Move It or Lose It

If you know me well, you know that I have the tendency to stress out and worry about a lot of things. You want to know what the current worry is? MOVING!!! I have moved before-several times, in fact. But never across the WHOLE ENTIRE COUNTRY! Its not quite a coast to coast move, but pretty dang close. When we were first married we moved across town several times. Back then I would just put all my dishes in a laundry basket and drive really carefully to my new house. No kidding. Then when we moved to Portland, Derek's company packed us and moved our stuff here. It really spoiled me. Now I'm getting ready to move in a few weeks and I want your help! No, you don't have to load my dresser on a moving truck. I just need your tips and advice. I know lots of you have moved many, many times. What do you know that I don't know? Besides the obvious (boxes and tape) what do I need to get? Anything that makes the process any easier or more efficient? Oh, and I'm fully aware that there is a good chance I'm worrying over nothing. Its not rocket science right? You put stuff in boxes and put it on a truck. But just in case. I have to ask.

Friday's Faves-Great Books

For today's favorite I thought "books" would be a great topic. I love books-self help, fiction, non-fiction. You name it. I don't know if this is my favorite book, necessarily, but it is a great book. "Catch a Fish, Throw a Ball, Fly a Kite: 21 Timeless Skills Every Child Should Know (and any parent can teach!)" by Jeffrey Lee.
I think the long title pretty much explains what the book is about.
If you are interested you can buy it used on Amazon for 1 cent (plus shipping)!
So what is your favorite book that is in your shelf? It can be any kind of book just one that you love. Please share! I don't want to miss out on the great reads out there.

Just Go to Sleep Already!

No, this post is not about my children, its about my computer.
Anybody out there that is computer savvy know why my computer refuses to go on standby or hibernate? I have windows XP and I go to "power options" on the control panel and pick the "energy star" option. It is supposed to go on standby after 20 minutes and hibernate after 1 hour. "Enable Hibernation" is clicked and I have enough disk space. Even when I go to the start button, click "turn of computer" and click "standby" it does not work. It goes to standby for about 1 second before it just comes back on again. I hate listening to it running all day and I hate knowing I'm wasting all that power. Any ideas?

Can't find a cute one? Make Your Own!

A lot of people have asked me how to build custom backgrounds on blogs. Now, I would type all the directions here but my friend Jessica has already done it on her super cute blog! Check out the link to the post on her blog.
http://jessicabills.blogspot.com/2008/09/how-to-make-cute-background.html
You do have to have some kind of photo editing software (like Photoshop Elements-Costco has a $30 off coupon right now for Elements 7.0) and a web album (like Photobucket or Picasa Web Albums). And you might want to check out my post here for a huge list of places you can go to download the different elements you might need to make your blog super cute too. Have fun!

Tired of Titanic?

Anyone sick of their old movies, video games, books, and CD's? Instead of giving them away or trying to sell them for next to nothing-trade them! My friend told me about the site Swaptree that will help you out with this. I already tried it with some Wii games and it worked splendidly. What you do is sign up for an account and then you start making two lists; things you want and things you have. Then Swaptree will search all the other user's lists and see if they can find a trade for you. They will email you if they find a trade and you can decide to accept or reject the trade. If you accept it, you just mail the item to the address they give you and wait for your item to arrive!

Hummingbird Feeders

From Jennifer:

"We love having a hummingbird feeder hanging in front of our windows. We didn't even know there were hummingbirds in Texas until one flew right into my husbands office window, and died! We've bought numerous feeders since (they don't seem to last long,) and I've noticed they don't print a recipe with the feeders anymore, so I thought I'd share one we use. It's easy!

4 parts water (4 cups)
1 part sugar (1 cup)
2 drops red food coloring
dissolve the sugar in 2 cups hot water, add 2 cups cold water, let cool, add food coloring and pour into feeder.

We see them everyday now! Happy Bird Watching!"

Head Lice, Dead Lice

Here's a tip I just got from Jennifer that I'm praying I never have to use! Thanks Jennifer!

"WARNING, This will leave your scratching your head.

I hate to admit it, but recently we had some unwelcomed visitors, hair visitors. My oldest came to me and told me her head itched, so I check and saw nothing. We’ve had lice once before and I knew where to look, behind the ears, the top of the head, and the nap of the neck. Two days later I found them. Yes them, there was a whole city in there, AT THE FRONT of her hair.

It was one hour before church and my husband ran to Wal-Mart to get some shampoo and I took the other two to church. When I got home, he was nitpicking (way to go honey). He had to go to a meeting so I took over and 8 hours, yes a full 8 hours later I finished. Her hair is to BLOOMIN’ thick. Thankfully no one else had it, but that didn’t stop me from bagging up all the pillows, blankets, stuffed animals, etc in the house for a few months (usually a few weeks is fine, but I had to make sure).

I could tell the shampoo wasn’t going to cut it as I was pulling live ones out that I swear were hatching as I pulled. The last time we got it I found a book in the Salt Lake County Library system (best library system EVER) called "Head Lice, Dead Lice" it is a fascinating book about lice. It suggested a olive oil treatment that can also be done to get rid of lice since the shampoo’s often don’t work alone. Well, I couldn’t find the book but I did find this similar (if not the same) olive oil schedule online. http://www.mindspring.com/~options3@mindspring.com/lice.pdf
It is messy so I used old sheets and towels. I washed everyone’s linen EVERYDAY. My washer ran non stop for 1 week. I nit-picked every day. After three days, I never saw anything again but followed the olive oil treatments until the end. Because I did the shampoo too, I only did olive oil on days 2, 3, , 17, 21 with days 1 and 9 lice shampoo.
It’s one of those things you really don’t care to learn about UNTIL IT HAPPENS TO YOU. It may be a LITTLE bit overboard, but it's worked for me twice so why cut corners? Since school just got out, you may want to check."

Digital Scrapbooking Link List

As it turns out, I don't have to compile an ultimate digi-scrap link list because...
Becky already did it!!! I knew when I started this blog that if we could all put our heads together we would know everything. I'm starting to think I'm right! Thanks so much Becky!

Digital Scrapbooking Sites

http://www.shabbyprincess.com/ http://www.jessicasprague.com http://enchantedstudioscraps.com/

http://www.freedigitalscrapbooking.com/

http://www.cgessentials.com/

http://www.designerdigitals.com/

http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/

http://www.scrapbook-bytes.com/

http://www.scrapartist.com/

http://www.simplycleandigiscraps.com/

http://www.digitalfreebies.com/

http://peppermintcreative.com/

http://www.scrappindigikreations.com/

http://www.digiscrapdepot.com/

http://digifree.blogspot.com/

http://ikeagoddess.blogspot.com/

http://jilljackscraps.blogspot.com/

http://www.mydigitaladdiction.com/

http://jencaputo.typepad.com/

http://www.digitalscrapbookingfreebies.com

http://valarieostromdesigns.blogspot.com/

http://twopeasinabucket.com

http://shutterfly.typepad.com/digiscrap/

http://www.scrappysketches.blogspot.com/

http://www.thedigichick.com/

http://www.atomiccupcake.com/

http://cottagearts.net/tutorials.html

http://scrapwithnatali.blogspot.com/

http://www.scrapgirls.com/

http://www.the-lilypad.com/

http://www.scrapoutsidethebox.com

http://www.digishoptalk.com/

http://www.oscraps.com/

http://scrapmatters.com

http://sunshinestudioscraps.com

http://www.sweetshoppedesigns.com

http://www.pickleberrypop.com/

http://www.digitalscrapgarden.com

http://www.pixelgypsydesigns.com

http://www.scraporchard.com

http://www.nitwitcollections.com

http://www.digitalscrapbookpreviews.com

http://www.somethingbluestudios.com/

http://www.tkwhimsy.com/

http://www.lara-payton.blogspot.com/

http://www.blushbutter.com/topsites/

http://www.scrapbook.com/index.htm

http://www.digiscrapsource.com/

http://www.scrapbookingtop50.com.au/digitaltopsites/

http://pifphoto.com/

Fonts:

http://www.1001fonts.com/index.html

http://www.dafont.com/

http://www.abstractfonts.com/

http://www.1001freefonts.com/

http://www.kevinandamanda.com/scrapbook/fonts/freescrapbookfonts/

http://scrapvillage.com/fonts.htm

http://www.acidfonts.com/index.html

http://www.fontdiner.com/main.html

http://www.fontgarden.com/

http://www.fontologie.com/free.html

Quotes

http://www.annabelle.net/

http://www.brainyquotes.com/

http://www.inspirationpeak.com/

http://www.terimartin.com/

Ultimate Digi-Scrap Link List

I would like to make a comprehensive link list for great Digital Scrapbooking websites and blogs. If you know of some that you love can you post them in a comment? It will make the hunt for cute kits and fantastic freebies so much easier. Thanks!

Bye-Bye Boredom

My sister is full of so many great ideas. She just emailed this to me because it was too long for a comment in my previous post about activities for children. She typed it up when her son was a toddler. Thanks Abbie!

Things Ethan Likes to Do

Go to the Library

Playgroup/Playdate

Go to the Park

Rice, Bowls, Spoons

Tool Set

Build a Fort

Play in Car

Read

Give Him a Ride

Listen to Music or Sing Songs

Blow Bubbles

Find Something New in Cupboards

Jump on Couch Cushions

Make a Rattle

Ring Around the Rosie

Color

Side Walk Chalk

Make collage

Paint

Play dough

Toys For Toddlers

Toys that help build small-motor skills: nesting and stacking toys, simple wooden jigsaw puzzles, shape-sorters, blocks, boxes and containers for filling and emptying, activity boards and pop-up toys with dials, knobs and buttons to manipulate.

Toys that help build large motor skills: balls of all sizes, pull toys, push toys, riding toys, climbing toys, swings, slides, balance beams.

Toys that stimulate imagination: stuffed animals, dolls and doll furniture, cars, trucks, and airplanes, board books, kitchen equipment and gadgets, play household items, dress-up clothes and accessories, building blocks and building systems.

Toys that stimulate creativity: crayons and paper, clay, paints with brushes and sponges, finger painting, string painting, vegetable printing, rubber stamping, rubbings, chalk, markers, collages (fabric, macaroni, beans, seeds, beads and buttons, magazine pictures, nature items glued to cardboard), melted crayons for candles, stickers, bottled, paper mache, play dough, bubbles, string beads, make bird feeder/bird baths, sand art, lava bottle (equal parts oil and colored water), make puppets.

Toys that encourage musical play: drums, tambourines, horns, keyboards, etc.

Toys that encourage learning about the grown-up world: dolls (along with carriages, cradles, strollers, etc), cooking paraphernalia, pint-size household and garden tools, vehicles, tools, costumes, cash registers, doctors bag, dancers tutu, hats from firefighters or police officer, etc.

Toys that encourage discovery and interest in the physical world—that teach about how things work, about cause and effect, about numbers, shapes, patterns: dump trucks, blocks and building systems, nesting toys and shape sorters, sandbox and sandbox toys, non-breakable mirrors, water play toys (floating, squirting, and filling and pouring).

Scientific Activities for Toddlers

Show static electricity with a balloon on a wall, grow something, let toddler roam with a magnet to see what it will and won’t attract, talk about the weather (leave a glass outside to collect water and measure it), measuring (height of your child, etc.), use a magnifying glass to study objects, collect leaves, flowers and take them apart studying them, order objects from largest to smallest, press flowers, paint rocks, tour the house or outside concentrating on touch, smell, or sound.

Energy Outlets for Toddlers

Indoors

• Punching a pillow
• Drumming on pots
• Pounding or hammering toys
• Pounding clay
• Dancing to lively music
• Kiddie aerobics (toe touches, jumping jacks, and head-shoulder-knee-and-toe-touches)
• Pillow fights
• Bean-bag tossing
• Tumbling
• Jumping

Outdoors

• Free play: running, jumping, climbing
• Playground play: swings, slide, jungle gym
• Ball kicking and throwing
• Rolling on an oversized ball
• Riding a bike
• Pulling a wagon
• Swimming
• Splashing in puddles
• Pulling weeds in the garden

Relaxation Techniques for Toddlers

• Hugging, cuddling or massage
• Soft music
• Low-key videos
• Warm bath
• Puzzles
• Drawing with crayons or chalk
• Clay play
• Baking or cooking
• Simple parent-child meditation

Friday's Faves-Kids Rainy Day Activities

OK-Some of you have really nice weather by now but a lot of us are still getting rain now and then. By this point in the year it seems like we've exhausted all of our indoors kids activities. So I thought maybe if everyone posted their favorite indoors activity, there would be a list of things to try and we can make it through the drizzly days.
My favorite thing away from home has to be going to the library. I take my kids to the library pretty much every week. Its free and most libraries have story times that are fun to attend. Plus by getting new books every week it really encourages them to enjoy reading. For those of you that live around me here is the link to the libraries website if you want story time info.
Beaverton Library
What are you favorite things to do with kids indoors? Home or away? Help us last until summer!

Baggy Eyes

From Julie:
"I have problems with lines/wrinkles around and dark circles under my eyes. Anyone have a product they've found effective to help with this that won't break the bank?"

I have this problem too. I have even been asked before how I managed to get black eyes on both my eyes. Yikes! I am also interested to see if anyone knows of anything that helps.

Worms in the Basement?

My sister just started composting at her house and it sounds really interesting to me. She got two types of compost bins to try them out. Here are some photos.
The first is placed outside and the sun speeds the composting process. The second is inside and red worms help turn the old food into compost. Sadly, I don't have a yard but when I get one (someday!) I will for sure try this out. For more info you can check out this website that my brother-in-law made about composting.
http://www.red-worm-composting.com/


Does anyone else out there compost already? What type of bins do you have? Any extra tips for us? Anyone have composting questions?

Friday's Faves-Kitchen Gadgets

For today's favorites I think we should do kitchen gadgets. Who doesn't love kitchen gadgets?
Here's my current favorite. My sister sent this to me and I use nearly every day. Its an apple peeler/slicer/corer. It about 5 seconds you go from whole apple to this peeled apple spring. Then I just slice once for apple slices. I can imagine this is also super handy for making apple pie, making dehydrated apples, or for canning apples. I have even used it with potatoes to make mashed potatoes in no time. Just throw the potato spring and core in the water and you can crank out tons of potatoes in minutes.
If you are wondering...
...You can get it at Target for $20.
So that's my favorite kitchen gadget right now, what's yours?

Pick 'em Yourself

Its berry picking season! This is a big deal here in the northwest, as a ton of berries are grown here and U-Pick farms are very popular. If you love berries you should find a U-Pick near you and gather the freshest produce there is! The prices are usually great compared to purchasing berries at the grocery store. You can eat them fresh, make jams and jellies, pies, or just freeze them for later. I think most children really love to go pick berries too. It also helps them understand where the food they are eating comes from. If you don't know if there are any U-Picks by you I found this great website that has listings by state. (It also has pumpkin patch listings for Halloween time and U-Cut Christmas trees farms.) Its
www.pickyourown.org
Just click on Start Here to Find a Farm Near You, pick your state and your region, and then scroll down to see the listings. You will find some information about each farm and the contact info. In many cases, the farm has a website you can check out.
Its always a good idea to call and make sure certain berries are in season and they are open to the public before you pack up and drive there. (Especially if you have to drive a while to get there.)
Hope you have the chance to get out and get berries if you like that kind of thing! Happy Picking!