Crocheted Flower Dishcloth, Cup Coaster

This is a flower dishcloth pattern I found on

Summer Kids and Parents Activities

Today is Saturday and hubby has to work. It's the first Saturday he's had to work with his new job. So today I asked the kids to make sure the house is completely cleaned and looking clutter free when he gets home.

Inside Kids Activities today: toys, playing with kittens, modeling clay, 9 year old cooking "eggs in a nest" (coordinated with the egg cooking movie from the day before), teaching 7 year old to sort and fold socks, teaching 9 year old how to properly sweep the porch/patio

Outside Kids Activities today: water painting, play parachute, reading, squirt guns and bathing suits

Inside Mom Activities: writing, reading, crocheting
Outside Mom Activities: gardening, reading

Inside Teen Activities: Computer movie making program, reading
Outside Teen Activities: animal care, yard work, running (exercise)

Family activity: visiting the library, hanging out on the porch/patio together

...........and of course all of the daily housecleaning and upkeep that's done regularly.

Summer Kids Activities

Today is the official day in which all of the kids are out of school. With so many ages in the house, it now becomes a challenge to keep computer time and video game time to a minimum, especially for the teenagers (who haven't found a job yet).

For the younger ones (9 and 7), our indoor activities are modeling clay, and reading. Outside activities are a 10 foot parachute, putting up a tent to read and play in, and for the evening a movie called "Kids Get Cooking", The Egg (for ages 5-12). The library is full of ideas.

Kids Get Cooking: The Egg, Goldhil Learning Series, DVD, Endorsed by the National Education Association.

Kids Cooking: Frugal Internet Resources

This is a compiled list to help parents with frugal resources for teaching kids how to cook:

APPLES:
Printable Nutrition Facts, New York State Apple Country
Kids Cooking Activities, Apples Recipes for Kids


CHEESE:

Printable Cheese Activities
How to Make Homemade Goat Cheese


EGGS:

Kids and Family Section, Kid Friendly Recipes, American Egg Board
Eggs 101 How to: Cooking School, American Egg Board
Kids Pages, Georgia Eggs

POTATOES:

Kids Are Cooking Potatoes, Washington State Potato Commission (pdf)
The Amazing Washington Potato, 14-page printable activity book (pdf)

Another Snake Came to Visit

This snake showed up on our patio.

Spring and Flowers and Saving Money

Start your flower seeds at home to save the most money, including hanging pots. However, if you don't want to do that, you can still shop around before you buy. A discount grocery store offered this hanging pot for $5.99, which would cost between $12.00 to $20.00 at most garden centers and produce stands.

Laundry Day

Funny as it sounds, I used to do my laundry on a schedule so that could have a day off. With so many kids to take care of, it always felt like there was never a day off from laundry. Now that we live in a house in which the electricity is from the most expensive in the area, I plan my laundry day by the weather.

Laundry day is the day in which the sun or wind is at it's best. To avoid the dryer and over use of the washer, I rely on the outdoors to dry the clothes. Today it's raining so I get the day off.