summer challenge

i have to be honest, a summer with all five kids at home can be overwhelming. the last days of school, i can feel my heart beating faster, my breathing rapidly increase. i wouldn't say that i have a full blown panic attack but i definitely feel the pressure. thoughts of filling a summer with activity for five little people can be daunting.

this year, i decided to get organized. the more organized i became, the better i felt. i created an entire summer checklist for the kids to accomplish each day. surprisingly, the kids were all for this idea. we are now two weeks into our summer here in the south and we are on a roll. i can't say this will work for everyone but for us, this has been a life saver. too much idle time during the summer causes problems; kids fight, they are restless, and quite frankly, i don't want to have to entertain them all day everyday. i'm also from a family of educators. my dad is a retired principal, my mom's a former teacher and speech pathologist, my sister and sister-in-law both teach and i used to teach high school. my kids are surrounded. i don't want them to spend the summer losing all the information they learned over the school year.

all of those factors led to our "summer challenge." each day the kids have a series of tasks to do. at the end of the week, they can earn a star for completing a week of tasks. the stars add up to rewards. it's a simple concept but, surprisingly, the kids love it. i have to be honest, i love it too. they are busy and working for a couple of hours a day and i have time to sit with each of them to help them get their projects or teach them something new. i am actually thrilled with the results. feel free to use this idea and run with it. it may not work for you exactly the way it has worked for us but, please, make this your own and use it to bring some sanity to your own house this summer.

Rules: These were read to the kids on our first day. They all agreed so we kept going!

My kids had already been trained on their weekly chores so that was easy for them to continue. They had several books already purchased for them to enjoy over the summer. We purchased Bridge Books from amazon.com. 

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=bridge+books

i printed out a check list for each week. i made several copies for each child with a place for the dates at the top. each child has their own clip boards so their lists can travel with them.

we brainstormed as a family for great ideas for rewards. this is what our family decided upon.

at the end of each week, if my kids have completed their assignments, they get a star for each area. 

They get to choose the reward for our family. That's it. So far so good. The kids are engaged. The days are full. The rewards are fun. This is my kids' summer challenge...and my summer sanity.

my army of women

my husband has been working a lot lately. with his law enforcement job, it is anyone's guess when or if he'll be home on any given night. normally i can handle the masses but yesterday was a different story. my toddler was on day four of a raging fever and that night, while my husband was out chasing some bad men, my daughter got sick as well. i was up all night with the pair of them. as 7:00 AM rolled around and my other three stirred, i knew i was in need of reinforcements. i'd used the last of the fever reducers over night and there was no way i was going to be able to drag all five to the store.

i contemplated what i could do...leave them at home? take a couple of them? wait until my husband magically returned from work? i wanted to be self-sufficient but when it came right down to it, i knew it was time to wave the white flag of surrender and see if there was anyone who might be willing to help a mom out. i posted this to facebook:

that was it. a simple cry for help in the middle of my sleep deprived morning. i figured someone had to be heading for the store during the day. still, it was hard for me to press send. it was hard to admit i needed help. i liked feeling like i was the rocking mother of five. and yet, when it came right down to it, i figured between the killing of my pride and a trip with five kids to the store, i'd bury my pride and stay at home.

the crazy thing? the response. within minutes someone offered to pick up the medicine. i thought the flurry of messages would end after that but that was just the beginning. there was this:

and this...

and this...

and this...

and those were just the facebook messages. by the afternoon, there were 36 facebook messages offering help. there were several texts from friends. not only did i get the two bottles of medicine, but my favorite drink from starbucks. someone else brought me juice and a party tray of chicken nuggets and fruit from chick-fil-a for lunch. i had three offers for dinner, two people who just came and dropped off food. countless others texted me throughout the day to see how i was.

my friends from out of the area chimed in on facebook too. their responses?

it's hard to believe places like this exist. i was and am still honestly awed by it all. what a remarkable group of people surround me, right? they truly are some of the greatest people on earth, in the greatest neighborhood on earth, from the greatest church on earth, in the greatest town on earth. i know i am blessed.

the more i got to thinking, though, the more i realized that this is how life is supposed to be. we are supposed to count on each other. we are supposed to live in community with one another, support one another, come along side one another, do life with one another. we're supposed to be honest, and vulnerable, and put our pride aside. the miraculous happens when we put aside the facebook and instagram version of ourselves and take a few minutes to just be real. the results are magical.

i may still be sleep deprived. i may still have two sick kids. my husband may still be a walking zombie. but i'm not alone. i'm surrounded by an army of amazing women who have my back. and just like that, am invincible. i think i may just go conquer the world. 

for more, read: no mom is an island and don't block my blessing.

mmmmm: lemon trifle

summer is the time for cool desserts. this one is in honor of my sister. it's her absolute favorite. she'll fight you for the last bowl. it takes a little time to make but it is so worth the effort. enjoy!

lemon trifle

for the pecan crumble layer:

2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup chopped pecans

1 cup melted butter

for the lemon custard layer:

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/4 cup flour

1 3/4 cups cold water

3 egg yolks

2/3 cup lemon juice

2 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoons grated lemon peel

for the cream cheese layer:

1 8oz. package of cream cheese

3 cups confectioner's sugar

8 oz. whipped topping or two cups of sweetened whipped cream

mix pecans, flour and melted butter together in a small bowl. press into a greased 9 x 13 pan. bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. remove from oven, set aside and allow to cool.

In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, cornstarch and the flour. Stir in the water until it is smooth. cook over medium heat, stirring while cooking, until hot and bubbly. reduce heat and continue cooking for two minutes more. 

remove the mixture from the heat. stir a small amount of the hot liquid into the egg yolks. add the egg yolk mixture to the pan and cook while stirring until there is a gentle boil. cook for two minutes more. stir in the lemon juice, butter and lemon peel. 

transfer to a bowl and cool to room temperature without stirring the mixture. cover the mixture with wax paper or plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled.

in a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and confectioner's sugar until smooth. fold in whipped topping or sweetened whipped cream.

crumble the baked pecan mixture. begin layering the trifle. start with a layer of lemon custard. you will use approximately 1 cup of each part of the trifle per layer. top with whipped cream mixture and a layer of the pecan crumble. continue this process two more times. top the trifle with the remaining pecan mixture. refrigerate and enjoy!

release

today i am the mother of an elementary school graduate. as i sat yesterday in the graduation ceremony, i was shocked at my own struggle to catch my breath.  each one caught in my throat as i inhaled and it felt like the weight of the world was on my chest. i watched as my son walked into the ceremony and flashbacks filled my mind: of the first day of kindergarten when i dropped him off in his classroom, of field trips, lunches, each grade's struggles and joys, and of each afternoon when he stepped off the bus. how could this possibly be happening? how could he be moving on to the horrors of the middle school years? it has come too soon. he can't possibly be ready for this. 

but he is ready. the problem here is all mine. he is prepared, excited even. each day he seems to crave more and more independence, more responsibility, more of a life of his own and less to be a part of mine. parenting my son from birth has been a constant pouring, and pouring, and pouring into him, teaching him, training him and pushing him to do things on his own. each day that's what we are doing, training our sons and daughters to be on their own, to be independent, to think for themselves. each time we reach a parenting milestone we are thrilled. they conquer potty training. they eat by themselves. they sleep in a big boy bed. each moment feels like such a victory and it is. it's a monument to great parenting. but as i look back it becomes so clear that each victory is a step in preparing him, all of them, to be on their own, to stand on their own two feet and to live their own lives.

and i struggle to catch my breath. parenting is a whirlwind. the mantra runs on replay through my head. days are long, years are short. days are long, years are short. years are short. years are short. and i struggle to breathe again. i have worked so long to prepare him for this day but i am not prepared. i've become acutely aware that parenting is a consistent process of "release." we train them up to let them go. we let them go. release. each parenting victory, each monument, each milestone...release. countless moments of release. it doesn't hit you until they walk across the stage when their name is called...release. he is ready and so excited. release. pieces of my mommy heart break. release none-the-less.  

diy teacher flower pot

the end of the school year is quickly approaching and it is time to think about end of the year teacher gifts. i am convinced that all teachers deserve a gift card of some sort as a teacher's gift but i love this pot to display the cards and give the teachers a keepsake to remember the year by.

1) begin with a cheap clay flower pot. i purchased this one at home depot for 

about $3.00.

2) paint the bottom portion of the pot with chalkboard paint. i love this paint because it goes on thick and only requires one coat. there will be plenty left to create other amazing projects.

3) paint the top portion of the pot with a yellow acrylic paint. i got this paint at hobby lobby and love it as well because of how thick it is. i painted the inside of the pot as well to make sure all the clay portion is covered up to where the dirt will fill the pot.

4) paint the entire pot, both inside and out with polycrylic finish. the pots need to be covered even on the unpainted areas if they are going to keep their painted finish after the flowers are watered. 

5) gather the tools you will need to finish the rest of the pot. you'll need a tape measure, a glue gun, a chalk pen and a black sharpie.

6) using the tape measure and the black sharpie, measure one inch measurements around the pot. label the inches by number. add the marks for the half inches and quarter inches. when that is finished, cut a large piece of coordinating ribbon and carefully glue it around the pot, tying a bow at the center. using the chalk pen, write in the teacher's name.

7) create a "thank you" note. i used old scrapbooking materials to create one i liked. 

8) visit a florist or a floral department inside a grocery store and ask for floral picks. use the picks to hold the thank you note and several gift cards.

9) plant your flower. i love gerber daisies so of course that was my flower of choice. 

10) arrange the flower picks in the soil and have your kids present them to their amazing teachers. enjoy!

is it time to throw in the towel?

life. 

it's crazy. 

there are twists and turns along the road......and most of it is not predictable. i hate that part. 

people get cancer. people. get. cancer. i mean, how jacked up is that? marriages end, fires sweep through cities destroying homes. destroying lives. 

those are some of the big things that make us stop in our tracks, that make us stop to catch our breath.....but the little stuff can throw us off course too.....kids getting sick, a water pipe bursting in the house (when fixing it wasn't part of the budget), car repairs, sports uniforms that cost more than you want to spend (but you love how much it makes your child shine with happiness doing something they love). 

life is just plain stressful. sometimes, it feels as if you have hit your limit. we all go through that, right? 

what i know is this: allow yourself to take the time you need to process. take a deep breath. or twelve. so, maybe i don't get to writing that article i was going to post weeks ago. so, maybe i have to buy my child's birthday cupcakes at the grocery store instead of making the awesome ones i saw on pinterest. 

it's okay. focus. prioritize. breathe.....and take one day at a time. it will all be waiting for you when you are ready. 

life is somehow predictable that way, at least.

simple solutions: killing fruit flies

spring has sprung. the weather here in the south is already pretty hot and with the warm weather, the bugs have started to invade. i'm originally a california girl and i was always used to black flies all summer long. now that i'm in the south, bugs take on a whole new meaning. there are bugs from the first warm day until the first frost...a. lot. of. bugs.

i can't say that i'm a fan. with my kids running in and out of the house a thousand times a day, they are inevitably going to make it indoors. fruit flies or gnats (as we called them in cali) are literally everywhere. 

here is a simple solution to kill the fruit flies that make it into your house. these ingredients are natural so you don't have to worry about little hands getting into things they shouldn't.

first, make sure the fruit in your house is either kept in the refrigerator or is completely covered. covering your fruit may work to keep fruit flies out of the fruit but they are crafty little devils and will manage to find a way. we keep our bananas in the microwave and try to keep all other fruit in the fridge. that has helped to keep some of the fruit flies away. also, as tempting as it is, avoid leaving the doors or windows open with just a screen in place. fruit flies can go right through a screen and will invade your whole house.

once there are fruit flies in your house, here is the way to attract them and kill them.

pour about 3/4 cup of apple cider vinegar into a bowl. add about one teaspoon of dish soap (i love mrs. meyer's dish soap and method dish soap because they use natural ingredients. they work perfectly for this). avoid using too much dish soap as the bugs will not be as attracted to the smell and it won't work as well. here is the result...only three flies dead in about an hour. 

with just the right amount of dish soap, you will have scores of flies dead in less than an hour. it is amazing. dump out your dirty, bug filled vinegar every day and keep repeating until you are bug free. it works like magic. enjoy a bug free summer!

test rocker...and parenting a soon to be senior is hard work!

carissa rogers is now one of my extremely fun, nearby neighbors...and a fabulous blogger as well. you can find her blogging about life at www.goodncrazy.com.

hi thirdboob fans! you should be very jealous. because a few years back I met the thirdboob team in person! i know right?? then one magical day after moving my family coast to coast, landing near charlotte, NC… i realized miss nellie here lives almost in my backyard. as in, i routinely jog past her house and throw dirt clods! go ahead. be jealous. 

sigh… spring break is over. 
4 weeks of school until summer vacation officially begins! 
oh wait… that means i’m one year closer to owning a SENIOR. IN HIGH SCHOOL PEOPLE.
one year closer to sending her away to college.
one year closer to… 

deep breaths. it will be o-kay. she’s a smart cookie. she is independent and kinda feisty (just like i like her). she has a plan right?

ummm yeah… not that she’s shared with me! 

i wish i could say my kiddo knows exactly what she wants to do with her life. that she has a dream college all picked out and has a 12 step plan in place for getting accepted and scholarshipped through it. 
but she doesn’t. 

and she seems completely calm about it.
i’m over here freaking out, but she’s calm??

here’s my sneaky mom plan: 
i’ve researched and figured out when and where the college prep tests are held. i know how much they cost to take—a lot by the way. i’ve encouraged her to STUDY, despite her crazy busy high school life.  i located an online prep course called TestRocker.com because the in-person courses are more cash than we can afford and she doesn’t have time to spend whole saturdays in a course like that. 

i’ve scheduled a mother-daughter college road trip, to tour a few local colleges. how fun is that?!  (no, don’t ask her.) and we are meeting with the school guidance counselor to discuss her strengths and hopefully encourage her to come up with a plan… any plan… soon. 

i also know a few of her dreams. moms are tricky that way. for example i know she wants to be in and around theater for a few more years. and she dearly misses her oregon pals (since we recently moved). there’s a college near our old stomping grounds where she would have both old pals and a terrific theater program. she also imagines a world where she spends time in New York City.  she was born in Brooklyn and can’t get enough of all things gritty and New York-y. hell-o, there are schools in New York?
but still, she has to come to these decisions on her own.
and dang if that isn’t the hardest part of this parenting gig?
letting her make her own decisions. 

since working directly with the TestRocker.com team i’ve become a genuine fan of their product. 
i’m happy to share information about TestRocker.com with the thirdboob family.
if you have any questions about using the online test prep resource please ask! did you know they should take the tests at least twice? 
if you have questions about parenting a soon-to-be-senior, well, good luck. it ain’t easy! 
TestRocker has recently been awarded the prestigious PTPA award and they are now running a FREE live webinar class series! Check out the free webinar class schedule here. 

TestRocker.com Features

• Heavy on the Video Tutorials (A Must for the YouTube Teen Generation!)
• $699 for a 6 Month Online Unlimited Course (Less than in person courses and SO much more convenient.)
• Mobile Friendly *(No need for an app, the course runs just as well straight from your smartphone browser as on a laptop.)
• Both SAT & ACT Online Courses Available
• Access to the Test Creator & Tutor
• Available 24/7
• Informative Blog with Test Tips and Tricks
• Works Anywhere Your Smartphone Works!
• Free Online Webinar Series!

Additional Resources for Teen Test Prep Help
Guide to Test Day Tips (and many other helpful tips on the TestRocker.com Blog)
LIST OF 2014 SAT & ACT Test Dates
5 Test Prep Tips From the Experts
I also found these two articles on test prep helpful to understanding how the tests work and what is most important:

• From USNews.com: SAT Testing Tips
• From About.com’s Kelly Roell, author of ACT Strategy Smart:  Top 10 SAT Test Tips

Everybody gets access to an exclusive offer for TestRocker’s study program (and a generous one). Simply email contactus@testrocker.com and mention Carisa Rogers for a special discount on the program. In the mean time use this unique link to sign up for a free trial. [http://hub.am/1npki0O]

Disclosure: Carissa Rogers—author of GoodNCrazy.com and her daughter are testing out the TestRocker.com Test Prep platform (say that 10x fast!) at no cost to them. Her opinions and stresses about helping her daughter get into college are all her own. 

adventures with the mole patrol

getting older is not my favorite thing. i feel like i am still twenty-five on the inside and yet my body is not cooperating with my internal clock. combine that with the fact that doctors are repeatedly telling me "you're not as young as you used to be," and "well, at your age..." seriously, people. i get the picture. i know how old i am. no need to write my advancing years in the sky.

one of the joys of the late thirties is that medical procedures that once seemed far off are now imminent. words like mammogram, colonoscopy, and suspicious moles start to be recurrent. it's like a variation on a theme, chanting your age repeatedly from the medical profession.

well, one of those calls came this week as i went to my dermatologist for my annual full body scan. with fair skin, light eyes and a family history of melanoma, these scans take place on a yearly basis. i like to call this "the mole patrol." i thought this term was incredibly witty until i went into my first scan a couple of years ago. i did not realize at that time how true the phrase was. i figured the doctor would look at the basic areas of my skin, where moles already existed, and then i'd move on. oh no, that didn't even begin to describe the event. after telling me to strip completely naked and giving me the most attractive disposable gown, they came back into the room to perform the "scan." scan isn't exactly how i would describe it. frankly, i'm not sure why they bothered with a gown at all. 

the doctor came in wearing a lamp on his forehead. no joke. it looked like he was mining for gold. i should have told him then that there was no treasure to be found in them thar hills but my wit got lost somehow in the midst of my exposure. he asked me to stand and then proceeded to look over every inch of skin on the surface of my body. every. inch. i knew things were going to be bad when he pulled down the gown and looked at my boobs. he then told me he was going to lift up one boob at a time to look at the skin underneath it. if that doesn't tell you the state of your less-than-perky boobs, i don't know what will. he then proceeded to my back. when he told me he was going to separate my butt cheeks, i started looking around for a hidden camera. surely this cannot be normal procedure. but there was the nurse, chatting with me about the weather and what movies were out. seriously, he is looking in my butt crack and you want to know what i'm doing this weekend? crawling into the first available hole, that's what. mole patrol? i'm pretty sure the patrol had left the building and we were on to full scale excavation at this point. 

this fun was repeated this week. i know. crazy.  i went back. i do it every year. i swallow whatever pride i have left and get the job done. you see, i had a sweet friend die of melanoma a few years ago. you can read her store here. two more of my friends have had it in various stages. one has a large scar on her shoulder where it was removed. the other has a scar covering his entire abdomen as he lost an abdomen full of lymph nodes where the cancer had spread. one mole the doctor saw on my face this week was explained to be "probably nothing." probably nothing isn't quite good enough for me. i told him to cut that sucker out right then and there. 

the mole patrol may be miserably uncomfortable. having the doctor shoot my nose up to numb it so he could carve a chunk out of my right nostril...admittedly not so fun. still, i have had five babies. i have had so many people up in my business i couldn't remember them all if i tried. i've given birth in teaching hospitals. it was like a class reunion in my delivery rooms. really, if i can get over the number of people who have seen my push a baby out, what's the big deal with the butt crack? i have carried five babies and delivered them all. i am one tough cookie and really, what is there to be modest about? when it is all said and done, the fact that i have had five babies motivates me to do whatever it takes to be around for them as long as i can. if that means someone with a lamp on his forehead inspecting my nether regions then so be it. if that means i'll have a huge hole in my nose for mother's day this year, there's no better badge to wear. if this is the worst my late thirties can throw at me, bring it on. i can take it. 

10 things every traveler needs

1. belkin surgeplus 3-outlet mini travel swivel charger surge protector with dual usb ports

hotel rooms suck at having enough outlets in the room. this has saved me on many trips and comes in handy at the airport too. 

2. voyager digital luggage scale w/ 110 lb. capacity & smartgrip

ever stressed about your baggage being over 50 lbs.? this lightweight and easy to read scale will put your mind at ease before you even reach the airport.

3. ebags packing cubes

these have changed my packing experience. easy to pack what you need, sort it out and get to what you need when you need it. when traveling as a family, try having a different color for each family member and it makes unpacking a shared suitcase a snap.

4. iphone 4-way, 360 degree, privacy screen protector

i have this on my phone at all times and continually get asked about it. no one can see what you are looking at on your phone or what you are typing. 

5. privacy screen for ipad

same as the above privacy screen, this makes airplane travel so much easier without the nosey eyes of the person in the seat next to you seeing what you are working on. 

6. bose noise cancelling headphones

worth every penny. truly.

7. keyboard cover for ipad

this small device turns my ipad into a mini laptop and serves as a case and stand as well. awesome.

8. ultra portable usb port external battery charger/power pack

throw this item in your purse or briefcase and have power for your laptop or phone, even when an outlet isn't available to use.

9. memory foam neck pillow

most comfortable neck pillow i have ever used. heavenly.

10. ultralight eye mask

i normally hate eye masks. they smash my eyelashes and feel awful. these are very lightweight and are curved so your eyelashes don't bump against them. it's wonderful for the plane, a not-so-dark hotel room or are awesome if you are a migraine sufferer.