Play mail man

What you need:
Envelopes - you can buy at dollar store
Boxes - recycle your cereal boxes..etc
Sharpie/marker

Address envelopes and boxes with shapes, letters, numbers, or zip codes. Depending on your child's age. Stretch their minds a little ok?

Start by putting all boxes in one room, but in different areas.

Give kids envelopes to deliver explain how to do it and how the mail men do it.

If they do this well spread boxes to diffrent rooms. If they struggle try putting all the boxes on one rug and let them slowly work their way up to spreading out the boxes. :)

I promise it's fun and they'll get the hang of it!

Trick your kids into eating veggies.

Haha I'm so evil but there's nothing I love more then hearing a kid eat a veggie and tell me how yummy it is!

1. Smoothies compliment a veggies with a fruit they never knew it hit them.
2. V8 juice the one with the fruit and veggies
3. Ice pops/Popsicles whatever your prefer term. I like to use kale, spinach, and green apples with a fruit. Blend 1-2 cups fruit and veggie mixture. Add water or oj add 1-2 tbs of sugar. And freeze.
4. Let them use ranch. I'm not a big fan for health reasons but it so yummy! As long as they ate their veggies who cares..
5. Peanut butter! Compliments carrots and celery
6. Let them play with their veggies. Let them build structures and bugs and then eat.
7 . Add to soups and meals they like blend a little up toss it in whatever your cooking and they usually don't know it's there.
8. Try diffrent ways of cooking them. Raw, steamed, boiled, baked. And if none of it works blend it to a pulp and put it in a meal like I said before. I hate hate hate tomatoes but I eat them, I blend them up as much as possible and throw them in my meals here and there and I don't even taste them!
9. Let your kids help. One of the ways we got our daughter into loving veggies is we have an occasional or regular make your own pizza night. We buy crust make  or buy sauce and let her deck out her own pizza with veggies meat and cheese. She always wants to eat it cause she made it!

Make healthy macaroni

Step 1 boil broccoli

Step 2 process broccoli

Step 3 cook chicken and noodles then combine

Step 4 add processed broccoli

Step 5 prepare like normal macaroni I am collecting donations for the Appalachian emergency children shelter in jasper Georgia!  

Here's their website: http://acespickens.org

They need cleaning supplies: bleach, Toliet cleaner, all purpose sanatizer, dish soap, hand soap..etc 

But since they are so far I'm collecting cash or walmart gift cards to ship to the shelter! 

I want these children to know they are thought about and cared for by even another state! 

Even if you can give a $1.00-$5. 00 i will ad to gift card I'm buying for shelter. Let me know if you want more info. 

Also you can send pictures, letters, etc with your donations. Children are ranging from 7-4 years of age.

How do I keep my house clean and not feel overwhelmed?

Okay are you tired of constantly cleaning to no relief? Don't want to spend all your hard earned money on a maid? Perfect!
Here's how:

First you make a list of everything and anything you think should be done within your house.

Now place everything on that list under one of these categories
Here's an example is use

Daily: sweep, dinner, dishes, counters..etc
Bidaily: I don't use
Weekly: each room in house, mop, vaccume
Monthly: dog baths, clean cages, windows..etc

Go to excel and create a chore chart examples below.

Assign a weekly/bi weekly task  under each day

print and put in a pocket/sleeve protector and you can mark off done items with a dry erase marker as you do. :) for kids make a rewards system.

**So audrie (shes 4) gets a sticker for every chore she completes when she fills up her sticker chart she gets a toy from dollar store or something small like a candy bar.

**for older kids you can do vacation days. So everyday they do all of their chores with no complaints they earn 1/4 of a vacation day. They need all 4 to skip their chores for a day. Feel free to put vacation day earnings on your chart so you and them don't forget!

-And if they have a vacation day either you can do it, or if it's not important let it go undone till next week when it pops back up ;)

Never iron again! What!?!

Yes it works. The stories are true if you throw ice cubes in to your dryer set it on the highest setting and throw a wrinkled clothing item in. 5 mins later you have a wrinkle free item!

Wrinkled jeans I put in 1 c of ice cubes in dryer with jeans for 10 mins
Cotton pants and shirts 1/2 c. For 6 mins
Cotton shirts 1/4 of a c. For 5 mins
Multiple items 1 c. 10 mins (I did 2 tshirts, a light jacket, and. Pair of jeans) 

Don't forget lay on table afterwards flatten with hands and let cool. Then hang or wear :)

** do not use any materials that can't be dried at the highest setting aka tumble dry, wools, knitts, dry clean only, etc..

Pest repel

I bought these a little over a year ago when we moved in at family dollar I know they were super cheap like 5$ a pack I think cause I only buy cheap things lol! But they seriously work! We've lived here for a year and hardly ever see a bug! & I'm no clean freak believe you me, ask my in laws and parents lol! But I saw them at walmart 19.99 for 4 I put 1 in each room it's been over a year and they still work so  wanted to brag on this repellent system. It works by sending off sound waves to rodents and bugs that drive them crazy apparently! Any ways my rants over hope this helped!

Say goodbye to the pacifer!

There's a couple of diffrent ways to do this! Remember these are simply opinions so what works for one may not work for another.

Option 1:
  Step 1: prepare your child. Let them know they the pacifier is going bye bye.
Step 2: make sure you are supportive and patient
Step 3: start weaning off it tell your kids they can have at nap and bed time. Then move to 8 so only at bed time. Then move to okay no pacifer.  At this point they are more comfy with letting it go.

Option 2: speak to your child about getting rid of the pacifier. Explain that there is a pacifier fairy. And if they leave their pacifiers in her basket/bucket (decorated) the next day she'll leave them a toy!! Most kids respond well to this at first! But afterwards they'll ask for it. Explain that they already gave it to the fairy and that they got a cool new toy! And that it's okay. Remember be supportive and show patience!  And don't forget make this expierence super special and be excited for them!

Option 3: make them not want it.

Put a taste on it they don't like!  Don't use hot sauce though! If you kids hate sour things try using Lucas, if they hate the taste of brussel sprouts soak it. Usually powder substances work best cause every time they want it you wet it coat and they'll put it in and spit it out!
 

I did this once with a mom who was having problems I used the sour sprinkles at the bottom of the sour patch kids and the child actually never touch the pacifier again. She didn't cry or anything she just found the thought of it disgusting from then on out!

(I know none of yall would do this but for legal reasons I have to say: don't use anything toxic, poisonous, spicey, or illegal! Like soap!)

Option 4: my sister in law did this with her kids and said it worked really well.

Cut the rubber part and tell the kids it's broken. If they ask for a new one tell them you forgot at the store or no. Whatever will traumatize your kids less! throw all the pacifiers away except one to show them it's broken even after they know. In case they doubt or forget!!

Be careful not to let them put in their mouth broken because they could swallow some of the broken rubber not good!!

What do you want to see on this blog?

Post a comment and post what tips, tricks, and recipes y o u want to see on my blog!

I try them out before I post so even if you've heard of something and your wondering if it works leave a comment and I'll try it for you!!

How to remove wax from walls and floors

So power accidentally went out and I spilled my scentsy.  We've all done it! Here's how to remove.

first I tried scraping it off. Bad Idea I scratch a little paint off. 

Next I tried freezing it off so it would break. Took way to long and got little results.

So then I tried blow drying and using an old rag whipping excess wax

As you see this works! So easy and it made a huge diffrence with in a matter of a few seconds!!!

Buy fresh fruit and veggies on the cheap and make them last longer!

I buy all of my stuff at aldi so I'm going to go according to those prices. Also my family eats alot of fruit and veggies so here's a little trick guide on buying and reserving those fruit and veggies :)

firstly we have potatoes. I buy a big bag of potatoes for 99 cents I use what I want and before they go bad the remaining are turned into fries or potatoe logs. 

I cut them dip them in olive oil or butter and do and season. These Are garlic rosemary potatoes. I bake these at 450 until I feel they are at my deserved texture. 

Onions. Once again I buy a bag of onions usually 59-99 cent use what I want and before they go bad I cut and freeze them. You can saute a or boil and use in any recipie!

Corn I usually buy 4 full corn cobs for 2$ shuck them and then freeze them.  You can boil or microwave for 2 mins frozen.

Broccoli I buy 2 heads 99 cents I usually clean and cut and then bag and freeze them. Cook: boil or steam. 

Carrots i usually freeze them before the go bad to use for stews and such. 

Pineapple cut and use what you want freeze the rest for smoothes.

Apples use what you want cut and freeze for smoothies and pies.

Here are some current pricing at aldi for this week

Cucumbers you can use what you want and then stick left overs in left over pickle juice for a couple of days and have pickles!

Tomatoes: use what you want and and freeze whole or cut depending what you want to use them for. Usually cut for.

peppers: use what you can cut clean and freeze the rest for sauté.  

Mushrooms: if you freeze just know these don't do well for saute they lose alot of that crispness once frozen but still good for other recipes! 

How to make soap and other products last!

If your like me your kids go through soap like nothing else in the world.

** If you use liquid soap try buying the foam kind keep the bottle put in 1/4 liquid and 3/4 water so it foams like it should. This helps the soap go along ways. 

** if you use bar soap cut the bars in 3rds so when it sits in the tub and slowly degrades or sink it's no biggie. It'll last much longer and honestly it's easier for your kids to grab on to.
** put things like shampoo/conditioner/body wash in squirting bottles explain to kids they should have 1-2 squirms in stead of pouring out endless waste of shampoo and conditioner you can make it last a lot longer.

**I'm sure you've seen this one and probably wonder why do people do this!! Some people find it highly annoying while others find it decorative and just a good idea. Put your dish soap in an old olive oil glass jar. This cuts back on all the squeezing, huffing and puffing, and makes you reserve your dish soap. If you need a big hole that's fine because the top it plastic cut a bigger whole. 

**don't constantly go through disinfectant wipes make your own it's a simple cheap task.

**make your own disinfectant spray and cleaners cheaper and you can really make a bottle of the non diluted stuff cheap!

Pineapple mandarin cake

I think some people call this sex on the beach cake. I call pineapple oranges because the lady who handed the recipie down to me never named it. Either way it's amazing!!!

2 boxes yellow cake
2 cans madgrain oranges 8 oz
1 can pineapples 20 oz
Whip cream 8 oz
3.5 oz instant vanilla pudding mix

**you can also take out pineapples to do mangrine cake. 

Cake mix: Mix yellow cake per packaging add in 1 can of oranges with juice.
Topping: in a separate bowl put whip cream 1 can of pineapples with juice and 1 can of oranges with no juice. Add pudding mix and blend. Refrigerate until cake is completely cool then ice.

Bake cake at 350 for approx 25-40 mins depending on pan your using. Until toothpick/fork comes out clean. This is a moist cake and must be stored in refrigerator!!!

What if I want to make the whip cream. No problem. Get some whipping cream and 2-4 tbs sugar slowly pour in cream with sugar and blend until ypu have peaks

This is the quick version of it if you want to make white cake from scratch it turns out so much better!!! White cake is super easy to make. If you don't know how loom on www.allrecipies.com

Kids color their own tshirt!

Okay so hears what I have come across. If you get a piece of sand paper and let kids color with crayons you can iron the design on to shirt.

Here's the problem. If kids don't color hard enough you get a faded to no design.
Solution: use wax paper instead!

I cut out wax paper. Put a drawing of kids choice on it. Kids colored with big crayons as hard as they could. I then flipped it over on to shirt where crayon touches material.  Placed a towel on top (i didnt use a towel. Wasnt worried about damaging iron with wax paper) iron on. Came out pretty well.

I bought shirts from dollar store. The kids made their own crafting shirts so they don't get their normal clothes dirty when painting and doing messy crafts!

Noodle/cereal necklaces

What you need:

Some form of string
Cereal/noodles
Markers (optional)
Plastic needles/paint (optional)

Get string and show kids how to string on cereal/noodles. For younger children use plastic needles this really helps them! Afterwards you can let kids color or paint.

Moonsand

What do I need:
Water
Cornstarch
Sand (plastic or real)

First make an Ooblek mixture (Mixture of corn starch and water that is solid on bottom and melts when picked up.) Add sand. I did about 2 c. Of sand for every 1/2 c. Corn starch. If your using real sand the mixture won't need as much ooblek. If your using plastic sand you need more ooblek.

There's no wrong way to do this the fun part is trying to get to the perfect mixture.

Mixture is perfect when sand slowly melts when you pick up but when you make a ball it can still hold its form. Works bet with real sand I used fake sand.

When done throw in a baggy and next time you want to play add some water. :) have fun!!!

**warning this is an extremely messy activity and is best done outside if weather permits. Worse case scenario you get a lot of sweeping ;-)