Lose 6 Pounds in One Day!

This Pillow isn’t as Fluffy Anymore

Ready for Summer Heat

We just keep staring at him. Its a hoot. Our new  Shcichon puppies didn’t even recognize Rocky.

Before and after with the puppies.

I love our animals but sometimes they bring us an unwanted critters. Ticks can carry Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever and ehrlichiosis. Eeeewwwww!

We like walking in and exploring wooded areas.  95% of our yard is pasture, but the furthest area from our home is wooded. The boys made  a fort. We walk back once a week or so and roast marshmallows over a camp fire and make Smores.

We use bug spray and tick control on all our animals but it still important  check for ticks after a day out in the woods or tall grass.

How to Check Your Self or Child for Ticks

1. As soon you get home from a outing start checking. Some diseases can only be transmitted after 24 hours of the tick feeding.
2. Have tweezers on hand
3. Start your search in the bathroom. Strip off all your clothes and shake them in a dry bathtub. You should see any ticks against the white tub and it keeps them from the rest of the bathroom.
4. Check  hair first.  Run your fingers against your scalp checking the entire scalp  for small bumps. Deer ticks are really small.   Comb your hair to be sure you don’t miss anything.
5. Check the rest of your body from the top down. Examine your skin carefully in front of a long mirror (or hand held mirror) to look at your back side. I found one in the middle of my back. Ewwwu
6. Ticks like dark areas. Check under your arms and underneath your breasts, behind knees, ankles and groin area.
7. Put on clean clothes.
8. Shake all clothing in the bathtub before taking to laundry area.

If you Find a Tick

Remove the tick by grasping it close to the skin with a pair of tweezers. Apply gentle pressure, twist anti-clockwise and pull upwards. Do not squeeze the body of the tick or attempt to remove the tick through burning or chemicals (no Vaseline or ammonia- wife’s tales). Burn the tick to be sure to kill it.

Important: Consult a doctor if infection occurs.

After I found the tick on my back I felt phantom ticks crawling all night. Did I say Ewwwuuuu?

More photos of our sweeties.

Checking for Ticks on Animals

• How to Check Your Pet For Ticks
• How to Remove a Tick From a Pet
• How to Tell if Your Dog Has Ticks

Tackle it Tuesday

This is a Tackle it Tuesday post where you tackle something in your home and share with other bloggers. Tackle Tuesdays are FUN!

If feels great to get something accomplished and share it with others. Find out more about Tackle It Tuesday here.

Do you have animals or like to walk in the woods? Share.

Summertime is here. Time to break out the sun lotion and bug spray.

We’ve been enjoying the pool daily.

I LOVE our pool:

1. Motivation: Finish your school work and we can swim.
2. Worn-out, water-logged out children go to bed early.
3. Multi-Tasking: Mom and Dad have play time with children and heart healthy exercise.

12 Things to Do to Keep Your Summertime Organized

Just because life is a bit more relaxed during the lazy days of summer doesn’t change the fact that we still need to know where things are and keep them handy. Here are some simple tips to keep your summertime activities and supplies running smoothly.

1. Keep like items grouped together in separate crates: BBQ supplies, pool maintenance supplies, etc.
2. Keep a basket of beach towels clean and rolled up in the laundry room near the outside door for easy pool, lake, beach, sprinkler, play.
3. Keep a handled bin in the back of your trunk or van for putting supplies, groceries, etc. and keeping them from rolling all over the car.
4. Have an insulated bag rolled up in the trunk, too, for keeping frozen foods cold on the trip home from the store on hot days.
5. Keep a folded blanket or sturdy tablecloth in the back of the car for impromptu picnics in the park, or to sit on during an outdoor theater or concert event.
6. Store all hand-held gardening and weeding tools in plastic bucket with a handle. Trowel, gloves, knee pad, etc.
7. Hang a shoe bag organizer over the back of one of the car’s front seats for your kids to store their toys, books, games, maps, water bottle, and other car or traveling related supplies. If the bag’s too long, cut it to length and hem the bottom.
8. In your guest bathroom, keep a small bin or wooden box on the countertop for easy access with a collection of summertime ointments and lotions. Sunscreen (a variety of SPF levels), aloe, hand lotion, bug spray/lotion, antiseptic, anti-itch lotion for bug bites.
9. Store a small accordion file in your car with all essential car-related stuff. Registration, insurance information, maps, emergency contacts, receipts, and directions.
10. Store a “Before We Leave” checklist in luggage. Make a master list of chores, errands, and packing requirements you encounter before each out of town trip you make. You can even laminate the list and then check off complete items with a dry erase marker.
11. Make sure your jumper cables, tire jack and emergency kit are actually in the car.
12. Keep all camping supplies in one place. Store camping cookware in a hamper that stays packed and ready to go at a moments notice.

Deborah Taylor-Hough (free-lance writer and mother of three) is the author of several popular books including Frozen Assets: How to Cook for a Day and Eat for a Month and A Simple Choice: A Practical Guide for Saving Your Time, Money and Sanity.

To subscribe toDeborah’s free email newsletter, Simple Times, send an email. Visit Debi online and read more articles dealing with simple living, frugality, parenting and much more at The Simple Mom.

Menu planning is something we intend to do when we get around to it or “when I’m get organized.” But this is backward thinking, menu planning should be your first step to getting organized.

A lack of meal planning means wasted money, extra trips to the store, frustration and cooking boredom. We are all faced with meals three times a day, seven times a week, it should be planned. Don’t put it off any longer.

Reasons to Meal Plan

Save Time and Money

• Reduce grocery and gas bills by meal planning. A simple list of meals means an easy grocery list for the grocery store, which cuts down on impulse buys, wasted food, and needless trips to the supermarket.
• If you don’t plan, there will be days you end up harried and hurried with hungry kids and opt for a trip to a fast food restaurant (which can take more time than preparing a meal). The more harried and hurried the more fast food trips.
• Having a shopping list will make it easier for you to clip coupons.
• Stock up on sale items like hamburger, chicken, jars of spaghetti sauce, etc.
• Save the ultimate amount of time and money by using a book like OnceA-Month Cooking or Frozen Assets: How to Cook for a Day and Eat for a Month.

Make Healthier Meals

• Eating out may be convenient but fat-laden fast food is not nutritional (it’s a huge part of the reason our nation is experiencing an obesity epidemic).
• When you pre-plan your own meals, you can choose healthy options. You control the flavor and the fat and amount of sugar, you can grill or broil instead of fry. Planning ensures you are cooking a healthy meal every day of the week.

Easier Meal Preparation

• With a meal plan you always know what meat to take out of the freezer to defrost the night before and you’ll have the ingredients because they were listed on your shopping list.
• The easiest meals for me are made using my crockpot in the morning. I love smelling it cooking all day and simply setting the table at dinner time.

Teach Your Children Skills

• Include children in the meal planning process to teach them organizational skills and how to assemble a balanced meal.
• They can help to plan the meals and learn about the different nutrition groups.

Reduces Stress

• How frustrated do you get each night at meal time rummaging through the freezer and pantry? Once you menu plan won’t have to worry about everything that goes into making a meal.

• My dear OCD hubby asks me daily (usually before breakfast) “What’s for dinner?” I used to get irritated and roll my eyes but since I started meal planning I can give him a cheerful answer.

• There is something secure about having dinner organized and on the table at the same time every night. It brings peace to you and your family.
• Our family meal times are jeopardized by rushed schedules, overworked and exhausted parents. Meal planning allows us to have a special family time to share, rekindle, and reconnect.
  

Meal Plan Online!

• Meals Matter -Meals Matter is a really neat free meal planning website featuring recipes and personalized nutrition tips. Users can create family cookbooks, shopping lists and plan out menus. They offer a ton of articles, recipes and ideas for creating healthy and easy meals. They also offer a free Nutrition & Fitness Challenge ( a three-week self-directed program). Each week of the Challenge you will receive an email that guides you through the steps that will help you achieve your goals.

• Pepperclip - Pepperclip offers a free place for you to organize your personal recipes, share with friends, and make your trips to the grocery store easier by writing your lists for you. Your list is made from either recipes you typed in or from recipes other pepperclip users have added to the website. Once you type a recipe, it is saved in the system forever and you can use it again for shopping lists in the future.
• Organized Home - If you prefer organizing on paper this site offers printable menu planners.

Thank you for the adorable names. Our son David named our puppy Trooper on his own so we  used RandomDrawing.org to find a winner from the comments. This was a fun week. Thanks again.

Original Post

What’s Better than a Puppy? Two Puppies!

Yesterday, we drove 2 hours to choose our Shichon (pronounced She Sean) puppy from two different litters. They were soooooo adorable we ended up with one puppy from each litter–both boys.

Christopher named the white puppy Frosty but we need help naming the second puppy.  Submit your boy dog names in the comments for a chance to win the prize listed below.

Shichons are  a Shih Tzu and Bichon Frise mix. The mix is also known as Teddy Bears, Zuchons, Shishchons, Shih Chons. There best known for melting into your chest. Both puppies are  mothers are Bichon Frise  and both fathers are Shih Tzu.

Working Dogs. Their Job is to L-O-V-E!

Our Great Pyrenees’ job is to watch goats which he does beautifully. The Shichon is also a working dog. Their job is to look adorable, make you say AWWW, cuddle,  and love. These puppies are 10 weeks and already excerpts at their jobs.

It is amazing, when I hold them I feel like I took a tranquilizer (as I do when I hold a newborn) .They just dissolve into your lap– no matter how rambunctious they might be on the floor– as soon as you pick them up they switch into cuddle mode like someone pushed a button.

How cool is it that- they cuddle-on-demand? They are called Teddy Bears becasue they look like Ewolks and act like a huggable stuffed animal.

Puppies better than Prozac!

A few names we have thought of

• Chewbacca (teehe like naming a goldfish Moby )
• Honey (color of the golden brown in his coat)
• Dee-Oh-gee (my brother’s idea, also pronounced D-O-G)
• Teddy (obviously for Teddy Bear)
• Ewolk (also obvious)

What will they Look Like Grown?

Our pups will be should weigh about 10 to 15 lbs fully grown.

Our Great Pyrenees

Funny our 100 lb Great Pyrenees looked much the Shichon pups when they were little. Big difference, grown Great Pyrenees weigh about 100 lbs.

Name Our Puppy Contest

A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches.Pr 22:1

Leave you names in the comments. My son will chose from the suggestions Saturday, May 30, 2009.

Winner gets a free book of their choice by Cesar Millan author of several bestselling dog training books and host of the Dog Whisperer.

If we come up with a name not in the comments we will give away the book by a random drawing.

Looking forward to hearing your ideas.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 mango - diced
• 1 avocado - diced
• 4 medium tomatoes, diced
• 1 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1/4 cup chopped red onion
• 3 tablespoons olive oil

Here is a great video on cutting a mango.

Mix all ingredients except avocado & lime in large bowl. Add avocado to salsa and stir gently to combine.  Squeeze juice of limes over salsa. Salt to taste. Best served with chips after refrigerating for an hour.

Options: Sometimes I add a chopped apple. Add cilantro or jalapeno if you prefer.

Have you had mango salsa? Isn’t it the yummiest? I had mango katsup in Fl love to find the recipe.

Happy Birthday Boys!
Anthony was home from college and celebrated with friends. We had a party for Christopher at home.

Can you imagine the conversation in game company boardrooms. “I know education is in critical condition in America but the kids want shoot-em up games–and we make billions on them–so lets make more shoot-em up games.” Good thing these type people aren’t in charge of breakfast foods! Oh wait,  they are.

If  your  6 to 12 year old child is bugging you for a PSP, Nintendo DS, or another game system consider the LeapFrog® Didj Custom Learning Gaming System. This  handheld game (around $60)  designed for children to play action games as they and learn languages, spelling and math.

What games do you recommend for learning?

This post is by guest blogger Shiloah Baker, she is a homeschooling mother of seven living in North Carolina. She is the owner of a large homemaking website/business. Join her at The Homemaking Cottage Deluxe Edition for 817 ways to improve your home and family!  

Don’t Miss The Infamous Exploding Mom & Vacuum Cleaner Day

Yesterday I took them at by the hand–room to room–to remind them of basic instructions.

• I started the tour using my Nice Mommy Voice,   “You are not house guests. You are members of this family and need to contribute to keep it functioning smoothly and neatly.”
• We started in the bathroom. “There is no magic elf that will come put your clothes in the hamper. When you take of an item of clothing it goes in the dirty hamper not on the bathroom floor.”
• “Towel racks are not for gymnastics. When you finish drying with a towel it gets hung up to dry. ” I pick up a half drenched towel that sat in its puddle all night. “Wait  first smell it.” We all smell the towel and gag.  “Peewhew!, if it smells like this put it in the hamper.” We move on to family room.
• “When you finish playing with Legos they go back in the container not left strewn across three rooms. There is a black hole in the universe that will swallow them. The Legos that do not go into the black hole and find themselves on my dustpan are off to  garbage city. Got it?”
• “And What is this?” I ask, pointing to a cheese stick wrapper on the end table. Boys shrug as if they never seen a food wrapper in their lives. “”When you food items the wrapper goes in the garbage not on the end table, not on the floor, not in the sofa cushion, not behind the sofa. You remember the trash can–the cylinder object with the garbage bag in it, in the kitchen? Garbage bags are more than parachutes.”
• I pick up a Tupperware Tumbler off the floor, ” Does this look like the kitchen sink? When you have a drink put your cup in the sink, don’t leave it on the floor, dining table, or in the bath room, or outside, or laundry room, or under the couch.” All dirty dishes go in the sink.” Moving to the boys room.
• When we get to the boys room I had some trouble pushing the door into its fully open position due to army tanks,  GI Joes, other action figures, books, and clothing. My nice voice began to rise into the Angry Mom Voice so I’ll stop sharing our tour now. But you get the idea. It is easier to train a child right than to repair an adult later.

My Twitter friend Sheila Wray Gregoire, author of four books, including To Love, Honor, and Vacuum: When You Feel More Like a Maid Than a Wife and Mother wrote this timely article giving me ideas I can use with my Nice Mommy Voice:

One of the most frustrating things as a mother is getting kids to clean up after themselves! You’re forever finding toys everywhere, clothes everywhere, crafts everywhere, and dishes everywhere. So what do you do?

If you’re like most moms, you probably grumble and grimace and clean it yourself. Every now and then, though, you likely blow a gasket out of pure frustration.

There is a better way. With these three tips, you can get your kids cleaning, your house gleaming, and you smiling. Here are those strategies:

1. Make Tidying Routine

Scheduling takes the frustration out of most things. When children know they’re going to have to do something everyday, they stop complaining.

Try setting three specific cleaning times a day. Try first thing in the morning, as soon as children get home from school (perfect for putting lunches away), and right before bed. Alternatively, you could do a massive cleanup right before dinner. Having multiple clean up times helps kids remember to put things away immediately, and it often doesn’t take much more than five minutes. Set a timer for ten minutes and see how quickly they can get done! They’ll probably amaze you.

Whichever route you choose, though, remember that it will only work if you do it everyday so that it becomes routine! If you do it haphazardly, children will start to complain and try to get out of it. Make it regular and they’ll do it.

To institute these “tidy times”, just tell kids that nothing else gets done until the place is clean. No computer, no TV, no iPod, no games. No food, either. And you CAN enforce this, even for older children. You are the boss. Those iPods are not rights and they can be taken away. You have power!

Recently I’ve had to ban my girls from the computer and game boy until 5 p.m. because their rooms weren’t getting cleaned and piano wasn’t getting practiced. I consider computers and game boys privileges, and so now we have things they have to get done first.

The main thing is just to pick one method and stick to it. Deny privileges and allowances if they don’t come through and respect you. It’s hard work, because being consistent is always hard work.

But it’s worth it! Now here’s another method:

2. Use a Jubilee Box

In the Old Testament, every fifty years the Israelites had Jubilee year, where all seized property was returned and debts were cancelled. I think they actually only practiced it once, but it’s a good idea.

You can do it, too! Keep a basket in your room where things they leave around the house get placed–whether it’s iPods, or jackets, or the remote for the Wii. And then every Sunday can be jubilee day when they get it back. But if they want to redeem it early, they have to pay you something, according to their age. It could be a quarter, or a dollar, or whatever works in your family.

You’ll find you don’t need to use Jubilee methods very often. Once you start, they’ll clue in. And if you do have regular tidying periods, it’s not so bad.

The key to both is CONSISTENCY. If you stick to it one week, but give up the next, you’ll ruin all the work you already put in. Make it a routine for you, too, and it will become routine for them.

One final note

3. Make it Easy to Tidy

Make sure your children have appropriate furniture with lots of drawers to hold their stuff. Sometimes children don’t clean because they honestly don’t know where things go. You may need to take a week or two and help them organize their rooms and the playroom just so you get a sense that everything has a place. And if you find stuff without places, create places. Label the drawers if you need to. Then they know what’s expected.

When children have places to put stuff, tidying routines, and consequences when they leave stuff lying around, you’ll find that your house will stay much neater.

Like all things in parenting, though, it requires you putting in the hard work and enforcing the routine. Once it becomes habit, your whole family will feel more peaceful. So take a deep breath, get up, and get the kids cleaning. You won’t regret it.

Visit Sheila’s blog at To Love Honor and Vacuum and download your FREE household organization planners, including personal planners, kids’ chore charts, organization checklists, and more to make your tidying routine.

How do you teach messy kids to be tidy?

See Works for Me Wednesday at We are That Family for 200+ post of helpful ideas