What I do all day!

This is what I did Monday!

6:36 Out of bed
6:38 Let big dogs out/start garden misters
6:40 Feed dogs
6:41 Let little dog out
6:50 Dress to go walking
6:54 Walk little dog (1 lap)
7:05 Return home
7:11 Walk big dogs (2 Laps)
7:30 Return home
7:44 Son woke himself up (have to change plans for blogging!!)
7:45 Make son breakfast (Cereal - milk will expire soon)
7:49 Eat with son...at his request!!
8:03 Shower & dress
8:14 Iron shirt
8:15 Go online & check husbands schedule
8:22 Wake husband for work
8:25 Cook husband breakfast ( 2 eggs & 2 sausage )
8:35 Wipe down kitchen counters & load dishwasher
8:40 Vacuum kitchen carpets
8:50 Sort & wash dog sheets & blankets
8:55 Move sons desk so he can see chalkboard
9:00 Start page 1 with son
10:20 Start Page 2 with son
11:00 Start Page 3 with son
11:50 Make hot dogs for lunch
11:55 Go next door and tell the kids to be ready for the pool by 12:30
12:00 Eat lunch
12:10 spot cleaned kitchen
12:15 sorted laundry & washed dark clothes
12:20 put bag together for pool
12:30 picked up kids for pool
12:35 Pool (I worked on the rest of the Summer Bridge lessons for this week)
1:35 Left pool & took kids home
1:40 Unpacked bag / let little dog outside
1:50 Got EIN in the mail. Read through.
2:00 Sit down to do Page 4 with son. Husband decided to do it!!!
2:05 Type this up!!
2:10 Fold dog blankets
2:25 Back to Page 4 with son
2:30 Start Page 5 with son
2:50 Put sons chore cards together
2:55 Explain chores to son and supervise
3:05 Vacuum LR, DR, K, H, GB
3:12 Hang clothes from dryer
3:18 Fold clothes from dryer
3:20 Load and start dishwasher
3:25 SIT DOWN AND RELAX!!!!!(watch a little TV!!)
4:20 Make grilled cheese sandwiches
4:45 Help Husband unpack car
5:10 Answer phone call from MOM
5:20 Unload dishwasher
5:30 Vacuum MB
5:40 Go next door
5:58 Answer phone call from neighbor
6:15 Called MOM to confirm me driving her to Dr Apt.
6:20 Type some more of this!!
6:29 Took a Bike ride with son
6:38 Started raining!!! Came home
6:40 Helped son clean room
6:50 Started cleaning office
7:30 Husband came home and wanted to talk about day
8:00 Continued cleaning office
8:24 Check email's
8:30 Put little dog outside for the last time tonight
8:34 Put PJ's on
8:38 Write updated schedule for this week
8:45 Work on grocery list for Friday
9:00 Get son ready for bed
9:15 Sat with husband & Son and watched TV
9:45 Put son to bed & said prayers
9:55 Gathered kitchen & bath towels & started washer
10:00 To bed!!!!!!

Steel-Cut Oatmeal

After watching the Oprah show with Dr. Oz Monday, I discovered that the oatmeal I am making isn't as healthy as I thought it was. They kept talking about "Steel-Cut Oatmeal". After much research, I have found that the steel cut is healthier than the rolled (most grocery store brands are rolled). So, no that I know this, where do I get it? I have not seen this at the grocery store, and would not know where to begin searching. I did a Google search and found lots of on line brands pop up.

If anyone can recommend a brand of Steel-Cut Oatmeal, please add a comment about it at the end of this post. Thanks!

Monday's To Do's

Wash & Fold Dark Clothes
Wash & Fold White Clothes
Wash & Fold Dog Blankets
Unload Last Nights Dishes
Load & Wash Today's Dishes
Unload & Wash Dinner Dishes
4 Workbook Pages with Son
Clear Off & Clean Son's Desk
Vacuum Kitchen
Vacuum Living Room
Wipe Down Kitchen Counters
Clean Litter Boxes
Cut Fabric For Pot Holders
Start Sewing Pot Holders (Tuesdays To Do)

Fall Chore List

I am still working on the fall chore list. It is a lot more detailed than I would have made mine. But it is a good way to ensure all the chores get completed. It sorts all the chores into daily, weekly, and monthly lists. There's a reason I never get around to washing my car!! I forget. But, now it's on the list.

I have been reading and using the 'Managers of Their Chores' book to create a chore list for my son. I'm amazed at all the chores a 6 year old can do, but didn't think of until I read this book! It even comes with the little chore holders that clip onto their shirt or pants. You place all their chores in the holder and they are reminded to do them when they see that holder on their clothes! This has really helped my son remember to feed the cats every day!

You can find it on the Titus2 website here.

Cold Front In July?!?!

When I let the dogs out this morning I quickly realized it
wasn't hot and muggy. It was much cooler than the 85 to 90 degree
mornings we have been graced with this year. I checked and it said
68!! I even double checked since this is not normal for Florida in
July! Yep it is a lovely 68 degrees and I wish I could bottle it up
and save it for a really hot day! Sadly, I will just have to enjoy the
cold front while it lasts.

Have a great day!

Husbands & Diets

So...my husband started a diet yesterday and I suggested he should blog his daily ups and downs. I know he will struggle with this diet(as we all do on diets) but I told him not to let the devil tempt him. He is trying to lose 48 pounds and it will take a lot of strength and support to do it. You can read his blog here.

Fall Schedule : Complete

I finally finished the daily Fall schedule. It includes the school schedule, church activities, chores time, and fun outings. I even included time for me to blog & sew!! I sometimes loose track of my day and forget to do them. It took about 2 hours to complete, but I am SOOO glad I finished it.

A few posts back I mentioned a book called 'Managers of Their Homes'. This is what I have been using to schedule. It's a sanity saver! My son actually looks at the schedule to see what to do next during the day! He especially likes the 'free time' I schedule for him!! I highly recommend the book! I comes with a huge schedule to put on the wall or door. It also comes with the color coded paper pieces to put on the schedule. Here is the link http://titus2.com.

Now...on to the Fall Chore List!!!!! That is from another book 'Managers of their Chores' from the same author.

Freezing Blueberries

One of the 3 grocery stores I shop at had a GREAT price on Blueberries last week. I purchased about 10 pints and decided to freeze 6 of them. My son loves blueberries, so I am trying to get a good supply going for winter. I found a great site that gives instructions on freezing and canning. Here is the link http://www.pickyourown.org/freezingblueberries.htm.

Here are my pictures!!

Do not wash the berries!! Make sure they are completely dry.

Lay them flat (1 layer) on a pan or baking sheet

Place in freezer overnight

Place in zip bag or storage container for long term freezing

Our Garden Babies

We have a fresh crop of lizards and frogs!! They are the tiniest ones I have ever seen. They like to hang out in our garden and eat all the flying bugs that want to eat our plants! I love looking for them in the morning when I turn the misters on. Enjoy the pictures!

Lizard Stand Off

Ever have a stand off with a garden lizard? I had the opportunity on Sunday!

I like to leave buckets on our porch to catch rain water ( to help save on the water bill!) for some of our plants. I happened to look in one of the buckets and found a lizard in it. After several minutes of trying to coax him out of the bucket, I grabbed his tail and put him on some lumber we have next to the house. When I saw that my dog was sizing him up for her next snack, I decided to nudge him to get him to run away. This is when it all started! He didn't budge. He even began hissing at me. I felt like I was in an old western wondering who will shoot first! I nudged him again, and nothing! Just more hissing and standing proud that he was a big tough lizard. So finally after about 5 minutes I said "OK, let the dog eat you!" And I walked away. About 2o minutes later I noticed he was gone. I am pretty sure that one day he will be eaten by something he should have run away from!!

Friday Pictures..3 weeks worth!!

My son's first tooth came out yesterday while eating fruit in the car! We have been waiting for this tooth to fall out for about a month now. We were not sure if it would be a dramatic event or not. We were glad it came out all by itself with no pain or blood!!


The tooth fairy came to our house while everyone was sleeping and left this under his pillow!!


These are the shorts and sleep pants I made for my son last week.




God has blessed us with abundant fruits & vegetables!
He gave us 1 green pepper last month, and has 3 more growing this month!!

Tomato's! This is what I picked in one day!

I believe the final count was 42!!!

Cucumbers. He has blessed us with 2 already, and more to come!!

This is what my son got for us for his birthday.

Batman sent this to him from Gotham City (AKA Ebay!!)

He also got a big boy bike!

I'm Back!

I am back to blogging!

It has been about 3 weeks since I have regularly blogged. I have thought about it almost every day, but had so much to do. So....what have I been doing?

• I started the Summer Bridge book (for K going into 1) with my son. He surprisingly completed it in 2 weeks. It seemed fairly easy for him. We still need to work on time and money. This week we will start the Summer Bridge book for the next grade level up to see how far ahead he is. This will give me an indication of how easy these subjects will be when we have school in the fall.
• I spent a week with my in-laws. I packed up my son (and his summer bridge books) and we took a trip south to help my mother in law with her 90 year old mom. We were busy packing her things to be moved into my mother in laws house. I was amazed at how much she has saved over the years. She had items dating back to the 1930' & 1940's! And if you ask her about a certain piece she can tell you a whole story about it. That's a pretty good memory for someone in her 90's! It was nice to see a part of history for a change. I also had the chance to see my nieces and nephews. They grow up so fast. My young teenage nieces are almost as tall as me! I feel shorter every time I see them! It was a great trip, and my son had fun with his cousins.
• My house was some what of a mess when I got back from my trip. My husband had cleaned out most of my sons toys and put them in storage ( to be sold at the next kids sale ). In the process he left a lot of baby and toddler clothing around the house for me to go through. Keep in mind we live in a small 980sf 2bed 2 bath house. It can look quite cluttered if things are left out!
• And, I have been sewing. I made my son a pair of shorts and a pair of sleep pants. His legs are so long, it is hard to find clothes long enough in the legs that will also fit his tiny waist. And since children's clothing is so expensive, it makes more sense to me to make him what I can. I usually purchase clothing for him when school clothes go on clearance. Then I can purchase shorts and tops for $2 -$5 a piece, instead of $10 to $15 a piece!

I have lots of pictures to share in my next post! Have a great Sunday!

Custom Blog Template & Graphics Contest

Those who have been here before have seen Susan Godfrey's name in my list of favorite blogs. Well, I just read about her contest for a free Blog template and graphics. She has created some cute graphics that anyone would like! So, pop on over before the 13th and enter the contest!! Here is the link...http://susangodfrey.blogspot.com/search/label/contest

Good Luck!