If You've Got The Time...

Time is something I just don't have these days.
It's amazing how quickly the most wide-open, unscheduled days fill up and are gone like a vapor.
And in those moments, the ones that seem to slip away, the important often gets pushed aside and the inane gets accomplished.
Why is that?
Our business for this season is winding down. Just one more month of school for CJ. Just one more week of bible study leadership meetings and lessons. Just a couple of months until Hub's schedule winds down and we get to hang out again.
But... then come the weddings...baby showers... play dates... vacations... and the time that once seemed open and vast is quickly crammed full of "stuff" (good and bad) and I find the kids and I desperate for our daily nap/rest time.
'Tis the season, I guess.

So I'm asking YOU, seasoned veterans...

How do you do it?!

How do you cope with the constant tired of lots of little people and the general busyness of life?
How do you decide what stays and what goes?
How does your ideal week look?

Scrubbing Hard to Reach Places

I can only assume that at one point in time or another you have been faced with an oddly shaped bottle as I often am. Homemade yogurt and kefir have fat/cream in them and that means that lots of goodies stick to the sides of my jars.
Until now I have been shoving steel wool down into the jars and with the very tips of my fingers done the best that I could. I often pulled the not so perfectly clean jars out of the dishwasher, looked over the film left inside, shrugged, and put it away in the cabinet figuring there wasn't much I can do.

BUT NOW...
thanks to a handful of rice, some water, and some amazing biceps...

 

 

 Problem solved!

It's Earth Day Weekend

Don't forget... Earth day is Sunday.
Need some ideas?

 10 Earth Day Activites with Kids at East Cost Mommy

Celebrating Earth Day with Kids by SheKnows Parents

10 Earth Day Ideas for Children by Crafting a Green World

or this idea, Pista Shells Mosiac by Putti Prapancha

9 Hands on Ways to be Earth Friendly by Hands On: As We Grow

Have a WONDERFUL Weekend!!

Waffle Iron Cinnamon Rolls

I am in no uncertain terms claiming that these are healthy, just that they are quick and dee-licious!

{P.S. I've read that you can do this with cookie dough too! I'll keep you posted.}

What You'll Need:
refrigerated cinnamon roll dough
waffle iron

 

What To Do:
Plug in waffle iron. Once heated, place individual rolls around the iron. Close. Wait until light brown all around. Frost... or don't. Let cool... or don't. Enjoy! 

Liquid Glue Ideas

I stumbled upon this post just the other day and thought it totally share-worthy!
It's a bunch of fun things to do with school glue like goop, batiking, and sun catchers... 

Hope you enjoy!
I found this at Having Fun at Home

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Sensory Bins for Spring

Ever heard of a sensory bin?
I first heard of them a few months ago but couldn't quite figure out the purpose...
The main purpose is for hands on learning. There's lots to see, touch, and even hear.
This post from Purpose Driven Home offers several more great reasons but, to be honest, my favorite thing about them is that they're a great way to keep the kids busy during tough times of the day (like when I'm cooking dinner) other than TV.  

For the bug bin I used a bin I already had with short sides so the kids can reach in. I bought a 10 lb bag of black beans for the local international food store and raided the Target dollar section for all the buggy goodness.

For Easter, I grabbed some things from the Dollar Tree and Target. The kids liked filling the eggs with the little bunnies and hiding them around the house.

One last perk... I love that I now have a great excuse to buy some of the cute stuff in the dollar section at Target that I always liked but had no purpose for. Yay!

Homemade Sidewalk Paint

The weather was unseasonably warm for a few weeks last month.
I sent the kids outside as much as I could manage for their daily doses of vitamin D and a good base tan.
After a couple of days they began wandering around the yard looking lost so I gave this idea, which I saw on Pinterest, of course, a shot.

This kept the munchkins busy for hours and, thanks to some rainfall, it required no cleaning!
SCORE!

What You'll Need:
1/4 c cornstarch (I used arrowroot)
1/4 c water
food coloring
paint brushes

What To Do:
Mix cornstarch and water, divide into different bowls or pockets in a muffin tin, add a couple drops of food coloring. Paint away!

 

Cinnamon Popcorn

I overheard a friend talking about this amazing popcorn recipe with sugar, cinnamon, and popcorn baked for a delicious snack.
When I got home I checked it out and...

OH MY! She was right!!

It's so butter, melt-in-your-mouthy, delicious!
... and if you're not a big cinnamon fan, like me, don't be deceived, this isn't overly spiced.
What You'll Need:

1/3 c. butter
1/4 c. sugar
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
10 c. popcorn (air popper recommended) can substitute 2 packages microwave, natural flavor popped popcorn

 

What To Do:
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In a small saucepan, combine butter, sugar, cinnamon and salt, and cook over low heat until mixture forms sugar water. Continue cooking for 3 minutes, and before mixture starts to boil stop cooking, remove from heat. Do not make into candy.

In large bowl, pour cinnamon mixture over popped popcorn, and toss well to evenly coat. Use brown grocery bag for tossing.

 

 

Place popcorn on 2 jelly roll pans, and bake in oven 15 minutes until hot and crisp. Let popcorn cool, and store in an airtight container for best flavor.

Fill keep up to one week.

Found at Cooks.com