Our Summer Technology Rules

I know that this topic can be controversial, but we have decided that technology should not take up a lot of time in our family.  The girls get plenty of exposure at school and elsewhere, and we would simply rather spend time together doing more profitable things.  We have old phones and one tablet, but they are always on airplane mode (not connected to the internet except when I download stories)  and are used only to listen to audiobooks at rest-time or bedtime.  My 10 and 12 year old have recently been asking to play games on my computer like they see friends doing at school, so I have given them each 15 minutes on Saturday and only if all their chores have been done cheerfully on time each day the previous week.  We are generally busy doing family things on Saturdays, anyways, so they probably are only able to do it about once a month and the only games they play are Oregon Trail and Solitaire and a music game called Quaver.  However, now that they have more free time during the summer, they have been asking to use my computer more often to request library books and type stories or plays they write together or recipes that they love.  I honestly don't mind that type of use on the computer, but I still find importance in reducing any type of screen time because of the cumulative effect and the simple fact that I would rather they be interacting with the family. To avoid the constant requests, I wrote out the following rules for my three oldest girls for the summer and it has been a lot of fun to see them complete them.  In addition, the younger sisters have really benefited from them!  Last year the 7-year old sister actually thanked me for the rules because she really enjoyed all the extra interaction and help from her two big sisters!  My girls are avid readers so I didn't put reading a chapter book for 20 minutes on the list.  However, I did put that they should read 3 picture books on the list because they rarely read those anymore.  Picture books are so succinct that the authors usually use very precise and particular grammar that is often more valuable for them to read than the chapter books that they will choose read for hours.

I thought I would also share two links on the topic that I have really enjoyed lately.  The first is an article Entitled "Twelve Tips for Parenting in the Digital Age" and the second is part of a three-part podcast series (and I highly recommend all three parts!) called "Possessions, Entertainment, and Friends."

Screen Time Rules

20 minutes of screen time only if:

1.Done chore of the day with happy heart and Mama approves

2.Done 20 minutes schoolwork

3.Tablespot clean/ teeth brushed/ hair brushed/ clothes off floor of room

4.Done devotions

5.Read picture books Mama requested for 20 minutes

6.Played outside at least 20 minutes

7.Made/ built/ colored something creative or artistic for at least 20 minutes

8. Played a game or done a puzzle

9. Helped someone in family

10. Read to a younger sibling for at least ten minutes

Lice and Tick Prevention Detangling Spray

Lice seem to be a major problem in the schools this year.  Not only are they everywhere, but they seem to be harder to get rid of than they used to be.  In one of my daughter's classes, there was a major lice problem before Christmas.  I thought for sure the 2-week break would clear things up, but after a week back at school we got another letter saying they were still finding kids with lice!  We happen to have 6 girls in our family with lots of hair so the thought of lice is absolutely horrendous to me!  Thankfully we have avoided it so far and I truly think the detangling spray I make them use a couple times a week has kept the lice at bay.  I actually started using it two summers ago as a tick deterrent and then added the essential oils that deter lice when the girls started school. I didn't really find this recipe anywhere; I just started mixing things that made sense to me together to make it.  I don't ever measure so I will try to guestimate what I do for readers but feel free to tweak it to please your own kids.  My girls do not really like the apple cider vinegar smell but neither do ticks and lice.  The smell vanishes quickly enough and it is great for hair so they have gotten used to it. The rose geranium oil is expensive but we haven't gotten a single tick in our hair the 2 summers we have used it and the summer before that we got them every single time we visited the grandparents or went to the lake.  It lasts a long time and is totally worth the price!

(*Note: I don't want to get into any debates about essential oil brands.  I have used Young Living, Do Terra, Edens Garden, and Plant Therapy all with great success.  I currently primarily buy Plant Therapy mainly because of the affordable price, great extensive Kidsafe line, and because of two day shipping on Amazon, but I love the others as well.)

Ingredients:
small water spray bottle
1/2 tsp moisturizing oil (I usually just use olive oil because it is what I have on hand but almond, jojoba, or any other liquid oil will do)
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
5 drops Rose Geranium oil (for tick prevention)
5 drops tea tree oil
10 drops Plant Therapy "Get 'Em Gone" blend
water filled the rest of the way to the brim of spray bottle

Directions:  Shake well and spray on hair.  I use it on my girls' hair every time they wash it and any other time there are tangles.

Just a few new favorite baby products

Babies really don't need much but it seems that every time I have a new baby I find a few things that help make my life easier.  Here are the ones I've loved this time around:

1. Baby K'tan original Baby carrier - I've always loved babywearing, but with 5 kids, it is an absolute necessity to have my hands free!  I formerly used the moby wrap or just a simple sling for the first 6 months until the baby was old enough to really use my favorite Ergo carrier.  And they were super helpful.  But the sling restricted one of my arms, making it hard to carry out many household chores or hold two different hands while crossing a parking lot. And as much as I loved the moby, it was honestly a pain to deal with all that fabric.  The K'tan solves both of those problems and is easy to put on and comfortable to wear.  I don't know what I would do without it.  The only downside is that I have used it so much out of necessity that my baby is slightly addicted to falling asleep in it!  I bought mine brand new on ebay but for the half the price of Amazon or the nearby stores that carry it.

2.  Arms Reach Co-sleeper -- This thing was a life-saver the first 2 weeks!  We usually just use a pack n play beside our bed but I am always highly anemic after giving birth and I get bruises all over my arms as I reach over and down to pick the baby up all night long.  I love this co-sleeper because the baby is completely safe so I can sleep in peace but she is so much easier to pick up!  We got ours on Craigslist for about  1/4 of the price.

3.  Tiny Love Take Along Mobile -- My last toddler destroyed our mobile and when I went online to search for one for our new baby, I was horrified at how expensive they were!  But this one is awesome because not only is it half the price of most of them, it is portable and can easily go on the carseat or pack n play for trips.  It can clip anywhere!  I also like that it is more simple than  lot of the over-stimulating mobiles available.

Beating the stomach bug quickly (and other natural remedies for an upset stomach)

There are very few things as miserable as the stomach bug.  However, there is a solution for beating it quickly.  Activated charcoal works wonders!  And it is inexpensive!  It is great for both food poisoning and for the dreaded stomach virus.  The last few times my family has gotten a stomach bug, the members of my family willing to take activated charcoal only threw up once, while the rest were sick many times over and over.  It is tasteless and can easily be added to a drink or applesauce.  It turns the beverage or food black, however, so two of my children refuse to take it and then are sick much longer than the rest of us.  The last two times, I have used it as soon as the threat was obvious and I had nothing more than stomach cramps for a bit.  It works!

Activated charcoal is hands-down the best remedy for a stomach bug or food poisoning, but there are other things that can help with tummy trouble as well:

Redmond clay: This works in a similar manner as charcoal, but doesn't look as dreadful when mixed in with applesauce :)  We use it for a simple upset stomach as well.

Papaya Enzymes -- These were my best friend when I was pregnant as it helped tremendously with heartburn and acid reflux!  It aids in digestion and always works to help settle a stomach that might be queasy from eating too much or something too spicy or too fatty.  My husband and children all ask for them if they have an unsettled stomach.

Nux Vomica -- I'm still learning about homeopathy, but this has been quite helpful as well.

Tummy Aid Essentail Oil roll on -- I love Plant Therapy's kidsafe line!  I'm still learning about essential oils so I appreciate thse ready-made roll-ons that I can put on my children's feet and bellies.  They carry the regular oil you can diffuse as well, but I love the roll-ons to put in my purse to whip out as the first whimper of tummy pain.

Tummy Plus Tincture from Trilight Health --- I love all the tinctures from Trilight Health!  They don't taste badly so my kids will take them and they really work.

Supplementing our Classical Conversations curriculum and fitting it into our daily schedule

A friend recently e-mailed and asked about how I implement Classical Conversations into our homeschooling, especially with two little ones distracting us.  She also asked about what materials I use for language and math.  Here is my reply:

Classical Conversations has truly helped me with accountability and feeling like I am making definite progress with the girls. After trying out several math curriculums, I finally settled on Rod and Staff and love it.  It begins very simply with the basic numbers and addition facts with much repetition. We went quickly through the first lessons, but I love that it really drills basic math facts to the point that my girls cannot possibly forget them.  My 5 year old is a little ahead in math and the curriculum begins so simply that I decided to just do the 1st grade level for both of them right now.  I just don't make my 5-year old do as much of the writing as my 6 year old because she grows weary of it.  I'm not sure how long I will be able to teach them at the same level, but I am grateful for it right now because my teaching time is quite limited due to having a baby and 3 year old as well.   The girls also do Explode the Code for phonics review and First Language Lessons.  FLL does not take long so I also do Language Lessons For Little Ones with my 5 year old and Language Lessons for the very Young with my 6 year old by Sandi Queen just because I like it so much.

I'll be honest, some days we get a lot done and some days we don't.  Learning the Classical Conversations info is actually the easiest part because there are songs for each memory work and we just take a break and dance and sing together when we are tired of doing our "proper" schoolwork :)  My 3 year old loves the songs also so I use my trifold board and they take turns picking out the song they want to sing and dance to next.  My baby just crawls all over us on the floor while we do this.

Our typical schedule is quite flexible because my baby is not a great morning napper. We have 4 basic parts of our homeschool day and they occur in any order depending on how the youngest 2 kids are doing: 1. Worksheets 2. Table Teaching (Math and Spelling Lesson) 3. Couch Lessons (Language Lessons, Read-a-Louds, and Reading Lessons) -- sometimes these are broken up into two different time periods... I often get the big girls up early from rest time to do their reading lesson and read-a-louds if we didn't get to finish them earlier. 4. Classical Conversation Review

I usually place all their worksheets (mainly math, map tracing, and Explode the Code) in a clipboard for them by their places at the tabel in the morning. They can choose to do them first thing while waiting for breakfast and for their turn to go potty and get dressed or they can choose to wait and do the worksheets during rest-time. Then, when the baby is napping, we do "table lessons" (math and spelling review). When she is awake, we do Language Lessons, reading lessons, and read-a-louds while snuggled together on the couch or floor and the baby plays around us. Some days it is easy to get it done but on bad teething days the baby is fussing the entire time and I have to wear her in the carrier while I teach.  

My 3 year old is also a wild card. She currently loves to color the Explode the Code worksheets her sisters do, so they pass them to her once completed. She also has a princess magnet set and a felt set that she often does at the table or other puzzles. If she gets bored, I give the big girls a break and do a language lesson with her from the Language Lessons for Little Ones (#1). She loves to do what her sisters do and she listens to the poems and talks about the pictures and tells me her letters. We just do any of the writing part orally.
I also utilize the Charlotte Mason Scripture Memory System with our CC work -- I buy the pre-made memory work cards at the beginning of the year and each night at the diner table the girls answer several questions before being excused from the table. This memory box actually contains a number of different things we are trying to remember: character traits, manners, phonograms, addition flashcards, scriptures, CC work, and catechism questions. I cannot recommend a memory box highly enough. We would not remember last year's work at all were it not for this box. My husband also appreciates hearing the different things we are learning.
We also still utilize the Sonlight read-aloud list and I try to request those books from the library each week.

Resources for music appreciation

I love music and I want my girls to appreciate it as well.  We sing songs all day long and they love music in general, but I don't have time to do much with classical music appreciation.  However, I have found some great CD's that my girls love that are helping them become familiar with classical music.  We mainly listen to them in the car and during rest time.

1.  Alfred's Music for Little Mozarts Cd's:  There are 2 CD's in each case: a music lesson with fun characters and a CD of fun songs.  These are my 3 year old's favorites!  She asks to listen to"Beethoven Bear and Mozart Mouse" almost every day at nap time.  The music lesson explores the very basics of music theory at a child's level and the fun CD contains a lot of the great classics as well as some songs just for fun.

2.  Classical Kids CD's:  These CD's usually take a famous composer and tell his story while incorporating his famous works.  They are very interesting.  We have Mr.  Bach Comes To Call and Classical Kids Christmas and are hoping to get more.

3.  Beethoven's Wig Sing-Along Symphonies:  These CD's are hilarious (although occasionally annoying) and my girls love them.  They take a famous classical piece and add silly lyrics that usually contain something close to the composer's name and title to help children's remember them.  My girls find them incredibly funny but my husband finds them a good bit annoying.

Teaching my girls to read...

A lot of parents cringe at the thought of homeschooling because the thought of teaching their child to read is daunting.  I've found the opposite to be quite true... it is one of the most exciting and thrilling things I've ever done!  It is such a joy to finally see all those sounds click in my preschooler's mind and see the light come on.  The excitement is so contagious!  I've learned a lot and used many resources in teaching my first 2 children to read so I thought I would share the books that helped my girls the most.

1. The Reading Lesson Book:
Ordinary Parent's Guide To Teaching Reading -- this book makes it easy.  It teaches all the rules as the child needs to know them.  I will admit that it wasn't my girls' favorite initially (because reading is hard work at first and the font is small) but they grew to like it.  It calmed my worries because I was afraid that I would forget to teach something important.

and/or

Alphaphonics -- this book has bigger letters so my girls usually like it more initially.  It takes a while to get through the first page, but after that, reading has begun!  We usually start with this book for a while, but then it gets monotonous so we switch to Ordinary Parents.  Once reading has begun, I usually do one reading "lesson" and have them read one "real" book to me each day as well.

Note: These simple reading lesson books are sufficient for teaching reading in most cases, but if you really desire a step-by-step hands-on program, the All About Reading program is phenomenal.  I haven't used it with my girls, but have reviewed it and have friends that highly recommend it and it is the best reading program I have seen.

2.  The first "real" books we love:
Bob books -- these are fabulous little books that the child can read as soon as he starts blending sounds.

Dick and Jane books -- these might seem "old school" but they are seriously the best books for sight words.  I have never ever drilled my girls in sight words because they pick them up easily when reading the Dick and Jane books. They also start out super easy and get progressively harder which is great.  My girls love the silly stories as well.

Dr.  Seuss Beginner Books -- we love them!

3.  Once those are mastered:

You Read To Me; I'll Read To You books -- My girls beg to read these with me!

Ready, Set, Read! by Cole -- A great collection of simple children's literature

4. Now ready for anything!
The 20th Century Children's Book Treasury by Schulman -- My 6 year old is currently reading through one story a day from this book with me.  Her vocabulary is really expanding while reading great children's literature!

Another great resource:
Explode the Code:  These inexpensive workbooks are fantastic for phonics practice.  My second child actually read for the first time the day she begged to do Explode the Code like her big sister.  We still had more work to do before everything clicked, but she began sounding out words immediately!  I will say that with my girls, their brains were ready to read long before their fingers were ready for a lot of writing, so I didn't ask them to write out a lot of the words in ETC until much later.  They did all the circling exercises and x-ing out and we just did the writing part out-loud instead of on paper.  I did not want to slow down the reading process because writing was still difficult for them.

One School Year Down and Ready for Another....

As we approach the beginning of a new school year, I decided to evaluate last year and see what I learned... here are my thoughts:

The bottom line? I absolutely LOVE homeschooling!  I am passionate about education and get ever so excited about not only what my girls are learning, but also what I am learning in the process!  I love having my girls home all day with me and although we've had our share of unproductive or down-right bad days, I wouldn't change it for anything!

My absolute favorite part about homeschooling?  Without a doubt it is spending hours of our week snuggling on the couch reading my all time favorite childhood books to my girls.   That is definitely my favorite part of our day!

My downfall?  Curriculum.  I'm a nerd.  I love books.  I love it all.  I want to do it all.  I want to buy each book I see.  I always plan waaaaay to much.  You remember my "great plan" for the beginning of the year?  Yeah, I pretty much only followed for a few days.  It was too structured for a baby with a changing schedule (who didn't want to follow "my" schedule :).  And it didn't leave enough time to take advantage of those "teachable moments" or to really dig in deep to our favorite read-alouds.  I was also going to do a "Letter of the Week" theme for Karlie but soon found out that she had learned all of her letters and sounds already from Karis and was pointless.  So I just did phonograms with both of them instead.

The best advice given to me?  A sweet friend named Jessica who has 3 precious stair-step children (even closer in age than mine!) told me not to try to start it all at once.  To start one thing, build it into a routine, and do it well for a week or two or even a month before adding something else.  Then work on doing those two things til we were set in the habit and ready to add something else.  Very simple, but priceless advice.  It worked.  My girls thrived on doing the one bit of schoolwork I had them do every morning and then got ever so excited each time I finally added another piece to our routine.  We ended up with only 3 real schoolwork periods: a short 10 minute breakfast memory board, a longer reading time on the couch, and a half hour table work time in the afternoon.  "Preschool" really doesn't take long. (If you want to see how our schedule ended up, you can clickHERE to see a longer version of this post on my family blog.)

Favorite Curriculum/ Books we used:
For Teaching Karis to Read:
The Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading -- the girls loved the initial alphabet rhymes but the reading part was not super exciting.  Still, it has a great simple phonics and grammatical progression and is exactly what Karis needs.  I am more than happy with it.
Alphaphonics -- I take turns with this and the above to give Karis some variety and to help with fluency.  She likes that the letters are larger.
Bob books: She reads me one story each school day and they get progressively more difficult.  It has been great to use them as we go through our phonogram cards because she sees how the phonograms help her figure out words.  I just get these from the library.
The Writing Road to Reading and phonogram cards  --  The book is great and I am certain I will utilize its techniques next year since Karis is actually writing more now.  The phonogram cards are key -- there are only about 70 key phonograms in the English language and once a child can recognize them, she can figure out how to read almost any word.  They have REALLY helped Karis take off with her reading.  We memorize several a week and say them each morning as we do our "breakfast memory board."
Explode the Code Workbooks -- she absolutely LOVES her workbook and I am thrilled with the effortless way it teaches her to read and practice her handwriting as well.  This is probably her favorite "reading resource"

Chapter "Read-Alouds":  Our favorite part of the day is curling up on the couch with a good book!  I absolutely LOVE Sonlight's reading list for preschool and kindergarten.  We did not buy the curriculum, but instead I just got most of the books from the library.  There are a few great collections that I purchased from Amazon, but most of them are at our library.  I also requested books from the library from THIS classical book list.  

For this year:  We plan to do Classical Conversations for our science and history foundation and I will add read-a-louds and activites to supplement as I have time.  (Probably not too many the 1st year as I get used to the program.)  I plan to continue with our current phonics materials and Sonlight read-a-louds and add Saxon math to our schedule as well.  And I think that should do it!  I am very excited about the upcoming school year!

Great Parenting tips and a plug for a marriage get-a-way

Since we are focusing on moms this month, I thought I would share some great parenting tips from a Mom who recently taught me a lot.  But before I do, I just have to put in a plug for Family Life's Weekend to Remember Marriage Getaways.  Mark and I just attended one last weekend, and it was amazing for us.  We didn't have any major problems in our marriage, but just knew we were exhausted and needed to get away and focus on each other and connect.   I was looking for something fun for us to do in Charlotte (I have to now admit that we chose Charlotte simply because it had the closest IKEA and I'd been wanting to go there for years :) and found the marriage get-a-way and thought it would be a great way to get us to focus on each other.  I mentioned it to Mark and he laughed in my face.  Sitting through a conference was definitely not what he wanted to do on our get-a-way!  So I dropped it.  I told him he could plan whatever he wanted for us.  And two weeks later he brought it up again and said we could do the marriage conference as long as we didn't have to go to every single session.  Ha!  We almost dropped the idea again because of the price, but Family Life people are super nice and will give scholarships based simply on "what you and your husband have decided you can afford." 

Mark and I looked at the schedule and decided which sessions we would attend... some of the sessions sounded very redundant to information we had learned in Seminary so we decided to skip many of them.  We actually only made it to 4 out of 10 sessions but those 4 sessions were indeed invaluable to us.  I'm talking, life-changing, "I feel like we are courting again" type of impact!  (In retrospect, we probably would have learned much in the other sessions as well, but the 4 we attended gave us more than enough to process and work on.)  I expected to get a lot from the conference (being the relationship-oriented, emotional woman that I am), but I was amazed at how much it changed my husband as well.  He didn't even want to go to the conference originally, but has said many times since how glad he was that he went and how he wishes others that we know could go to one as well.

Sorry this has gotten to be such a long plug, but I felt like I really needed to share because it helped us so much.  Since this is a blog specifically for exhausted moms of little ones, I am certain that we are not the only ones who unknowingly settled into "companionship" mode without even realizing it.  We love our kids and the life that we enjoy with them and we truly get along great so we did not even realize that our marriage had become complacent.  Weekend To Remember is a wonderful tool to get the communication flowing in all areas of marriage and God greatly used it to recharge ours!

The wife and mother who spoke at the conference did one session on parenting and she told her top ten tips for kids.  I knew many of them already, but the session was a good reminder and listening to her tips helped me to think about what areas of parenting I need to work on.   It also helped me think more about the future of my kids and our goal in parenting. (I tend to get so caught up in the here and now of the little years that I often forget that we are doing such training so they can be independent but wise and godly teenagers.)  I hope these tips will be helpful to you as well:

1.  Set limits -- kids need limits and they find security in them. 

2.  "We play to an audience on one."  This one was a particularly good reminder for me because I parent very differently than a lot of people I know and I need to stop worrying about what others are thinking about my parenting style.  What matters is that I am in prayer and doing what God has called me to do.  I raise my children for Him, not anyone else.

3.  My job is not to be my child's best friend!  She went on to say that friendship does come later and right now she is enjoying a sweet, sweet friendship with her teenage and college-age kids.  But the little years are for training and instructing in righteousness and much discipline. 

4.  Because of all the boundaries and discipline that come with #3, try to say yes to as many things as you can so that when you do say no, it really means something.

5.  Give them the Biblical reasons behind the rules and limitations -- we do not just want good behavior, but to help them make good decisions in the future!

6.  When you take something away, give them something better -- she gave the example of beach week in the South, where kids always go to the beach and party like crazy for a week after school lets out.  They never let their kids attend beach week, but instead used that week to plan amazing family vacations.

7.  Stay calm and loving in discipline -- you don't want them to think you are disciplining simply because you are mad, but because you love them and are obeying God in training them in righteous living.

8.  The less you react in the moment, the more your kids will come to you with their moments.  If a child comes home and tells you something incredibly shocking that happened in school, if you get all upset and immediately call the principal, the child will probably not choose to confide in you the next time something disturbing happens. 

9.  Focus on unconditional love -- when you discipline, tell them that you are disappointed, that they sinned, but that it does not change your love for them.

10.  Pray that they would get caught!  You will not be with them every moment and will not catch every sin, so pray that they will get caught before their sin grows so they can deal with it and learn from it.  (Sidenote:  my own mother did this and told us that she did and God definitely answered her prayer -- my brother and I never got away with anything!  :)

Some Current Favorites

Today I am going to share some of the things that are our favorites this week at our house. This is a completely random list of what we have been enjoying this particular week and I hope you will share some of your favorites in the comments!

Music most often requested: Questions With Answers -- we have recently started doing Doorpost's children's catechism again with the girls before bed and they love the Songs for Saplings Cd's that answer most of the same questions. I actually prefer the wording of the CD's (although I really like the catechism as well) because it is simpler and often contains the scripture that goes along with the question. We recently got the 2nd volume on itunes and the girls ask to hear it all day long. The songs are quite mellow with just a guitar and the girls love that children sing the answers to the questions. It has also opened up some really good conversation with Karis as she asks questions about the theology described in the song.

(We also absolutely love Seeds Family Worship and Sovereign Grace Children's Cd's)

Favorite read-a-louds -- Betsy-Tacy, A Bear Called Paddington, and One Morning in Maine

Favorite Kid's Series -- Ladybug Girl Books -- While these are not the classic books I usually request at the library, my girls absolutely love them and I love the fact that they spark their little imaginations and they run around the house all day pretending to be Lulu or Marley :)

Favorite Book on CD (for naptime): Little Women (Karis) and Blueberries for Sal (Karlie)

Chicken Lazone -- my current favorite, super easy, fast, and absolutely delicious recipe. We eat it over quinoa.

Farmer's breakfast Hash -- My husband's current favorite breakfast... super filling and delicious!

Homemade cereal -- what my 3 year old wants to eat at every meal :)

Like-Lara Bars: My favorite snack!

My favorite book -- Loving the Little Years: Motherhood in the Trenches -- I know we've mentioned it on here before, but I just got around to reading it this month and I keep reading it over and over again because it is that good and easy to read. It is such as easy read that I read it all in one evening and then decided that I wanted to actually remember all her ideas and continue to be encouraged and convicted so I then read one chapter a night before I went to bed each evening. I love the fact that she is still in the middle of mothering little ones and experiencing the exhaustion and sometimes overwhelmingness of our task. I feel like she is reading my thoughts and encouraging me and convicting me at the same time. This will be my "go-to gift" for mothers of multiple children!

Watching old home video clips with the girls -- my husband recently found some old cd's we made from when we got our dog and our first beach trip with our two littles and when Karlie was born. We showed several of them to the girls and they just had the best time watching them! I think we are going to have to start having an old family movie night once a month because it just makes them smile so much to see what they looked like so little and how much we loved them and enjoyed playing with them :)

This Melissa and Doug Play House Reusable Sticker Pad -- Nina brought this the last time she came and the girls ask to play it all day long!

Our nightly routine

A friend recently asked about our nightly routine with the girls and I thought I'd share it here: after getting on pajamas, we sing songs together. We started doing it because we wanted to teach the girls hymns, but it has kind of evolved into somewhat of a dance session for the girls to get out all of their energy My toddler usually spins around in circles and my 4 year old tries to be a ballerina. We take turns picking a song and they can choose any song they want, from Hymns to silly preschool songs. Then we do our memory work. We are currently working through a Questions and Answers book that is a kid's catechism. Then we do Scripture memory. We were doing large chunks of scripture, but we decided to take a break and do a cute ABC scripture booklet I found on Pinterest. Then we calm down by reading a Bible Story together. The absolute best Bible I have found for little ones is the Big Picture Story Bible. Last, we pray together and give silly kisses. My husband picks a different animal or character each night and they give that kind of kiss to everyone.

Now, when I write it out like this, it sounds like we do a ton, but we actually keep it very short and simple. We don't spend a long time on any of it. Probably the most time is spent on the singing because that is what the girls enjoy the most. We kind of play it by ear and see how tired they are and what is keeping their attention each night to determine how long we work on the questions or bible verses. The main thing is to have a routine that they enjoy and look forward to each night and they will learn from it. My suggestion would be to simply start singing a song or two and reading a short chapter from the Big Picture Story Book. Then as she gets used to looking forward to a routine, you can slowly bring in the memorization as a super special and fun addition. But she's still pretty young. I think I didn't even think to try memorizing much with mine til she was about 2.5 years.

Where I get my natural resources

A friend recently asked where I get most of my natural resources, and I thought I would share my answers here in case others are wondering as well. Most of my "natural" remedies, I buy in bulk with friends so that they are cheaper and most of them I get at wholesale prices because I know someone who sells them (about 40% off)... they can be pretty pricey otherwise. All of them I order online

The coconut oil I use for so many things and buy in huge gallon buckets from Wilderness Family Naturals, but you probably wouldn't use that much For medicinal purposes, you will want to get the extra virgin, unrefined, cold-pressed kind. The oregano oil, other essential oils, elderberries, good quality spices, empty pill capsules, and herbal teas I buy from Starwest Botanicals. The Grapefruitseed extract, manuka honey, and probiotics I get from vitacost.com, which is a great place to buy anything natural. I love that they have a flat $5 shipping fee! I buy coconut water from Amazon whenever it is on sale for no more than a dollar a can. I get fermented cod liver oil from Renewed Health.

If you are just getting started and don't want to spend a lot of money, I'd say the easiest thing to do would be get the oregano oil and empty pill capsules from Starwest, and garlic and unpasturized apple cider vinegar (I get Bragg's brand) from the grocery store. If I feel sickness coming, I pop garlic pills and oregano pills 3 times a day and try to drink ACV diluted in water all day long. Those three work really well in fighting off almost anything. If you want to keep from getting sick, I'd say to invest in the cod liver oil and probiotics. I really think that is why my girls have stayed healthy all winter long while my husband keeps getting sick (They take them every day; he doesn't

Let me know if you have anymore questions!

Some favorite resources

Since people often ask me about my favorite parenting books or where to find info on natural solutions, etc, I thought I'd compile a list of my favorites. This list is nowhere near completed; I'll be adding to it as I find more resources! I've put stars by my absolute favorites in each category :)

Favorite Biblical Parenting/ Mothering Books and websites:
Prayer of Hannah blog
**Don't Make Me Count to Three: A Mom's Look at Heart-Oriented Discipline by Plowman**
Shepherding a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp
Raising Godly Tomatoes by Krueger
Parenting in the Pew: Guiding Your Children Into The Joy of Worship by Castleman
The Heart of Anger: Practical Help for the Prevention and Cure of Anger in Children by Priolo
The Mission of Motherhood: Touching Your Child's Heart For Eternity by Sally Clarkson
A Mother's Heart: A look at Values, Vision, and Character for the Christian Mother by Fleming
The Shaping of a Christian Family by Elizabeth Elliot
For Instruction in Righteousness: A Topical Reference Guide for Biblical Child Training by Forster
Teach Them Diligently: How to Use the Scriptures in Child Training by Priolo
GirlTalk blog

Favorite kids' Bibles/ resources for biblical study and scripture memory:
**The Big Picture Story Bible by Hunt -- perfect for 2 years and up!
**The Jesus Storybook Bible -- great for preschoolers and up!
Rhyme Bible Storybook -- very simple and fun because the girls love to guess the rhyming words.
My ABC Bible Verses: Hiding God's Word in Little Hearts by Hunt
Doorpost's Catechism Set for Young Children
My 1st Book of Memory Verses byMacKenzie
Truth and Grace Memory Books

Godly Music for Kids:
Sovereign Grace Kids Music
Seeds Family Worship
Songs for Saplings -- I absolutely LOVE her catechism songs!
Hide Em in your Heart by Steve Green

Favorite Biblical Training Resources/websites
Doorposts.com, especially the If/Then ChartTitus2.com
Wise Words For Moms
We Choose Virtues

Favorite books on being a godly wife:
**Feminine Appeal by Mahaney**
Heaven at Home: Establishing and Enjoying a Peaceful Home by Plowman
Sacred Marriage by Thomas

Other educational resources:

Curriculums:
Sonlight -- I absolutely love their reading lists!
ABC Jesus Loves Me (a free online Preschool Bible Curriculum)
My Father's World
Classical Conversations -- what we are using for a homeschool foundation

For toddlers and early preschoolers:
Melisa and Doug Products, especially puzzles like Upper and Lowercase Alphabetand USA Floor puzzle
My First Steps to Math books and My First Steps to Reading books by Moncure
Tactile Sandpaper Numbers and Letters
Bob books, especially Alphabet and Pre-Reading skills for under age 4

For Preschoolers and Kindergarteners:
The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading by Wise
The Writing Road to Reading by Spalding
Alphaphonics
Developing the Early Learner
Explode the Code
Language Lessons for the Little Ones


Good Reading Lists to help choose books for your kids:
Websites:
Early Years Read-alouds -- Simply Charlotte Mason
Classical Christian EducationSupport Loop: 1000 Good Books List 
The Consortium for Classical Lutheran Education booklist
Five in a Row booklist
Our Library's book list

Books:
The Read-Aloud Handbook: 6th edition by Jim Trelease
Honey For a Child's Heart by Gladys Hunt

Meg's Favorite Resources for Different Stages:

Favorite Preschool Resources

Favorites For Toddlers

Favorite 6-12 month products

Favorite Baby Products

Favorite Books about Healthy Living/ Nutrition:
Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon
Eat Fat, Lose Fat by Mary Enig
**Real Food: What to Eat and Why by Nina Planck **
Real Food for Mother and Baby: The Fertility Diet, Eating for Two, and Baby's First Foods
Food Rules by Michael Pollen
In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Pollen

Favorite resources/ websites on natural/ healthy living:
**Natural Living 101 at Passionate Homemaking **
Mommypotamus
Weston A Price Foundation
Nourishing Days
Cleeseslave
Food Renegade
Naturally Knocked Up 
Sue Gregg cookbooks

Money-Saving Books/Websites:
Dealnews.com
**Dave Ramsey, especially The Total Money Make-over **
Clark Smart Parents, Clark Smart Kids: Teaching Kids of Every Age the Value of Money by Clark Howard
Clark Howard.com
SavingNaturally.com
MoneySavingMom
Freebies4Mom
Deal Seeking Mom