Lemon Water

It all started when I got sucked into Facebook.  I never really intended to spend the amount of time on Facebook that I do.  I just want to check one thing.  Usually it's the Save A Mom page. Then something else catches my eye and the next thing I know 10 minutes have gone by and Olivia is starting to get frustrated because I haven't noticed that she's been talking at me for about 5 of those minutes.  Curse you Facebook!  BUT, sometimes I find more that just snarky posts from my friends!  SOMETIMES, I find interesting articles that people have shared, like one on the health benefits of drinking lemon water!  I'd like to actually give you the article, but for some reason, when I went back to my friend's page who originally posted it, it was gone.  This, of course, after I spent WAY longer than I should have trying to find it.  SO, here's another link to an article that touts the benefits of drinking lemon water.

Put Those Kids To Work!

When I was young we had "jobs".  When we got home from school we looked at the giant job chart on the side of the refrigerator and completed our job to get a sticker which then translated to our allowance. (A portion of which always went into our savings account.)  On the kitchen counter beside the sink was a laminated pile of cards with our names on them which would indicate who's job it was to set the table that night.  As we got older the jobs changed and they didn't rotate a whole bunch.  I can remember as an older adolescent doing laundry a lot and being glad that I was no longer assigned the "land mines" job that I hated so much as a kid.

Now that I have my own kids I understand the importance of "jobs".  Not only does it teach them responsibility, but it also helps me to keep this place presentable.  I've been on a mission to find the perfect job chart and I found it at erincondren.com.  HOWEVER, I guess I was the only one that loved it because she no longer makes it.  What I loved about it was that I could change the job each day AND there was only one job that each kid had to do.  Many of the chore charts have TONS of items listed.  While I'm not opposed to my kids doing all of these (may include brushing teeth, making beds, throwing dirty clothes where they belong) I don't want to have to give them a sticker each and every time they do something.  With one kid that's young I can see it, but with 4, I'd spend my entire day in front of the chore chart.  Anyway, I was stuck for awhile and the kids were off the hook.  I still have a whole bunch of the reward cards that I got when I got the chart, which I also LOVE.  Of course they don't make these anymore either so this time when I get down to the last one I'm going to take a page from mom's play book and have them laminated so I can reuse them!

I like how you can write the reward that the kids are working for right on the card so we can talk about and the older kids can read their goals.  There are just enough circles to get their checks that the goals are within reach, but they're not getting something all the time.

So, my new genius idea to replace the chore chart.  Are you ready?!?! I'm so impressed with myself for thinking of this!  STICKS!

When I taught I used this kind of thing a lot.  You'd put all the kids names on a stick then draw them to out choose groups or whatever.  For this, I wrote a job on each stick.  SO FAR the kids really like it.  I think it's cool because it gives them a little control.  It's not really a job I assigned (even though I created the sticks) it's a job they picked.  I'm going to include a picture of all the sticks to give you an idea of what kinds of things I have my kids do. I'm doing this because I was talking to a friend once about her kids chores and she very excitedly asked me what I had mine do.  I stole some of her chore ideas and she used some of mine.  Some of the chores are in there multiple times, simply because they need to be done more often (and also because I was running out of ideas).  So far I have them draw a stick then put it back it.  I could also keep the sticks out that have already been used, but I think they like the idea of digging around in there to pick one out.  All of these are things that I'm doing anyway so it's not like they NEED to be done, but most of them are things that could use a touch-up between my cleanings. (Think the kids bathroom.  That thing needs cleaned every 15 minutes or so!) 

Sometimes I make them draw again, like the 10 minutes cleaning the playroom. Caden drew that the same day as I cleaned the playroom.  Some are easier than others and some are a little more fun (dusting ceilings is going to be a favorite) be I wanted to keep it varied so they don't get bored.  So far they haven't reacted like they're chores, more like little tasks to get closer to their selected goals.  FYI, we also give checkmarks on the cards for other things besides chores.  If they're extra helpful or are super good I'll sometimes throw a checkmark on there.  The other day Caden was playing basketball with Olivia.  Clearly it was way more fun for her than for him, but he was spending time with his sister and she was in heaven.  Extra checkmark. Ellie is a BIG fan of the extra checkmarks.  She's ALWAYS asking if she can do something for an extra checkmark.  She used to do then ask, but now she's wised up! 

So there it is!  Child labor in my house.  

Recipe Friday: Ginger Garlic Tofu

I LOVE tofu!  Olivia seems to be following in my footsteps.  I know that it's a soy-based product and I should be staying away from soy as much as possible, but tofu is just so versatile that I use it every week.  It's a fantastic transition between meat and veggie.  Last week a made the omnivores in the house  chicken, ham and smoked gouda with a mushroom sauce.  Olivia and I (and Vince ate some too) had baked tofu with the gouda on top and the mushroom sauce.  This week I'm doing pork chops with an apple glaze and you guessed it--the pork will be substituted by tofu for Liv and I.  It's my go-to when I don't feel like making two entirely different meals.  It's been so long since I blogged about a recipe that I just decided to do a quick search of my blog and see if this title popped up.  It didn't so this is what I'm giving you today.  Sorry if I've already posted it.  We had it for dinner last night and it was quick and easy.  It's from Chop Chop magazine which is a really cool magazine targeted at kids and focusing on healthy eating.  All of the recipes are written so kids can follow them and are therefore great choices for "can I help with dinner?" nights.   Here's the link to the actual recipe on the website, but I'll post it below as well in a modified version for adult cooks.  (I'm going to omit the part where I tell you to take the tofu out of the package first. )

Ginger-Garlic Tofu

 Ingredients
14 oz block of firm or extra firm tofu
3 TBSP low-sodium soy sauce
1/3 C water
1 TBSP minced fresh ginger
1-2 minced fresh garlic cloves
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
1/4 tsp chili pepper flakes or more (I omitted this for the kids but Sriracha would be good in this too!)
1 TBSP canal oil
2 TBSP toasted sesame seeds
2 scallions, sliced (I did green parts only)

Slice the tofu block in half so you have half the thickness.  Then slice each half into 4 equal parts  horizontally and one cut vertically to give you 8 pieces per half of tofu.  Or dice it or slice it-whatever.  However you want to do it is fine for this recipe.  Press the tofu for 30 minutes.  (Click here for directions on how to press tofu.)

Healthy Feet

Just a quick disclaimer.  I'm sorry, Jeff.  This is not a post you're going to find as interesting as the tea post from yesterday.  

That said, I'm super excited about this post!  To ring in the New Year this year I watched the ball drop, put the kids to bed, then began the long process of getting my feet wedding ready. (My brother-in-law got married on January 3rd.)  As I was mid-exfoliation, letting my feet soak in a tub of epsom salts I decided to check out Pinterest and see what I could find on DIY pedicures.  So here's the thing.  I don't really care about the polish part.  I can paint my nails.  Olivia makes me practice on her daily.  (Literally, DAILY!  So cute at first, now it's getting old.) My feet (heels) get dry, like REALLY dry and crack.  DEEP, DEEP cracks that bleed and make it painful to walk.  I love to show them to my mom because I always get so much sympathy from her.  Anyway, Pinterest didn't disappoint!  I found an easy recipe that will hopefully work.  I'm really excited to try it.  Here's the recipe:

1/2 C white vinegar (is there anything vinegar CAN'T do?!?!)
1/2 C Listerine (I've used Listerine as a mouthwash.  Really not surprised that it can take skin off of feet.)
1 C warm water

Soak your feet for 10 minutes and then rub with a nubby washcloth.  The dead skin is supposed to wipe off.  WAY easier than the scary looking metal exfoliating tool I've been using!

Sorry if this post is a little incoherent.  Olivia is insisting on sitting on my lap and Ellie is searching YouTube for birthday cake ideas.  She's found some cute cake pop ideas that look like lots of work.  I've got a month to change her mind...

Picture for the day doesn't really go with the post but it's a catch-up from my time off.

Ellie got tattoo pens for Christmas.  Vince had a mustache for 2 days!

Happy New Year!

So once upon a time I used to write this blog...
As  you can imagine, I've been just sitting around in my time off relaxing, reading romance novels and drinking wine.  Actually, I've been thinking about topics to blog about, but never actually doing it.  I've also been getting more and more relaxed about my green living and at this point, I'm almost not qualified to write a blog about raising a green family.  But my time off has been  rather productive.  A few things happened.  I know you like pictures so I'll try to photo-it-up for you.

It looks like my last blog was in August so since then, I potty-trained a toddler.

I started volunteering for a dog rescue group.  It's the one where we got Jack back in June of 2013.  It's called Save A Mom Pregnant Dog Rescue.  I love it.  I've only worked a few events, but it's so great finding home for dogs.  The rescue takes in pregnant dogs, or moms with litters, or even orphan babies and nurses them back to health (if need be), spays/neuters them and gets them all up to date on their vaccines.  As wonderful as it is to find homes for them, it's also hard to hear the sad stories of their lives before.  It amazes me that people can be so cruel.  Treasure, a senior dog that made her way to Save  A Mom has a bullet in her leg that has since healed over.  She has a limp, but she'd been living on the streets for God knows how long with a BULLET in her leg?  Who does that?  Or the puppy mill pup that spent her ENTIRE life in such a small crate that when she was allowed out all she knew how to do was turn in circles?  OK, enough ranting.  Save a Mom is AWESOME!  Working with the dogs is great, but made me miss having two dogs.  So we got Stella.  Also a sad story, her mom was pulled from a shelter in southern Ohio.  Originally one of 6 pups, Stella was one of the lucky two to survive.  Mom was so unsettled by the pound that she wasn't taking care of the pups.  Stella and her brother (who was lucky enough to also find a home!) were taken from Mom and bottle fed.  She's an amazing little girl who has fit in with our family like she's always been here.  Clearly, Jack is good big brother. 

Oh, and I've been doing a little running!  I ran a 5K in October which was a lot of fun.  Then in November I ran a half marathon.  In December I ran another 5K but this was with my new jogging partner-Jack!  The weather is keeping me inside now, but I really enjoyed running.  It was so freeing to spend 2 hours alone.  The feeling of strength and power I got from knowing that I could run such a long distance was rewarding in and of itself.  And yes, I did get a 13.1 magnet for the back of my van.

Let's see, what else?  I think that's about it.  I've been spending a little time raising 4 kids.  So that's about it.  My 4 months off.

So on to the new.  My mom got me a gift card to The Republic of Tea for Christmas.  She also got me a few of their teas to try.  Spoiler alert--new obsession!  Be like everything I obsess about, I did a little research.  Bagged or loose? Rooibos, Green, Black, Herbal?  There are just so many choices!  So here's what I found out in a nutshell.  Loose is better than bagged and stay away from anything that's not organic. I found out that conventional tea isn't washed before it's dried so you're not only eating any and all pesticides and herbicides that were on the tea at harvest, you're also boiling those chemicals. Here's a great article I found about what's in most teas.  I'll copy and past the chart form that article here.

So there you go!  A quick catch up and a new post.  WOW am I being productive today!  I even shoved the front walk and the sidewalk all the way to the kids' bus stop.  Of course it's all covered now because it's still snowing. Yeah. 

Oh, and we went to the Outer Banks!  I need pictures of my kids in tank tops and shorts on days like this to remind myself that it will get warmer!

Big Girl Bed!

Our little Miss Olivia has finally made the jump to a big girl bed!  A few weeks ago we took the front of her crib off, but she quickly requested that it be put back on.  The other day we tried again.  I moved her little playhouse and all her toys that used to be in the sun room into her bedroom.  I figured with the disruption of new things in her room, now might be the time to just change it all up on her.  She's done well, except that she keeps falling out of bed at every nap time and every night, at LEAST once.  The other kids all fell out of the toddler bed, but I don't remember it being this frequent.  SO, I wanted to share something that I found online with you.  I know that other people also have a "convertible" crib but don't have the toddler bed rail.  You can't use a regular bed guard rail with a crib because the mattress is too light to weigh it down and it's too big for the smaller mattress size.  I found this guy at diapers.com and Target.com.  I, of course, ordered from Target because it counted for my daily trip to Target for yesterday.  (Yes, I've already been to Target today.  If you were in the store around noon I'm sure you heard Vince throwing a fit.  I wish I were kidding, but I'm pretty sure it's an accurate assessment of the volume of his tantrum.)



I haven't gotten it in the mail yet, but it got good reviews.  Click here for the link at Target.  I was going to post a picture, but...it's a bed guard.  And I have to go get Caden from school to get fitted for yet another retainer.  Jack just LOVES these $80 chew toys.  I however, am not loving it so much.

Recipe Friday: Shitake Lettuce Cups

I LOVE this recipe!  This was one of the first recipes I wanted to try for Vegan Cooking for Carnivores by Roberto Martin.  As I've said before, I'm a big fan of Asian cooking and these were right up my alley.  They were pretty easy to make, once you did all the chopping.  The ingredient list is kind of long, but I didn't think there was anything too exotic.  The kids (except Caden) were intrigued to try them because of the lettuce cup "wrapper".  I cut the recipe in half and, sadly, didn't have a bite left over for lunch the next day! (I also omitted the Sriracha hot sauce because I didn't have any and I didn't want it to be too spice for Livvy.)