door with red juice, and the razor blade.

Floor. Do this last. Sweep/vacume the debris. Fill the sink with about two inches of hot water and cleaning solution. I use murphy's oil floor, but vinegar works fine too. Submurge the mop cloth into the sink. Ring out, place on mop and start to mop the floor at the farthest point away from the door. (You will be mopping yourself out of the room.)

If you come across something caked on like dried jam, pull out your plastic scraper and scrape it off. Once one side of the mop head is dirty, take it off and flip it to the other side. Once that side is dirty, get a new one, get wet in sink, ring out, and keep going.

Sink. The last time you get a new mop head, drain the sink and clean. Spray with cleaner, scrub with scrub brush. Polish crome with windex and rag. Then continue mopping yourself out of the room.

I am trying to make my own videos, but my equiptment is a little lacking (and so is my time right now :). I hope this helps at least get you started. Happy Cleaning!

DD3 - Retail Training

The same day we did the Five Below Challenge, DD3 also started her retail training. I feel it is very important that the kids learn confidence and independence. This is the very first retail experience that I give the kiddos. We start simple. Here's how...

There is a Philly Pretzel Factory that is close by. I pull up parallel to the curb (that way they don't step foot in a parking lot), give the DD $3, tell her to buy as many pretzels as she can, open the door, and out she goes - alone. She goes into the store, hands them the money, and tells them she wants pretzels. Then out she comes - BEAMING - because she has done something so big - by herself!

Now, there is a training period. So that is where DD2 came into play. DD2 demonstrated to DD3 how to do it the first time. (Good teaching opportunity for DD2.) Now the next time we do it, DD3 will go solo. The people at the pretzel shop know us and the routine now. So I know that everytime will be a success.

I love this because they can start young DD3 is 4. We all get a snack, which is important for our moods, and it is really fun to see them stand on their tip toes to open the shop door. I love that they can be so independent so young!

*This skill was born out of desperation. With so many kiddos, it is hard to schlep everyone into any store, but especially for little errands like this. It is easier to send one kid in to get the goods. Happy Shopping!

Whining a Super Power? Who Knew!

DD2 has a real talent for whining. (I say that with all my love. :) She is so good at it that we have decided that it is her super power. Now when she starts to whine we say, "Oh, looks like your super power is starting up." One day she had a particularly bad session and was sent to bed. When DH got home *he helped her decide how she could be more powerful than her whine. She decided that when she felt a whine coming on she would take a mental time out and count to ten, taking deep breaths. (This is what she looks like when she does that.) She still whines, but she is getting much better about being able to stop herself. She is becoming more powerful than her super whine!


*We are very determined to teach the kiddos that they have control over themselves. They like to say, "But I can't help it." We don't accept that answer. We do have control over how we act, take care of our bodies, treat others, etc. It is hard to do the work to change, but they need to know that they do have control of themselves.

We also help guide them to figure out how to control behaviors. That way they can decide if something will work for them. They will also be more likely to do it because it is what THEY decided - not what was imposed on them.

My Kid Made Dinner!

DD1 is getting old enough to do more advanced life skillz cooking. So I decided to teach her how to make a pot pie. I made one along side of her so that I could demonstrate with mine and then she could practice on hers. Then we baked hers for dinner and froze mine. Here is our training session....

It was pretty tough to stir all the ingredients because the mixed veggies were frozen (and it was a double batch). So she posed with a "this is SO hard" face. I think it looks like she thinks the filling is disgusting. Either way, we had a really great laugh and were silly the rest of the time. SO FUN!!

Fun is very important during these trainings. It builds great memories and helps them to love that skill.

Yes, we used ready-made pie crust. DH is a pie crust purist and thinks it's a waste of money. I say, let them make $2 off of me. SO WORTH IT. Plus I needed it to be easy for the training. Here she is stretching the crust to fit the pie plate well and then pushing it into the edges.

Filling in...

Putting on top crust. Lookin' good so far!

The importance of venting the top. This is where our family loves to write messages on top. She wrote, "Manga! My first time." (DH usually writes love notes to me and I to him. The kiddos LOVE that.)

She didn't realize that she needed to vent the entire top of the pie, so we added a few other holes. But that is what these training sessions are for. The next time, she will know that her lettering needs to take up the whole top.

For the cooking she learned how/when to put the crust ring on and how to tell when it is done. I did all the oven work because she didn't feel comfortable yet. I demonstrated/taught this time. next time she will do it. I think it is BEAUTIFUL, it was delicious, and I am so proud of her. Great job DD1!!

Meet My New Ride

Last week, this rolled into our neighborhood. I jokingly thought, "Wow! That is exactly what I need to cart around my big family and all our stuff now." My true feeling is, "WHY in the world does someone need this kind of rig?" I was very curious....

A closer look at the truck. Look how little that guy looks (and he wasn't a little man. :)

This is what they were here to pick up - a little tiny scooter. But now remember how HUGE that trailer is? It should be no problem to find a place, right? Well look at the next photo...

They had to EMPTY stuff out to fit it in!!! This whole trailer was stuffed!

I was going to give my opinion on this, but I would LOVE to hear what you all think about it or what you (our your DHs) would do with it.