hmmmmm a success business-wise this week? That's a hard one. I try hard to get everything done and out the door including items to the shop.
This week I would have to say that getting stock to the shop this week is my success. That may sound simple to most people but for me it's huge.
It means that, 10 car seat covers, 5 outfits with tutu, onesie and bows to match and other odds and ends that I get finished or that the shop needs.
What do you consider a success this week?
About 6 weeks ago I started a program called Thrive it is by a company called Level. I have seen a few of my friends use but I was still on the fence.
At the vendor show, I met a woman who has been using the products since before you could buy them in Canada. She gave me a free trial. She said I likely wouldn't notice a difference for about a month or so because I wanted the product for energy not for reducing appetite.
Turns out a few days in and I started to notice I was having an easier time getting out of bed in the morning, even on the days when the kids had a rough night before. I decided I would buy a month and go from there.
I ordered and am now onto my second order.
For me they have made a huge difference in the energy levels unless of course, the weather has caused me to have a migraine then I am pretty much SOL.
It's a three-step program starting with a vitamin capsule that you take with 200ML of water before you do anything else. I take it when I get to the kitchen usually within 5mins of me opening my eyes. Some people take it before they even step out of bed. Each daily package comes with 2 capsules, you can take both at the same time, you start out with one and move up to two or you can stick with one. Whatever works best for you. For me, one is where I am at.
Step 2 is the pre/probiotic shake. I have tried chocolate, vanilla, strawberry and apple pie. Apple pie is my favourite. Let me start by saying I have what is called a spastic bowel, this means that I can feel food digest, bowel movements can be extremely painful for the intestines. Sometimes I can go a week without getting the urge to go. Since about 2 weeks in I haven't missed a day of having a bowel movement. This is big for me as my whole life I have had these issues. You mix the shake with water or milk. I use water. I also add a bit of ice because they taste horrible warm. You can do half the package mix or the whole package. You can start with half and move up to using the full package. I use half a package and that is what works for me.
Step three is my favourite part because it uses "mom science" I am sure a real scientist came up with it before a mom did but it's what moms say. You absorb most of your nutrients through your skin. They are vitamin "stickers" that you place on your skin. They come in lots of colours and designs. Don't place it in the same spot twice. It allows your body to take in vitamins all day long and not just while it is being absorbed through your digestive tract.
I will add the videos that I do every morning showing the products use. I don't sell the product but if you want the information of the amazing lady who does I would be more than happy to give it to you!
It truly has made a world of difference for me and for my life!
With each new week, we cover a topic the kids choose. We are also covering a new life skill each week.
Tennis wasn't an easy topic to get anything for when it comes to little kids. So I made do with what I could find.
Week 1: C's choice Tennis. Life Skill: Helping Set the table
Day 1: Workbooks, Tennis video, book, Tennis worksheet, game, reading, sight words, writing book.
Day 2: Work Sheets, Tennis video, book, Tennis craft, game, reading, sight words, learning application.
Day 3: Workbooks, Tennis video, tennis worksheet, book, game, reading, sight words, writing book.
Day 4: Worksheets, Tennis video, book, game, reading, sight words, learning application.
Day 5: Workbooks, Tennis video, book, game, reading, sight words, writing book.
We use a few learning applications and they alternate between them. Homer, Khan Kids, adventure academy, and ABC mouse.
The packs of worksheets I use come from different sources, Pinterest, google, teachers, pay teachers, Canadian Curriculum books that are subject-based.
The past month I have been using my willpower and pretty much just the fact that it has now become routine to get my workout and yoga in every day.
What my workout looks like:
Each week I 5 more reps to each exercise. I use upbeat playlists to keep my pace moving.
10 normal squats
10 pile squats
10 narrow squats
10 sumo squats
10 squat to knee up
10 per side alternating hip dips
10 in and outs
10 sit-ups
10 reverse crunches
10 per side Russian twists
Yoga! I use a different playlist each day and a different mantra depending on what I need at that moment. My yoga movements are harder to explain than my workout so I am just going to say use an easy one from Pinterest and take it slow.
Plus I get in 10,000 or more steps a day and do two walks with the kids and dogs!
Music makes me move, feel, think, cry.
My music tastes are very unique and I use mainly Spotify for listening. I have a different playlist for pretty much everything. One of the "catch-all" playlists is called Liked Songs. I have 1011 songs on this playlist.
This is it on random play: Top 10
Where are U now by Skrillex: I dont even know why this song is on here other than it has a good beat unless of course you have a migraine and then at that point, it would be just hell.
Tomboy by Miranda Lambert: this is a newer song I have added to my playlist. I like almost everything by her. I have a child or two who are "tomboys". I grew up building, playing climbing with the best of the boys, I have never worn make-up or dresses.
Hell by Squirrel Nut Zippers: What was I thinking when I added this to my playlist? It has a neat beat.
Criminal Minded by boogie down productions: What is this? Who is this? How did they get on my list?
GDFR by flo rida: I like the beat of this song but that's about it.
Honey, I'm Good by Andy Grammer: apparently, Spotify is not feeling my mood today lol. This is one song I do like and so do the kids.
Yeah Boy by Kelsea Bellerini: I like a lot of her songs.
Problem by Ariana Grande: Does anyone not like her music? I love the beat, it makes me want to move and sing.
Chainsaw by the band perry: I like them and their music.
Even flow by Peral Jam: yup they are on the list too. Who doesn't know this song and love it?
Ya, I wasn't kidding when I said my playlist has a little bit of everything, although I am not sure how some of those songs got on the list. So strange!
Every 6 months I sit down and I make a homeschool plan with the best of intentions. Towards the end of the 6 months, it is me not putting as much effort into what I had planned and the kids bored with the plan.
Once again it is September and once again I have a plan. Yes, I am doomed to repeat this process for the next 15 years and I am just fine with that. With each new week, we cover a topic the kids choose. We are also covering a new life skill each week.
Week 1: H's choice Reindeer. Life Skill: Washing dishes
Day 1: Workbooks, reindeer video, book, reindeer song, game, reading, sight words, writing book.
Day 2: Work Sheets, reindeer video, book, game, reading, sight words, learning application.
Day 3: Workbooks, reindeer video, reindeer craft, book, game, reading, sight words, writing book.
Day 4: Worksheets, reindeer video, book, game, reading, sight words, learning application.
Day 5: Workbooks, reindeer video, reindeer body parts, book, game, reading, sight words, writing book.
The book we are reading a page from each day can be found here.
Games we play vary between letter sound bingo, math bingo, puzzles etc.
The writing book I use for them can be found here.
We use a few learning applications and they alternate between them. Homer, Khan Kids, adventure academy, and ABC mouse.
The packs of worksheets I use come from different sources, Pinterest, google, teachers, pay teachers, Canadian Curriculum books that are subject-based.
I wasn't planning on doing a lot of business posts on the blog because I don't use it for business, however, some of the things I want to post on my business page are way too long for just a Facebook post.
Over here I am trying to think of it as just more content to post have on my blog.
Every business has important tools that use on pretty much a daily basis, mine is no different.
I can't say I have a favourite tool but I do have one that has made my life easier and added so much to our business. It is our sublimation printer. This allows us to put images directly on shirts, mugs, keychains, shot glasses, hats, and SOOOOOO much more.
There is one downside to doing this. It has to be HIGH poly count for fabric items and have a special coating for hard surfaces such as mugs.
A tool that no one mentions but is a great help to our business is Facebook ads. I purchase these a few times a year and they have created a lot of business for us.
There are a million other tools that I
use daily such as my phone, my laptop, special software, the mug press
(I love that thing), a cutting machine, scissors, and so many more that
it is excessive to add them all. OH can't forget the TV it keeps me
company while working long hours!
Business or not do you have any tools that you love?
We homeschool all year round which means that September means not much around here.
For me, it means I start planning homeschool trips and activities for the kids with the other homeschool parents. Last year Covid put a huge damper on any trips that we were going to take. This year Covid is still putting a damper on things for a few reasons.
1) Limiting the number of people we can have on each trip which means less of a discount for those who are attending. Some we had to even do as individual families because many of the families were too large to even group with another family.
2) With the vaccine passport up in the air we are not even sure when the trip time comes around that those who are signed up to go can go because if they are not vaccinated and they put the passport into place then they can't come most are paid for ahead of time.
What that means for this year is that we are taking things slow when planning trips.
With Sept 7 comes the "Not Back To School Homeschool Picnic"
This year I was shocked the number of parents and children has tripled compared to 2019. It was amazing! My kids even made new friends and I made a new friend too lol.
We have a couple of trips planned and are working on planning more but slowly. I will like always, post about our trips.
I like to think in my head that all my plans are going to work out for homeschooling and we are going to learn all the things but not always is that the case because well, kids. If it wasn't for them the homeschool plans would go off without a hitch LOL!
Like all homeschool moms, I have in my head these plans and ideas but not always are they what the kids want and what they want to learn and do comes first because after all, it is their schooling, not mine.
I wish you all an amazing school year be it in the classroom, virtual or fully homeschool! I am excited about what this year is going to bring.
I want to cry at this moment. I had this post almost finished when I hit a button and it was all gone and I couldn't undo it. SIGH
WorkSpace, they say you should share a photo of your workspace. I don't know who "They" are but I am guessing they didn't have 3 dogs, 4 kids, homeschool and run a business all at the same time from their home. OR they have this amazing room where everything for their business just fits and is (A girl can dream).
My "workspace" is organized and neat and tidy about 4 times a year. the rest of the time it's pretty much tidy chaos.
I am going to show my real workspace, not the "I just cleaned and want to make it look like all nice for a photo opt" no I am going to show you reality.
Let's start with the main floor. I work in a few different spots on the main floor.
The living room! This is where some of the magic happens. My sewing area is my machine along the wall on this awesome old-school sewing table that I found at goodwill. I sit on the arm of the couch with the TV playing either kid learning shows or one of my shows that I don't have to hear to follow (mindless background noise). Here I sew tutus, dresses, car seat covers, repairs, placemats, flags, masks and so much more.
The floor! Here I cut fabric. I also lean against the couch to pin or put together tutus. I tape mugs and shirts here as well. Bows, headbands and so much more get done while I sit on the floor with the TV playing a show that I need to hear to follow.
The dining room. In this
room, I blog, answer clients, make my lists, design all the sublimation items, drink my tea and listen to
Alexa who is in the kitchen. It looks stained? that is because this where I also refill the ink for the sublimation printer because the light is better in this room than in the rec room. (seated homeschool also takes place here) No there isn't food in that happy meal box, one the children is using it to keep stuff in.
Outside,
this is by far my favourite place to be in the spring, summer and early
fall. When the pool is up I can't do anything that will be ruined by
getting wet. Here I sit, pin, cut, crochet etc. I even have a table to
the side so that I can sew outside. (This is also where I paint)
The laundry room (which I do not have a picture of) This room houses supplies for both the business and of course the house.
The picture below is my dream for the laundry room!
Would
I love a well-organized space where everything has a place and is
labelled? It's my dream! but I work with what I have and one day I will
have a perfect space. Until then I work in the chaos that is spotless
and organized 4 times a year.
Would you rather see the "photo opt" workspace or the reality?
I stuck with the January Challenge! I got to my 200 squats a day and am super excited about it.
Then February happened. I did nothing but my yoga in February. I started to feel stuck. Lockdown and winter in Canada beyond sucks!!
I decided that just because I sucked at life in February didn't mean that I couldn't start new for March.
I decided to find a challenge that did the squats plus a new exercise to add to it.
How I do my workouts:
Morning Yoga (on one of the kids 15 min breaks) I listen to a Spotify playlist for meditation when doing yoga to help with the flow. The kids know they are allowed to join me as long as they are quiet while we do it.
Now that the weather is at least bearable we are doing a morning walk. Takes about 20 minutes.
In the afternoon if it is warm enough for me (I am a cold sissy) I head outside to do my daily challenge I do this while the kids are doing their 15 minutes outside after their afternoon snack.
I do not do rest days. So on the calendar in this photo when it says rest day I either do the day before again or the next day.
I found this one on Pinterest and I am super excited about it.
If I happen to miss a day for whatever reason I will break it up to catch up so I will do yesterday's challenge in the morning and then the day I am on in the afternoon so it's not all at once.
How did you do with the January Challenge?
Did you do one in February?
Did you know no one sees the same rainbow? How about that it's round? I sure didn't!
H picked the topic of rainbows this week. I enjoy when it is her turn to pick what we learn about because I always end up learning something new.
How our days went for Rainbow week
8 am breakfast, get dressed, hair put their dirty laundry downstairs.
8:30 am Now that it is milder in the mornings we have gone back to walking in the mornings. One of the mornings we did a rainbow walk and the kids loved it so much that once we finished the sheet they started it all over again!
9 am either workbooks or worksheets. I alternate each day so the kids don't get bored with doing the same thing every day.
15-minute break. On this 15 min break, I get everything ready for the next activity, put laundry in, hand wash the dishes that need to be washed, empty and reload the dishwasher.
930am Journals and a letter sheet. (These are great for H learning her letters and the other children to keep working on letter sounds.)
15-minute break outside. I empty the dishwasher, answer clients and make their snacks.
10:00 am Snack While they eat their morning snack this month we are reading about one women in history from the book 101 Women in History
We talk about how things were, how things still are for many women in the world and how far we still have to go.
10:30 am Rainbow activity or video (If its a video then fold and put away laundry while they are watching a video.)
11:00 am They have free time to do whatever they would like (this amount of time depends on how long things took us.)
In this "free time" I work on client orders and make lunch
12:00 pm LUNCH
12:30 pm reading. They each get to read their book with me and do the sight word cards as well as the sight word wall. (The books and the sight word changes every three days)
1:00 pm "Online learning" They each get a turn using the learning app on my phone called Khan Kids. They each have a profile and play what I consider one round. One round is playing until they get a prize.
1:30 PM They have until snack to free play. I sweep, clean up and work on client orders.
2:00 pm snack. I start dinner at this point.
15minutes outside.
Then they have until dinner to free play.
4:30 pm Dinner
5:30 pm walk dogs
6:30 pm start baths. When I start baths I get out the painting I have been working on and work on it while each child gets to play in the tub for 10mins.
7:15 pm snack, stories, teeth and bed.
At about 8:45 pm everyone is asleep, which means I get to work on client orders, cleaning, folding laundry and getting everything ready for the next day's schooling.
Here are links to the videos and activities that we did.
Activities
This one is fun and edible!
We didn't frame them but we made these
Colour page
Videos
I love this guys videos!
This one wasn't great for kids but I liked it.
This isn't a video about how rainbows are formed because you can only watch the same information so may times but it is a book read on video about rainbows.
Women's History month videos we watched
About a week or so ago I had another small business owner message me. Her business is similar to mine but different at the same time.
From the day my partner and I started this business we supported everyone who gives it a shot because we know how hard it is to do be a small business owner.
We are headed into year 8 of our business and we are doing okay, the pandemic has hit us hard not so much on orders and whatnot, but because we can't physically work at the same location or do our vendor shows.
We do not consider any business similar to ours or otherwise competition. We also really don't pay attention to who is doing what in our area what that means is that Cindy Lou could be doing shirts and we wouldn't have a clue. There are a few businesses that we know like Once Upon A Tutu, not because we consider them competition but because they do great work and we have chatted with her a few times. Do I know her name? NOPE.
Now back on topic. This woman messaged me starting out asking questions about if a store our products are in was closing. I explained that no one said anything to me and I just dropped off some products. This turned into them speaking unkindly of the store. I do not speak unkindly about any business because I know how it feels being a small business owner, not even when a client comes and complains about another business messing something up. I always reply with "I am sorry such and such happened to you, let's see how we can make it better".
A company putting down or bad-mouthing another company is not only in bad taste but also highly unprofessional.
Once we got through her "thoughts and feelings" about one of the shops we are in, she set into myself and our business.
For the first time in my life, I was called cutthroat because as a company I will only slowly raise our prices each year, and not raise them to where other companies in this area have them.
I also feel that I wouldn't want to pay $20.00 for a shirt so why would I charge that amount?
I stopped responding and moved on with my day.
We help build up other businesses and when we can't do something or we know for a fact that another business is doing it at that time we send people to the businesses that are doing it.
For example, there is one local business doing those picture frames with the song scan code. Can we do them? yes, 100% we can, are we doing them this valentines day? no. I sent them the name and business page link to that potential client.
I came across this quote the day after being called cutthroat. I have no idea who said it, but I do know that it is very true. As women in general and especially as women business owners we have enough crap thrown at us daily we don't need to sling mud at each other as well. The world IS big enough for all of us to be successful.
Hi all!
Monthly contests will be back, as well as freebie give-aways and we downsize our current in-house stock!
Did you know as of the end of Sept we will have been in business for 7 years! That is 7 amazing years of serving our community.
Along the way, we have had our ups and downs and bumps in the road but after 7 years we are still here, still backing our products and still striving to be better at all that we do.
Our families have grown, covid has gotten in the way of us working in person as a team but each step along the way has been worth it.
Do you know why we started this company? Do you know how it came about? How about what our business name means?
We started this company and working together after we both realized that we were pretty much doing the same thing as each other and could do it better as a team.
Our business name is the first initial of our children who were born a couple of months apart and were with us every day through the journey of first starting out.
Over the years our products have changed, the things we do, how we do and way the we do it have all changed. Trial and error were huge for us.
We have some of our products in a local store and are always looking for vendor events and other places to have our products.
When we first started we hand cut everything including all of our vinyl letters. Man those were NOT the days. Today we have a machine that cuts for us, two industrial heat presses, and we even do sublimation (the process of bonding the image right to fabric!).
Our children grew right alongside us and we grew as well.
We look forward to celebrating our 7 years with 7 giveaways in Sept. We also look forward to serving you and our community for the next 7 plus years!
Don't forget we donate to EVERYTHING so if your group needs items for an auction please feel free to PM.
M&B Creative Creations
Today I was going to write about a hard topic, today I have started and erased this post about 15 times before deciding that my goal today isn't to cover hard stuff, it's not to cover what I am dealing with because I can't even write the words on paper.
So instead I am going to write about my weekly workout and yoga routine this week.
It's a topic I love and can get the words out without crying or struggling with them.
Today is day 18 of my new program.
I started Thrive by Level 18 days ago, well actually I started it a bit longer than that because I did a 6-day trial and then had a break while I waited for my products to arrive.
I don't sell the product, nor am I pushing it. I do my daily videos to make myself accountable to show how the products work for me.
I am not using it for weight loss I am using it for energy.
Each morning I drag my butt out of bed somewhere between 7 am and 8 am depending on how the night before went with the kids and my pain level.
I get up, head to the kitchen to take my vitamin capsule. They are these purple and white things that are awesome. I set up my camera on top of a box in the kitchen and do my video. There are two in each pack, I only take one because that is what my body can handle. You can take one or both, you can start with one and when you are ready move up to two.
I suck at videos but I am learning.
After I do my video I feed the kids and get them going on their morning routine. Then I have a shower.
After my shower, I do step two which is a pre and probiotic powder. you mix it with water or milk. I use water. I only make half a package because my body can't handle the full package and I can never drink even the whole half of a shake. I am used to drinking just water or black green tea so for me to drink something with flavour is hard.
I video both steps two and three at the same time.
Step three is this cool vitamin patch. This is probably my favourite part. You put this right on your skin and the best part for me is that I do not have any reaction to it at all. No skin peeling off no burning NOTHING!!!!
This is super exciting. I can't use band-aids or even paper tape because my latex allergy is so severe it causes these reactions (adhesive contains latex).
The patches use the same science that we moms have known since the dawn of time. Our bodies absorb more nutrients through our skin than any other way.
They don't stick very well to me at first so I have to clean the area by rubbing alcohol on it before I put them on. You don't put them in the same spot two days in a row. There are many different places you can put them, however for me I find my biceps is what works best.
After 10 days I started to notice as long as I didn't have a migraine then I didn't need an afternoon lay down. I started to notice that I had morning energy in the mornings so much so that I am annoying to the others in the house lol. It has also been easier to stick to my workout plan and get all my steps in!
If I could afford it I would pay for every mom I know to try it even if it's just one month.
So that covers the new product I am using, I will post a couple of videos I have been doing along with it. If you decide you want to try the product I can give you the information of the amazing lady who sells the product (No it's not me )
I haven't blogged in a long time. Things haven't been great on my end. I also lost my mojo for a while.
I had to blog about this though because One; it is way too long to be just a Facebook post. Two because if it ever happens to another mom out there I don't want them to feel alone or like they are the worst parent in the world because I am feeling like that at the moment.
Today started as a pretty normal day. C: after being in meltdown mode for almost a full week was "okay" and the rest of the crew was fine.
However, for H it will turn out to be one to remember.
Let me start by saying H: is a daredevil if it "looks" climbable she will climb it. The girl has no fear.
On our normal morning walk, she wipes out because she was running with her shoes on the wrong feet and hurt her hand. It did bleed a little.
Today was our homeschool Splash pad/park play date. Mom finally gets to talk to an adult day. Everything was going well other than a few bumps in the road which can happen when you have a lot of different children all with different personalities.
At the end of the get-together, we are getting ready to go, only my lifesaver, myself and our littles. Suddenly hers and mine start yelling from the top of the equipment. Sarah makes it to the top before me. I am at the bottom of the slide. Staring up in disbelief and I figure Sarah has it. Nope H: has her leg stuck in the playset. She says to me "You have to come help".
My only thought as I climb the ladder is "I don't have any butter". I get up there and try to get her leg out it's a no-go she keeps screaming every time I try and get it out. I say to Sarah, no this isn't working, I am calling for a fire truck (This is my first time calling 911). I call I get a recording that says please don't hang up. Then I get a lady who says fire, ambulance or police. I say my child's leg is stuck in the playset I need a fire truck. The lady on the phone says okay I will send you over to the ambulance.....Ummmm that's not what I said. I am in a panic. I say to Sarah they are sending me to the ambulance. She says no we need a fire truck we need a saw.
I tell the ambulance lady I need a fire truck my child's leg is stuck in the play equipment. She asks for the address, I say I am at the town's only park and splash pad. She says well what is the address I said I don't know and she asks well does someone there know? Well, it's just me and Sarah and neither of us knows. Sarah says the same thing I did The only park and splash pad in this town of fewer than 1,000 people.
Sarah using her calm thinking brain sends her oldest to soak a towel and get her leg out while I am trying to figure out the stupid address for this park. Let the lady on the phone know and we end the call.
H: has been screaming and crying the whole time. Once she is free she stops crying and walks just fine....like nothing even happened.
I say to Sarah well things to remember to keep in the SUV for homeschool events.......a saw.
Can you say fluke accident?
Maybe for a week or so, H will not be such a daredevil. We can hope but I doubt it.
If you are out there and your child does, you are not alone. Once it was all said and done I realized I should have just used the sunscreen to get her out!!!
Yes, I had to google game quotes to get a title for this blog post because I have never played this game in my life.
We don't own it so the kids have never played it but they have watched gameplay videos from their favourite YouTubers.
How our days went for Fornite week
8 am breakfast, get dressed, hair put their dirty laundry downstairs.
9 am either workbooks or worksheets. I alternate each day so the kids don't get bored with doing the same thing every day.
15-minute break. On this 15 min break, I get everything ready for the next activity, put laundry in, hand wash the dishes that need to be washed.
930am Journals and a letter sheet. (These are great for H learning her letters and the other children to keep working on letter sounds.)
15-minute break outside. I empty the dishwasher, answer clients and make a snack.
10:30 am Snack
10:45 am Fortnite activity or video I fold and put away laundry if they are watching a video.
11:00 am They have free time to do whatever they would like (this amount of time depends on how long things took us.)
In this "free time" I work on client orders and make lunch
12:00 pm LUNCH
12:30 pm reading. They each get to read their book with me and do the sight word cards as well as the sight word board. (The books and the sight word changes every three days)
1:00 pm "Online learning" They each get a turn using the learning app on my phone called Khan Kids. They each have a profile and play what I consider one round. One round is playing until they get a prize.
1:30 PM They have until snack to free play. I sweep, clean up and work on client orders.
2:00 pm snack. I start dinner at this point.
15minutes outside.
Then they have until dinner to free play.
4:30 pm Dinner
5:30 pm walk dogs
6:30 pm start baths. When I start baths I get out the painting I have been working on and work on it while each child gets to play in the tub for 10mins.
7:15 pm snack, stories, teeth and bed.
At about 8:45 pm everyone is asleep, which means I get to work on client orders, cleaning, folding laundry and getting everything ready for the next day's schooling.
Here are links to the videos and activities that we did.
Videos:
Activities
I loved these as a kid and still do as an adult. Mystery pictures!
Colouring page
Now I printed this from google and you couldn't read the writing but it worked for what we needed it for and the kids had fun making their own video game and telling me about it.
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| https://quotefancy.com/quote/1046031/Danielle-Steel-Motherhood-is-not-for-the-faint-hearted-Frogs-skinned-knees-and-the |
Or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.
Unicorns and mermaids were a walk in the park compared to;
Halo! Yes, the video game. Blaine loves it (no he doesn't play online).
I figured since there are many educational activities around other video games likes pokemon and fornite that it would be easy to find things. Not so much!
How our days went for Halo week
8 am breakfast, get dressed, hair put their dirty laundry downstairs.
9 am either workbooks or worksheets. I alternate each day so the kids don't get bored with doing the same thing every day.
15-minute break. On this 15 min break, I get everything ready for the next activity, put laundry in, hand wash the dishes that need to be washed.
930am Journals and a letter sheet. (These are great for H learning her letters and the other children to keep working on letter sounds.)
15-minute break outside. I empty the dishwasher, answer clients and make snack.
10:30 am Snack
10:45 am Halo activity or video I fold and put away laundry while they are watching a video.
11:00 am They have free time to do whatever they would like (this amount of time depends on how long things took us.)
In this "free time" I work on client orders and make lunch
12:00 pm LUNCH
12:30 pm reading. They each get to read their book with me and do the sight word cards as well as the sight word board. (The books and the sight word changes every three days)
1:00 pm "Online learning" They each get a turn using the learning app on my phone called Khan Kids. They each have a profile and play what I consider one round. One round is playing until they get a prize.
1:30 PM They have until snack to free play. I sweep, clean up and work on client orders.
2:00 pm snack. I start dinner at this point.
15minutes outside.
Then they have until dinner to free play.
4:30 pm Dinner
5:30 pm walk dogs
6:30 pm start baths. When I start baths I get out the painting I have been working on and work on it while each child gets to play in the tub for 10mins.
7:15 pm snack, stories, teeth and bed.
At about 8:45 pm everyone is asleep, which means I get to work on client orders, cleaning, folding laundry and getting everything ready for the next day's schooling.
Here are links to the videos and activities that we did.
Colouring page
Videos we watched:
Video 1
Video 2
I "borrowed" this image from here. Because I am the horrible mom that forgot to take pictures of their Halo activities that week. OOPS
This challenge I wanted to start in Jan, but with it being halfway through the month when I decided what personal challenge I wanted actually to it wasn't a good idea to start it then. With February as a short month it doesn't give much time to get all the savings in I would like to.
That makes March a great time to start it!
The image for this one is a bit confusing as it says days at the top but weeks in the column. I will be doing it as a 30-day daily challenge.
I set up a second account attached to my normal bank account that I can transfer the money into. That way I can't touch it on a day to day basis.
Yes, I know it is horrible that I can't just leave money in my account and not touch it. I can if I know it is for something like bills or other important things but I tend to spend way too much on the kids when it is just sitting there.
I know some days I will not be able to afford to put that amount into the second account because we don't have it especially around mortgage and insurance time of the month. They come out at the same time and it leaves very little wiggle room for anything but the basics.
Even when that happens I can still move a few dollars into the second account so, please don't feel like these numbers are etched in stone. Change the amount you put away or the dates when you put it away. Do whatever works best for you and your family!
What am I saving for? I am saving to pay off the debt that we have been working on paying off. I am saving for investments. I am saving so I don't have to worry as much when something happens that is out of our control such as a broken car or house.
What would you be saving for?
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A magical underwater sea creature that is not only beautiful but with the voice of an angel. Do you know what it is? If you guessed Manatee you would be right. I had no idea that the myth of these creatures all started with men at sea spotting manatees sunbathing on rocks.
I mean we all have our taste in partners but it was an oh boy moment for sure when I heard that on the video about the myth of mermaids that I watched with the children.
We did a few videos and activities including felt board songs for this week. Have I mentioned my love for making felt board activities for the kids? No that wasn't said in a sarcastic tone, I do!
How our days went with the mermaid unit.
8 am breakfast, get dressed, hair put their dirty laundry downstairs.
9 am either workbooks or worksheets. I alternate each day so the kids don't get bored with doing the same thing every day.
15-minute break. On this 15 min break, I get everything ready for the next activity, put laundry in, hand wash the dishes that need to be washed.
930am Journals and a letter book. (This is the last week for letter books and we will be moving onto letter sheets. These are good for H to learn her letters and the rest to practice the letter sounds)
15-minute break outside. I empty the dishwasher and answer clients.
10:30 am Snack
10:45 am Mermaid activity or video I fold and put away laundry while they are watching a video.
11:00 am They have free time to do whatever they would like (this amount of time depends on how long things took us.)
In this "free time" I work on client orders and make lunch
12:00 pm LUNCH
12:30 pm reading. They each get to read their book with me and do the sight word cards as well as the sight word board. (The books and the sight word changes every three days)
1:00 pm "Online learning" They each get a turn using the learning app on my phone called Khan Kids. They each have a profile and play what I consider one round. One round is playing until they get a prize.
1:30 PM They have until snack to free play. I sweep, clean up and work on client orders.
2:00 pm snack. I start dinner at this point.
15minutes outside.
Then they have until dinner to free play.
4:30 pm Dinner
5:30 pm walk dogs
This week we are slowly transiting them to a slightly later bedtime (about 30 minutes) to help when the time charge starts.
6:30 pm start baths. When I start baths I get out the painting I have been working on and work on it while each child gets to play in the tub for 10mins.
7:15 pm snack, stories, teeth and bed.
At about 8:45 pm everyone is asleep, which means I get to work on client orders, cleaning, folding laundry and getting everything ready for the next day's schooling.
Here are links to the videos and activities that we did.
Build a mermaid
Mermaid colouring sheets
Mermaid felt board designs
Songs used for the Mermaid felt board:
I changed the words to be Mermaid instead of Fish
I changed the animals in the song to match the ones I cut out
Videos:
Video 1
Video 2
Video 3
Do you feed your child's curiosity?
We are a larger family than most nowadays and a little unconventional. There are 3 adults and 4 children under 8. Recipes online are not normally built for us which means either doubling or tripling the recipe to make it work for us.
This beef stew is the best I have ever made, it fed everyone plus lunch the next day.
The big buns come in a giant bag from the Superstore.
What you need:
Onion 1/2
Stewing beef (about 1lbs) cut the beef into smaller pieces
Celery 6 stalks
Carrots 6 full length
Potatoes 6 med to large
Beef Stew seasoning from clubhouse (No joke this is my secret ingredient)
Flour (1/4 cup)
Salt and Peper
1 cup of water
What to do:
Step 1) Cut your stewing beef into small pieces
Step 2) Put beef, flour, salt and pepper into a bowl and coat well
Step 3) move stewing beef to frying pan and brown
While the beef is browning and stirring occasionally
Step 4) Peel and cut the carrots into bite-size chunks
Step 5) Peel and cut potatoes into bite-size chunks
Step 6) Cut celery into bite-size chunks
Step 7) Dice onions you can do more or less here I do as little as possible to get it past the kids.
Step 8) Put beef, onions, carrots, celery and potatoes into your crockpot
Step 9) Mix the water and seasoning package.
Step 10) Pour over ingredients in the crockpot.
Step 11) Cover and cook on low 8 hours or high for 4 hours.
Enjoy!!!
Now I am not kidding when I say this is by far the best stew I have ever made. I am pretty sure it's because of the seasoning package. I happened upon it when by package gravy one day and decided to give it a try.
1/4 kids liked it (1/4 kids will eat anything the other 3 don't "like" much)
3/3 adults loved it
I love when I learn something new like the world's smallest car fits one person is only about 8ft long and assembled by hand.
Week 5 was picked by H and she picked cars. This unit was one that I learned things from as well.
Most of the videos we watched were by How It's Made. I love their videos and the kids seem to enjoy them as well. Also, they are short so for littles, one short attention spans they are perfect.
We build cars from paper plates which were great for scissor skills.
How our days went with the car unit.
8 am breakfast, get dressed, hair put the dirty laundry downstairs.
9 am either workbooks or worksheets. I alternate each day so the kids don't get bored with doing the same thing every day.
15-minute break. On this 15 min break, I get everything ready for the next activity, put laundry in, hand wash the dishes that need to be washed.
930am Journals and a letter book. (We started the letter books to help H learn her letters)
15-minute break outside. I empty the dishwasher and answer clients.
10:30 am Snack
10:45 am Car activity or video I fold and put away laundry while they are watching a video.
11:00 am They have free time to do whatever they would like (this amount of time depends on how long things took us.
In this "free time" I work on client orders and make lunch
12:00 pm LUNCH
12:30 pm reading. They each get to read their book with me and do the sight word cards as well as the sight word board. (The books and the sight word changes every three days)
1:00 pm "Online learning" They each get a turn in the learning app on my phone called Khan Kids. They each have a profile and play what I consider one round. One round is playing until they get a prize.
1:30 PM They have until snack to free play. I sweep, clean up and work on client orders.
2:00 pm snack. I start dinner at this point.
15minutes outside.
Then they have until dinner to free play.
4:30 pm Dinner
5:30 pm walk dogs
6:00 pm start baths. When I start baths I get out the painting I have been working on and work on it while each child gets to play in the tub for 10mins.
7:00 pm snack, stories, teeth and bed.
At about 8:30 pm everyone is asleep, which means I get to work on client orders, cleaning, folding laundry and getting everything ready for the next day's schooling.
Here are links to the videos and activities that we did.
Plate Car
We did ours slightly different as you will see in the photo below
Video 1
Video 2
Video 3
How do you building learning around your children's interests?
Falling in LOVE with Alfie Kohn wasn't something I planned. From the moment I picked up one of his books 3 years ago, one of his books is something I am always reading and loving his quotes.
Long before I ever heard of Alfie or had children of my own, I believed that children should be treated the same way we want to be treated. They should be given choices, etc. I always believed in natural consequences as I will say not watching your footing will cause you to fall, or if you climb that and fall it will hurt for when they climb things they shouldn't.
Children have thoughts and feelings too and are entitled to them.
What Alfie has taught me over the years is that I might have had the right idea and known in my heart that parenting the old ways wasn't okay and wasn't something I wanted to. I went out on a path of my own without knowing exactly that I was doing that at all.
He has also taught me over the years ways I need to improve my thinking and how to help navigate a path that I or anyone I know had gone down.
This quote is one of my favourites. I have always said you can not hit a child to teach them not to hit. Children behave how we show them, so we teach by example. You can't tell a child to shut up, or call them names and then get mad when they do the same thing.
Yes even as a parent you can be a hypocrite and it is just as bad if you are one to a child as if you are being a hypocrite to an adult.
