BrainPOP Works For Moms And Kids

A bunch of us moms were discussing what works for us regarding our children’s education and a lot of things were brought to the table, but the moms were unanimous about one teaching tool. At the time, it was brand new to me, but my trusted network of moms went on and on, and on about all the qualities of this animated educational site: BrainPOP! I am not affiliated in any way with this company.

All the moms loved it because it truly taught their kids and because their kids loved it too. It works for us, and I’m sure it will work for you too. Go check it out for free for two weeks.

If you use BrainPop, go ahead and put in your two cents.

What teaching tools work for you and your kids?

Be sure to visit Rocks In My Dryer for more participants.

Don’t Leave Home Without It: The Bible

I carry a tiny Bible in my purse.  It’s only 3″ X 4.5″ and doesn’t weight anything.  It’s not the entire Bible, just the New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs.  It allows me to have the word of God at all times and have something to read should I get myself unexpectedly stuck in a waiting room or waiting in my car.  I’ve been able to squeeze in Bible reading time I would not otherwise have had, and I haven’t had to twiddle my thumbs.  It’ s worked for me for about 20 years now!  🙂

Please Advise :-)

This Works For Me Wednesday Backwards Edition came at just the perfect time because I happen to need advise on several issues.  Please help me out and thanks for all your comments.

• Which blog reader do you prefer and why?  (I’ve been using and loving WordPress Blog Surfer, but it only works for WordPress blogs.)
• What is your favorite, easy to make/serve dessert for your family?  I often serve ice cream as it’s real easy, tasty and in hot Southern California it also cools us down, but I’d love your ideas or recipes for some more variety.
• Our son is doing a poll for school and would like me to ask which presidential candidate do you DISLIKE the most and why?
• Life is getting outrageously expensive.  The price of everything is going up except for paychecks.  What are your best ways of saving money and stretching your shrinking dollar?
• It’s time to change cell phones, so which company are you happy with?  Which plan gets the most minutes for the least amount of money?
• Can you recommend digital scrapbooking sites?

For more participants, be sure to visit Rocks In My Dryer.

Don’t miss my other Works For Me Wednesday posts on my Household Tips page and Organizing Tips page.

Solution For Keys Lost Right In Your Own Home

I don’t know if it’s premature old age, if it’s too many other things on the brain, or if everybody is like this from time to time, but a few years ago I started losing my keys all over the house, except in a logical spot. Being tired of searching frantically and of making myself late to boot, I hung a decorative wooden box on the wall right behind the front door. It took a couple of days to remember to put my keys in there, but the training period was fast. I also put in there our sunglasses, a spare garage door remote, a spare set of house and car keys and a pen in case I need to sign for something at the door. It works for me and now I’m always ready to go.

So has this happened to you??? Or is it just me?

For more participants in Works For Me Wednesday, visit Shannon at Rocks In My Dryer.

Don’t miss my other Works For Me Wednesday posts on my Household Tips page and Organizing Tips page.

13 Inexpensive Ways To Show Your Love

Let romance work for you on Valentine’s Day and year-round. It’s not always the expensive gifts that will show you care. Quite often, it’s the little ways. What’s a big diamond if you don’t even pay attention to each other? Here are 13 tested and approved ways to show your loved ones you truly care about them. They will work for you too.

1. Write a love letter (see this wonderful sample at Pensieve — it got him the girl and 20+ years later, it’s still her favorite valentine of all time);
2. Write a poem;
3. Take your loved one to a picnic on the beach, park or some pleasant, but secluded spot;
4. Rent romantic movies, make a fire in the fireplace, dim the lights, make or buy a tiny cake for two or dip some strawberries in chocolate, serve some sparkling apple cider in crystal flutes; (Here’s a lovely Valentine dessert recipe!)
5. Read or recite poetry while you massage your loved one’s feet. Shelley and Tennyson are very romantic! Get a tiny book edition to make it easy to hold in one hand.
6. Make a special dinner for two. Think small portions and ingredients you don’t use everyday. Don’t go out to a crowded, noisy, expensive restaurant. Where’s the romance in that?
7. Tuck a heart-shaped cookie and an “I love you” in your loved one’s lunch bag;
8. Also for the lunch bag or briefcase or even the front seat of the car, place a few Hugs and Kisses chocolates in a decorative cellophane bag or other pretty container with a promise for more at home. More chocolates for a child or more … for a spouse — that’s up to you;
9. Do a chore your loved one would normally have to do (Do it well!! Don’t make your loved one have to redo it or clean up your mess. The thought only counts so far in this case.);
10. Remember the phrase “As you wish” from “The Princess Bride”? It meant “I love you.” Use it or come up with your own phrase and see how quickly your bride or prince charming figures out what you truly mean.
11. Pick out a novel with a romantic love story or subplot and read it to your loved one or to each other before bedtime;
12. Give a vase or box full of 365 heart-shaped slips of paper. On each heart write a reason why you are in love, a compliment, an “I love you,” a promise for a kiss, etc. and fold in half. Each day, for an entire year, your loved one gets to open a heart. You can make it as platonic or as explicit as your relationship allows.
13. Make the decision to make your loved one happy year-round. Base all your actions on whether it would make your loved one happy. It will do wonders for your relationship and soon, without even realizing it, your loved one will reciprocate. 🙂

What are some of your ideas for showing your love on Valentine’s Day?
For more tips, visit Rocks In My Dryer and for more lists of lucky thirteens, visit Thursday Thirteen.

If you’ve missed any of my other household tips, just click below.

• Our Purpose Driven Lives
• Lovely Valentine Dessert Recipe
• Hit The Road, Junk!
• Cleaning Supplies In Every Room
• Large desk calendar inside guest closet
• How Do You Organize Your Home?
• Thank You Note How-To And Samples
• New Year Resolution And Thank You Notes
• Organizing Household Resources In An Address Book
• Organized In The New Year
• Put Used Christmas Cards To Good Use
• Bookcases at the Breaking Point?
• Organizing Household Binder
• Trading Card Storage
• Freezer Solution
• Child’s haircut without tears
• Homemade bread stuffing
• Plastic colander bath toy drainer/holder
• Reuse plastic grocery bags in the car
• How to increase Web site traffic?
• 16 Blog/Web site tips
• Toy storage
• Every Cookie Recipe Imaginable
• Egg Tip
• Holiday Decorating Tips and Ideas

Find Free Classics And Coupons On-Line At Read Print

I’m sharing with you something of interest to students, literature enthusiasts and coupon-clippers. This unusual combination can be found at Read Print, a site offering free on-line access to the classics, where you’ll find thousands of books, short stories and poems by many of the must-read authors. At Read Print, you’ll also find a biography and illustration of each author. There is a section for articles on literature and writing, as well as that unexpected and unrelated section for coupons for all sorts of companies such as Payless Shoes and Office Depot which must keep Read Print financially alive. The site which has been online since 2006 provides clean, clear, easy-on-the-eyes and well organized pages. There’s also a search feature to help you find exactly what your looking for.

Thirteen Ways To Keep Warm Without A Heater

Thursday 13 Number 15

It’s pretty cold out there in most of the United States, even out here in California. Here’s 13 ways to keep warm without turning on your heater or at least keeping it set at a lower temperature.

1. Wear layers and a sweater;
2. Use one or more throws;
3. Sleep with several blankets or down comforter;
4. Wear socks;
5. Wear slippers;
6. Drink something hot such as tea;
7. Bake something in the oven;
8. When done, let your oven cool down with the door open;
9. Eat soup or chili;
10. Use a heating pad to warm up your bed or lap;
11. Hug your pets;
12. Hug your spouse;
13. Use your fireplace.

And if you’re desperate because your heater broke down, you can even wear gloves, a scarf and a hat and be sure not to read any books about the Donner Party.

Wishing warmth to you all and a happy Thursday! For more participants, visit Thursday Thirteen.

Cleaning Supplies In Every Room

This Works For Me Wednesday is short and sweet, but it works great for me and it will for you too.

I keep several sets of cleaning supplies, not just one. I have a set under the sink of each bath, the kitchen and one in the laundry room. Since my supplies are right there, I don’t have to run across the house or down the stairs to go get them. It saves me valuable energy and time therefore making it much easier to do a quick cleaning as needed and to clean daily. Since the dirt doesn’t pile up, it gets done quickly, easily and I don’t get grossed out.

For more participants in Works For Me Wednesday, visit Shannon at Rocks In My Dryer.

Below are my previous Works For Me Wednesday posts and my household organization posts in case you missed any.

• Large desk calendar inside guest closet
• How Do You Organize Your Home?
• Thank You Note How-To And Samples
• New Year Resolution And Thank You Notes
• Organizing Household Resources In An Address Book
• Organized In The New Year
• Put Used Christmas Cards To Good Use
• Bookcases at the Breaking Point?
• Organizing Household Binder
• Trading Card Storage
• Freezer Solution
• Child’s haircut without tears
• Homemade bread stuffing
• Plastic colander bath toy drainer/holder
• Reuse plastic grocery bags in the car
• How to increase Web site traffic?
• 16 Blog/Web site tips
• Toy storage
• Every Cookie Recipe Imaginable
• Egg Tip
• Holiday Decorating Tips and Ideas

WFMW — 10 Minutes Flat

If you came here looking for household tips or Christmas tips, ideas or resources, just click on those pages, and for more of this week’s WFMW go see Shannon.

Well Shannon, at Rocks in My Dryer has given us a theme this week and she wants recipes for Works For Me Wednesday. Here’s the setup: It’s 5:30 p.m., we’re tired, we have a headache from having barely survived the worst day of our life and of course our cook is Missing In Action and we’re too poor for takeout. We don’t have any leftovers in the fridge or anything in the freezer that we can just zap because, you know, it’s the worst day from hell and we didn’t even think ahead to use our Crockpot, so what is going to work for me? And you?

Here’s four ideas:

1. Refer to my own blog for my Tomato Chicken Salad Recipe which I make in 10 minutes flat! Round it out with a cheese platter and fruit (no cooking there either, just pull it out of the fridge and slap it on a tray) and you still have a gourmet French meal! Now that works for me!

2. Grab my very best cookbook and look up the section “Dinners in half an hour”. What cookbook would that be, you ask? Dinners in half an hour is in The French Chef Cookbook. Well any cookbook by Julia Child will work too. Julia has the very best cookbooks because she not only tells us how to cook the recipes, but also tells us what NOT to do. With Julia by my side it wouldn’t matter if my brain were turned off, I know I don’t have to be concerned about anything because she will have tested every step right down to the last grain of salt. I could cook a recipe for the very first time and even serve it to a stereotypical mother-in-law from hell and not have one iota of concern. Now that works for me too;

3. Grab a Rachel Ray cookbook, because she too makes a complete meal in half an hour;

4. Grab one of Chef Emeril Lagasse’s children’s cookbooks because everything in there is super easy, super fast and super tasty. You can see my complete review of his series of children’s cookbooks right here on my Cooking For Children post.

Feel free to leave a comment even if it’s just to say “hi”.
Happy Wednesday, Everybody!!

Thursday 13 #7 — Thankful for God’s Comforts

 

Happy Thanksgiving To All!!!

Thank you for coming back to Thursday Thirteen. On this day of giving thanks I let you know about 13 things I am thankful God gave us and which comfort my spirit and soul. You’ll notice a major theme with water.  All photos from Flickr’s public files.

1. Lakes
2. Beaches
3. The smell of a redwood forest
4. Rain taping on a window or on my face
5. Birds singing
6. Cuddling up in a comfy chair with a warm blanket and a great book next to a fire while the rain taps its music on the window pane
7. Hot tea
8. The sun creating rainbows through a church’s stained glass windows
9. Early morning fresh air
10. Being perfectly still and quiet, watching nature unnoticed
11. A brook or small cascade gurgling
12. The cool softness of moss
13. Morning dew

 

Don’t miss my posts about Black Friday and Holiday Shopping.
Thanks to the Internet we can have our cake and eat it too:
Let’s shop all the Black Friday sales WHILE we stay home in our pajamas!!
Now that’s a good reason to TGIF!!

• Don’t know what NaBloPoMo and NaNoWriMo are? Read all about it here and here.

• Want to know why I’m participating in both? Click here.