Summer Learning.... Oh - What to Do?!

I've been a stay at home mom for 4 years.  It is by far THE HARDEST job I've ever had.  This is the first summer (going into my 5th summer as a SAHM) that I don't have any crazy life stuff going on. The first summer we moved.  The second summer I had major surgery.  The third summer we moved again.  The fourth summer I was having some major mental health issues.  Fifth summer - I'm feeling pretty good and wanting to have some healthy routines for me and the kids.  Luckily I have a good friend that is really good about setting goals and implementing them.  I can set goals, but the implementing part seems to not be a part of my routine.  She had her kids summer homework schedule up and going as soon as school was over.  Since I over-complicate almost everything in my life, I saw how simple she kept it and I was able to mimic her schedule.  

I'm mostly happy with what I'm having my children do each weekday morning, however, I feel like I want to fine tune it a bit.  I've spent some time this morning doing some research on the internet.  I decided to compile all of it in a blog post.  

The first few days out of school were a big crazy because I had appointments and activities going from morning until evening.  By the 4th day of summer I regrouped and decided that I needed to schedule appointments and activities in the afternoon (as much as possible).  Then I would have time first thing in the mornings to get my family into a routine with homework and chores.  It hasn't been perfect, but we're keeping at it.  

My oldest, Thor, just turned 10.  He is pretty independent and can get his homework done without much from me.  He reads for 30 minutes, he practices his typing for 10 minutes, he practices math and fact fluency for five minutes each.  We use a program called MobyMax, which runs each session for five minutes.  I just pulled it up and logged my son in and it has a tab where I can check progress and time spent.  I can now see that my son only spent one day last week on it.  I asked him about this and, of course, he was shocked and didn't know why it only shows one day.  So maybe I rescind my comment about him working independently :).  

I'm laughing at myself because I'm looking over another website I use for my littler children and I realized that I need to be more involved while they are doing their homework.  I was thinking that I could just leave them to work and I'd continue on with my day.  I just checked my soon-to-be first grader's progress on Brainzy (a program through education.com).  Last week while Hercules was working, I noticed that the math seemed really hard.  I wondered if Brainzy followed common-core.  Well, let me tell you that Brainzy isn't the problem, it's me (I say with a chuckle).  Looking at my son's profile, I just noticed that he was working on 2nd grade math, HAHA!  I was thinking that he couldn't progress until he worked through the lower levels.  Apparently there is a screen where you can choose the level.  Again, I'll need to pay more attention while they are working on their homework. 

Isn't it lovely when you realize that you may be a big part of the problem, LOL.  During my research earlier, I came across an article on understood.com called Should My Child Work on School Skills Over the Summer or Take a Break?  The first thing that author says is

“I understand why parents want their kids to take a break and recharge their batteries. But it’s very important to find ways to keep working on these skills over the summer.  The long vacation doesn’t simply hit the “pause” button on reading, math and writing skills. It can actually erode these skills. When it comes to certain kinds of knowledge, kids really do have to ‘use it or lose it.’”

The author does mention “There are many ways you can help prevent ‘summer brain drain.’”  I’m only going to mention one of his suggestions.  His other suggestions are great ideas, however, I don’t want to take on too much.  I’ll start small and build from there.

“Encourage your child to keep a daily journal. Together you can come up with a minimum length for each entry and other details such as correcting misspelled words. But give your child the freedom to choose what to write about. And have her share the journal with you each day so she knows it’s important to keep up with it.”

 I’ve worried about my child’s writing skills and wanted to find a way to work with him on them.  This idea hit home and I’d like to try it.  I have found worksheets that have writing suggestions.  Maybe I’ll use some of these to get him started and then he can run with it.

 Now, confession time – I really struggle with reading with my two younger kids.  It isn’t them, it’s me!  I struggle with sitting down with them and reading to them.  I know how important reading is but I still struggle with it.  Does anyone have any suggestions on what works for you? 

Now I feel like I have a better grasp of what I want and what I need to do to help my children have more success with their summer homework.   My goal is to find ways to improve reading with my two younger children.  Also, to be more involved with them while they are learning.  This will help us all stay on track. 

Bunco, Divorce, & Sickness

Have you ever played Bunco?  If you haven't, well I think you are missing out.  I don't go for the game, I go because I get to hang out with 11 other women and have FUN!  Bunco is a dice game and you move around a lot and add up points, etc. etc..  We divide the year up and each person takes one month and hosts Bunco.  A theme is chosen by the hostess & we each purchase a $10 gift having to do with that theme.  Then, the gifts are given/chosen at the end depending on your rankings for that night.  During the game we are supposed to play 6 rounds of 6, but we usually only get through about 1/2 of that because there is so much eating, talking & laughing.  From my last post, I repeat how grateful I am for friends in my life that care about me and help me to be better.  This is how I feel about the women I play Bunco with.  Some of them have been my friends for many years.  I moved an hour away 1 1/2 years ago, but continue to play Bunco with them.  It's been important to me because it is usually the only time I get to see them.
I went to Bunco on Friday after missing it for 5 months.  I've had a few surgery's since November and it has kept me away.   I needed a day away from home.  We've had sickness in our house for the last 3 weeks, my husband was working 50-60 hrs a week & I was getting a little stir crazy.  I made arrangements to spend the night at a friends house (P) after Bunco because I was going to be helping a different friend (R) on Saturday with packing.  I stayed up late on Saturday talking to P and it was very therapeutic.  Then I slept in without little voices waking me or little ones climbing into bed with me.  P made a delicious breakfast, anything beats the regular cold cereal I eat everyday.
I went to my friend R's house because she is getting divorced and needed help packing her stuff to move out.  They've been married for over ten years.  It has been a long and treacherous road for them.  I've also have a lot of great memories from hanging out with them.  We've hiked, camped, had game night, watched fireworks, had movie night, etc.  As I packed, it was difficult when I came across photos, especially from their wedding.  I shed some tears, but thankfully R didn't see.  It was hard enough for her and I didn't want to contribute to her pain.  It reminded me how fragile our relationships are with our significant other.  We need to take time to nurture this relationship.  I've spent a lot of time the last little while thinking about and praying for my husband and our relationship.  I'm amazed how I become less selfish as I think of him and desire to make him more of a priority each day.  Seeing some of my dearest friends go through marital difficulties and divorce has been an eye opener.  May we see the good in others, especially our loved ones.

All right all ready with sickness!  Enough is enough and I'm fed up.  We've had 7 surgery's this post year in our house, 5 of which were mine.  On top of that we've had many colds, flu, sinus infections, ear infections, and the latest...a cold sore breakout.  I've never seen anything like it.  I get about 2 cold sores a year, and up until now I was the only one who got them.  About a week ago my daughter had a sore on her upper arm, I didn't know what it was, and even though I thought it looked like a cold sore, I didn't realize you could get them on your arm.  Then 2 days late she complained that her finger hurt.  Well, little missy sucks her pointer and middle finger, she has a blister onher middle finger.  By the next day my son was complaining about his mouth hurting, and the day following that his thumb, which he sucks, was covered in blisters.  I took him to the doctor thinking maybe it wad hand, foot, mouth disease.  I was surprised when the Dr looked him over and said he'd be right back because he wanted a colleague to come in and give him a second opinion.  They then excused themselves to discuss it and returned to tell me he had herpes.  Say WHAT?!  His mouth was full of little blisters, he had them in one of his elbow cracks, small patches in his arm pits, and all over his thumb.  No wonder he wouldn't eat.  The s prescribed and anti viral to hopefully keep it from spreading any further and help heal what was already there.
Needless to say I've learned quite a bit this week about herpes.  Never thought I'd say that!  I'm happy he is feeling better and healing.  With so much sickness we haven't left the house much in a month and we're all going a bit stir crazy.  I'm amazed at how much this affects my mental state.  Here's to health and warm weather. 

Anxiety, Warm Weather, & Friends

Anxiety, Warm Weather & Friends : these three things do NOT relate, at least in this post.  Do any of you suffer with anxiety?  Mine has been particularly difficult this last month or so.  When I don't feel control over things in my life (especially the future unknowns), my mind goes into overdrive.  What are things you do to help calm down?  Sometimes I make lists, but mostly it is getting to work that helps calm me down.  If there is something bothering me, then I work on figuring out what it is, then make a plan and work on it.  It is the not being able to figure it out or just mulling over it with no action that makes me more anxious & feisty.  We are going to move sometime in the summer and we're not sure where we are going to end up.  We have very limited funds and cannot live where we'd like.  I want to feel safe, where my children can play freely outside.  I worry about my school aged child & him being able to attend a good school.  THIS is the main source of my anxiety.   Today when I went to pick up O from school, a friend locked her keys in her car and needed a ride to her house to get the extra key.  Of course I said I would take her, BUT I was mortified that she would see inside my van.  I should be ashamed of myself, oh WAIT, I am!!!!  I went grocery shopping on Saturday and didn't bring everything in the house & there were boxes of cereal that fell out of the grocery bags and strewn all over the back.  Squished crackers all over the floor, misc. socks & shoes and toys and, well, you name it and it was probably in my van.  Then when she got out of my van she has some crumbs stuck to her behind...AHHHH!  I didn't say anything and left as quickly as possible.  My life is chaotic, but I blame it on my brain.  My mind is chaos and it reflects in all that I do.  Now, this is causing me anxiety...LOL, right?!  I decided to write to sort out my thoughts and try to get some control, because that's what it is about, no?  
On a happier note, the warm weather is making me a happy.  Especially since my little ones can play outside more.  They are SO much happier when they can go outside.  We have a little pond by our house and they love to feed the fish & climb around on the rocks.  I'm starting to think more about summer and how I need to make a plan to get the kids outside.  I've got to mentally prepare myself for a few months without elementary & preschool.  How will I keep my little rug-rats happy and busy?  Do you make a summer schedule?  I'd love to hear your suggestions and ideas.
Lastly, I want to talk about friends.  Friends are so important in our lives, especially for us women.  I am REALLY good at comparing myself to everyone I see or meet.  How does everyone have it together but me?!  HA!  This is a lie we tell ourselves, we all have our good and bad moments with our children or our spouses.  Coming together as moms & finding things in common allows us to feel connected.  I NEED to feel connected.  Getting to know someone opens our hearts and our minds and allows us to love instead of judge.  I have been blessed with some pretty amazing people in my life.  I haven't always felt that way, but the older I get and the more I learn, I realize that there have been amazing people around me wherever I went, but I was so busy feeling disconnected and judgmental, that I didn't get to know them and love them.  See the good in others and let them in your heart.

Bubble "Snakes" and Elephant Toothpaste

I am watching my friends kids today.  I decided to pull a couple of projects off of Pinterest to entertain the kidlets.  The first experiment I tried was elephant toothpaste.  I saw this on a local news show a couple of weeks ago and also had it pinned.  I pulled today's recipe Elephant Toothpaste from a blog called Preschool Powol Packets.

Image from Preschool Powol Packets blog

Image from Preschool Powol Packets blog

 The first time we tried it, it didn't seem to work very well.  I soon discovered that I didn't mix the warm water and yeast well enough and left the majority of the yeast at the bottom of the cup.  I decided to try it a second time and ta-da!  It worked and the kids loved it.  I did this outside which allowed the kids to play in it and get it all over.  I will definitely try this again.

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The next activity we tried was Bubble "Snakes".  I found the Bubble "Snakes" idea from Somewhat Simple.

 

Homemade Liquid Hand Soap

 I'm really enjoying the DIY world.  Again, I have Pinterest to thank for my new adventures.  This time, I'm making homemade liquid hand soap.  I hate bar soap - ewww!  Liquid soap, especially the good stuff, is expensive.  Why not make it myself?

I like to view multiple recipes and experiences to see if I can get a good perspective on my options and pull out the best from each and combine if I need to.  The original Pin that caught my eye was from The Farmer's Nest. 

Today, before I started, I read up on the different bar soap that people have tried.  It appears that the majority of the recipes I found tend to follow the same measurements (give or take a little).  I decided to try Yardley brand soap after reading about it on Savvy Housekeeping.  I chose not to use Dove (which is my favorite and only one I have used for years), because I want something different than the regular liquid soap I usually buy as Sam's Club.  However, I am just realizing that I could have stuck with my favorite Dove bar and just added essential oil.

I ended up using the recipe from The Farmer's Nest

I purchased Yardley Scrub & Smooth Bath Bar in the Sea Minerals scent from Walgreens.  I bought 2 bars (4.5 oz each). 

I also went to a local nutrition shop and purchased essential oil.  I created 2 batches and I am going to put essential oil in one of the batches and see if I like it. 

• I bought a gallon of distilled water and divided it equally into two different pans (8 cups in each pan).
• grated each bar of soap separately and added to the pans
• added 1 tablespoon of glycerin to each pan.
• heated water, soap and glycerin on medium high heat until the soap was melted and then removed from heat.

I am letting the soap cool for 10-12 hours.  I'll be back to post how it turns out.  I am curious to know what happens when extra glycerin is added.  The reason I mention this is because I re-read the recipe using the Yardley soap and read that you don't need to use glycerin when using this soap.  I just looked at the ingredients on the box of soap and it says that it has "Vegetable Glycerin" in it.  The other thing I read was that you can find Yardley soap at some Dollar Stores.  I ended up paying $2.49 per bar at Walgreens.
Here is a break down of cost to make this soap:
Glycerin 6oz bottle (purchased at Wal-Mart): about $3.00 (I can't find the receipt).  Amount used in recipe is 2 tbsp - less than $.50 worth.
Yardley Soap (Walgreens): $4.98 (2 bars)
Distilled Water: no more than a $1.00
For a gallon of homemade hand soap  ~$6.50-$7.00
Essential Oil .5 fl oz bottle - $4.99.  Recipe says to use about 10 drops.

 I just checked the soap after letting it sit for 2 hours.  It is already really thick.  I took out my hand mixer and blended up both batches because initially I thought it was going to harden.  I'm guessing I'll need to add a little more distilled water.  I'm going to watch it over the next couple of hours and see what happens.

***Update***
Life got away from me and I didn't finish my blog post regarding the handmade soap.  It turned out really slimy and chunky.  I ended up added about 2 oz more water into each batch.  Then I pulled out the hand mixer and tried to blend it all.  Unfortunately, there were still clumps so I strained the soap.  This left the chunks in the strainer and I dumped it into a bowl and mixed it up.  This worked wonders and I was able to get a smoother consistency to the soap. 
I added orange oil to the one batch, which didn't make a strong scent, but still smelled nice.  I then put one batch into the used Distilled Water jug and the other batch into a used soap container. 
I'm not sure if this really is cost efficient.  That will have to be something I research.  One blogger said she uses all the bars of soap that she receives as gifts, and turns them into liquid soap. 
Over all it was an easy project.

I did it! Homemade Laundry Detergent

Oh boy, am I proud of myself.  
I am a list maker.  I have lists of my lists.  I'm trying to find ways to not put my life into a list, and still function.  Part of this list making habit, is that when I find a project that I want to work on, I don't let myself begin until I feel like I know everything there is to know about it (a great big list).  Well, this doesn't work out so well because the research could go on FOREVER.  I love Pinterest and it has given me so many fabulous project ideas.  I've got a list of things I want to do, but I've finally decided it's time to act and not worry about knowing everything before I allow myself to discover, explore and have some fun.  

This leads me into my first executed project and a very successful one at that!  I've been thinking about it for months - that I want to make my own laundry detergent.  I've found some awesome Pins with recipes and even had to create my own Board just for homemade soaps and cleaners because I am trying to find all the best recipes before I start.  WELL NO MORE! :)  I was discussing my desire to make laundry soap with some girlfriends, and low and behold, I have a friend that wanted to join me in my new adventure.

I found two recipes and tweaked them a little bit (combined, etc), purchased all the needed ingredients, and made the soap.  I've been using it for a week now and absolutely LOVE it.  My clothes smell great and are so soft.  The directions say to only use 1-2 tbsp per load, but old habits die hard and over the years I've trained myself to use more than what is suggested.  With this soap I do limit it to 2 tbsp, but I catch myself wanting to add more, however, after washing about 10-12 loads I am confident that 2 tbsp is all I need.  The best part is that I spent about $23 and this will last 9 months (according to Being Creative blog).  I'm not sure if 9 months is using 1 tbsp or 2 tbsp.  Either way, it is an awesome money saver.

I'm definitely going to give credit where credit is due.  I found the main recipe on this blog:Being Creative To Keep My Sanity).

I honestly don't know where this next one was originally found, but I will include the link (which was found through a Pin on Pinterest): Pin for Homemade Dry Laundry Detergent.  

These ingredients are pulled from the Being Creative (to keep my sanity) Blogspot.  Please go there for more details and directions for making the laundry soap.

• 1 - 4 lb 12 oz box Borax (2.15 kg or 76 oz) - found in the detergent isle
  
• 1  - 4 lb box Arm & Hammer Baking Soda (1.81 kg) - found in the cooking isle
• 1 - 55oz (3 lb 7 oz) box Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda - found in the detergent isle
• 3 bars of Fels-Naptha soap, found in the detergent isle (if you use Zote bars use 2 bars instead, Zote can be found at Home Depot)
• 2 small containers of Oxy Clean or store brand Oxy Clean (try to get about 3.5 lbs total (1.58 kg)) found in the detergent isle

She also states the following:

• It does not have a strong scent, you can add laundry crystals to the batch to add fragrance.

I used all the ingredients listed above.  I purchased Oxyclean and Arm & Hammer Baking Soda at Sam's club, because the price was much cheaper (per oz) than at Wal-Mart.  I also worked well buying it in bulk because I had enough for both me and my friend (also, I have some left over for future creations). The laundry crystals can also be purchased at Sam's or Wal-Mart (they were about the same price per oz).

From the 2nd Pin I added Epsom Salt to the batch.  I ended up using 3 cups for the entire batch. In the research that I've done, Epsom salt is great for hard water (which yellows your white clothes) and acts as a fabric softener.  I've read that table salt is also great in preserving color in clothes and acts as a stain remover.  Now, I'm not saying that Epsom Salt and Table (or Sea, etc) Salt have the same benefits...because I haven't researched it.  Maybe it would be beneficial to use both types in the laundry.  I'll do more research for my next batch.

Here is a breakdown of the cost:

From Wal-Mart:
Crystals - 28oz: $4.76 ($.17 per oz)
Epsom Salt - Net wt 4lb: $2.86  (used 2lbs in batch $.71 per lb x 2 = $1.42)
Borax - 4lb box: $3.38
Super Soda Wash - 4lb box: $3.24
Fels Naptha - 3 bars: $0.97 each ($2.91 total)

From Sam's Club:
Baking Soda - 13.5lb bag: $6.68 ($0.49 per lb x 4lb = $1.96)
Oxiclean - 11lb box: $14.98 ($1.36 per lb x 3.5lb = $4.76) 
Total (for about 2 gallons of laundry detergent) = $22.43