An Iowa Mom

WFMW: Treasure Hunt

Today is a themed Works For Me Wednesday.  The Mom - I'm Bored! Edition.

We've all been through it.  Kids griping, moaning and groaning every morning for the last 3 months asking when summer vacation is finally going to be here, and then when it does indeed arrive ... usually about 45 minutes into day 1 of their 2 month break, they plop down on the sofa and exhale deeply as they mumble, "I'm so bored.  There's nothing to do!".

Sound familiar?

The mere words "I'm Bored" are like fingernails on a black board to me (speaking of which, did you know my kids have NO IDEA what a chalkboard is?  How sad.).  I mean, really, the crap these kids have these days, compared to the stuff I had growing up, you'd think they'd be entertained every single moment of every single day of summer break ... but no, that's just not the case.  Though it should be in my opinion.

Our school district isn't officially on summer break until tomorrow, but I have compiled a "TREASURE HUNT" for when those words first pop out of my boys mouths.  Which will more than likely be Friday morning about ... say ... 8:30am.

This is what I've done:

• Hide some objects around the yard.  The front, the back, the sides.  The bigger the space, the more hunting that can take place.  I hid sand shovels,  flip flops, tennis balls, frisbees, etc (any object that can withstand the outdoor elements since I choose to have this all done days before hand, therefore am able to send them out as soon as the dreaded words are uttered).  I do all my hidden objects in different colors for reasons I will explain below.
• Once all objects are hidden (I hid 20 objects, but you can do as many or few as you want) you need to make a treasure map.  I drew a map of our yard, showing where the house sits, where some trees are, where the swing set is, etc. 
• On my map, I placed a colored X where the items were hidden using the corresponding color to the item I hid.  For example, I placed a pink X on the map where the swing set is indicated on the map because I placed a pink flip flop in the sandbox.  I placed a yellow X on the map by the front door because I hid a tennis ball in the bushes next to the door.
• On the bottom of the map, I list all the things they must find before their hunt is complete.
• To make the map look old, I tore off the corners and some edges and then rubbed a used tea bag over it gently and then crumpled it up a few times.  A couple hours to dry and I then rolled it up and tied a string around it ... and it's now waiting for them to be home and bored on summer break.
• When they complete their hunt and all the items are brought to me, they earn their "treasure" ... which for us will be a trip to Dairy Queen for the ice cream of their choice.
• I've done this in the past and it can take up to 3 hours to complete the hunt.  Your kids can do it all at once, or over the course of a couple days.  My kids do it all at once because once the challenge is given, they want to complete it ASAP or it drives them nuts.  I do make mine kinda hard so that it takes longer ... but Jake likes it because it's challenging for him.

It sounds like a lot of work to prepare, but it really isn't.  It only took me about 40 minutes to put the entire treasure hunt together. 

Works for Me ... hope it works for you.  For ideas to keep the "boredom blues" away for the other 59 days of summer break, visit Rocks In My Dryer for many great ideas for you and your kids.

Have a great and fun filled summer!

WFMW: Vomiting Children

Okay ... if you are a regular reader of my blog, you know two things.  #1 - I haven't participated in WFMW in a long time.  #2 - That my girls were sick not too long ago and just couldn't seem to shake it.  I know, the picture I posted doesn't show them as sick ... but I just couldn't resist.  I love that photo of them.  They were sick.  Believe me.  Just not in this picture.

Anyway ... my tip for you ... when you have vomiting children ...

AT THE FIRST SIGN OF NAUSEA ... run for your "old towels and linens" closet. Grab every towel and sheet you can and start spreading them over the traffic areas of your home ... focusing first on the route from where your child is ... to the toilet.

When they run ... and don't make it.  No yelling.  No gagging.  And most importantly ... no carpet cleaner.  Just scoop up the soiled sheet or towel and toss in the washer.  Or, in my case, in the garbage can.  They were old, for crying out loud, I can throw them away if I want to.  Personally, I'd rather do that then put them in my washer.  But that's just me.  Oh yeah ... and my excuse to buy new sheets ... so that I can place my current ones in the "old" pile ... just in case of another episode ... two birds with one stone .... save on carpet cleaner AND get new sheets.

Works For Me ... hope it works for you too!  For more great tips, visit Rocks In My Dryer.  :P

WFMW: Staying On Task As A WAHM

I love the fact that I am able to be a WAHM ... though sometimes it has it's challenges. 

The girls think that just because I am here and they can see me ... that I'm able to play play play all day long.  I WISH I could play play play all day ... but that's just not the case.  I do have to schedule time to work.  Sometimes I feel guilty, but then realize that a mom just has to do what she has to do and I'm still very happy that I'm able to be here with them at all.

Staying on task was difficult for me.  I have "too many things in the pot" my hubby often tells me, but there is nothing I'd want to give up.  So I created a schedule and I stick to it ... to the minute.  And it works. 

No longer do I go to bed at night feeling frustrated that I didn't accomplish anything that day.  I may not complete EVERYTHING that has to be done, but I do make progress, and that feels so good, because now I don't get on ONE thing and neglect everything else.

If there are things in the day you wish you could accomplish, but your day seems to whiz past you before you get a chance to even THINK of everything ... you should try typing out a schedule, and sticking to it. 

I just keep mine on the fridge and it really helps.  I am much happier and less tense since I've been doing this. 

My schedule is below as an example:

Works For Me ... it can work for you too!

For more great tips, head on over to Rocks In My Dryer!

WFMW: Use For Holey Socks

Yes, we've all encountered the mystery of the missing socks.  Put two in the dryer, and only one comes out.  This is common at our house, our dryer consuming our socks at record pace.  And when it doesn't, and I come out with a pair ... it never fails ... one always has a hole.

As irritating as it is to purchase a new package of socks for the boys (the girls don't lose their socks ... because the dryer knows they are special) every other week it seems, I have found a use for all those lonely socks without a mate, as well as those who are a little too worn out to continue it's existence keeping toes warm on cool and damp Spring days.

I almost hate to post this tip, not because I'm stingy and don't want to share, but because the thought of actually performing the act in which I utilize this tip and the extra socks ... make me CRINGE!

Dusting.

Yes, dusting.  I put a sock on my hand and spray a little furniture polish on it and wipe away.  For some reason it works soooo much better than my actual dust cloth, and even better than my swiffer.  I can't believe I just said that ... but it's true.  I managed to cut my dusting time in half since I've been using a sock on my hand and that's reason enough people, don't you think?  Not to mention it's so much easier to dust the little things ... picture frames, no problem, just run my hand over it and it's DONE.  Knick knacks ... yup, pick it up and it's pretty much dusted.

The best part is I put little socks on the girls (on both hands) and spray a little polish and tell them to go at it ... it's amazing how much work they can get done for me ... and I can read twice as many blogs ... that's not considered child labor, is it?

For more great tips ... visit Rocks In My Dryer!

WFMW: Creating A New Lunch Out Of Dinner ...

Okay ... this is really simple.  I am sure that many of you are doing this already ... and I just think I have a really cool tip that everyone read and will laugh at and think ... "Hello, where the heck have YOU been????"

Regardless ... I'll share with those of you who are just beginning to catch on to simple things. 

Picture this ...

Tonight you are making supper.  Let's say ... uuummmm ... spaghetti.  Your water is boiling, you're ready to add your noodles.  Instead of adding just what you need, put in a little extra.

After supper, place those extra noodles in a container and keep in fridge.  Tomorrow pull out that container and slather it with butter (or if you are better at what you feed your kids, just add a little butter).  Heat it up in ol' faithful (the microwave).  Add some Parmesan cheese and  waaaa laaaa ... you've got lunch! 

I usually heat up some frozen broccoli to serve with it too.

Doesn't get any easier than that!!!  Works for me ... hope it works for you too!

For more tips, most of which will be great (unlike this one) ... head on over to Rock In My Dryer!

WFMW: COZI - Online Family Organizer

I can not take total credit for this tip.  Green3 mentioned it in one of her posts (Thanks Green3) and I checked it out on her recommendation.  It was much better than I had anticipated.  Personally, I think anyone with kids and/or lots of activities, who spends time on their computer everyday, will benefit from this free software.

Cozi, this awesome family organization software, only took about 10 minutes to download and 10 minutes to set up.  There are 3 sections of this progam:

1.  A calendar in which you can assign each family member a different color.  You can sort your calendar by family member, as well as by date.  Appointments are easy to add and edit if needed.  You can view your calendar many different ways (daily, weekly, etc ...) and print it any way you view it.

2.  A grocery list.  You can print this list with a touch of a button OR  you can call an 800 number to access your grocery list if you're at the store and don't have it with you

3.  An easy and quick way to send a message to any of your family members via email or mobile phone text message.

All 3 sections can be viewed on the homepage.  Not to mention you can access your entire organizer via any computer, anywhere, anytime.  I have also set up my husband's laptop to display our "family calendar" on his homepage, so when he signs on it will be right in front of him to view before he begins work.  Saves me a lot of "reminder calls".

The organization software is very simple, to the point, and beneficial.  Having 4 kids in 4 different sports and a husband that coaches 2 of them ... we have practices, games and meetings ... not to mention school activities, doctor appointments, deadlines, etc ... that can be viewed every day when I turn on my computer.  I'm surely not going to miss a thing from now on, not to mention fumbling around all of our sports sheets to find out who plays where and on what field at what time ... it's all right in front of me.  I don't think I'll know what to do with myself.  LOL!

Another great thing about this software is that when I walk away from my computer for a few minutes, when I return there is a photo collage screensaver show that I always end up watching for a few minutes before working again.  I love looking at the photos I've taken and uploaded to my computer but never seem to scroll through on my own.

The Cozi website states that for every person who signs up for the Cozi software, they'll donate $1 to Locks of Love.  :)  That's reason in and of itself to check it out.

Works for me US ... hope it works for all of you too!  For more great tips, check out Rocks In My Dryer.

WFMW: Keepsake Photos

If you are like me, you are constantly snapping photos.  I am a scrapbooker, however, not an AVID one, and in today's world of digital cameras I don't feel it necessary to make a print of each and every photo I take.  For starters, it would cost me a fortune due to the pure volume and secondly I would have no where to store the thousands of photos.

Now, I ran into a problem because I thought I was nice and organized and created a disk each month with all my photos on it.  However, my children really enjoy looking at the pictures of themselves, family and friends on a regular basis.  We'd sometimes play the disks on the computer or TV viewing a steady stream slideshow, but it got boring and the kids attention was easy distracted from the recent memories fading in and out of our TV screen.

That is when I went searching for something to make preserving the photos more exciting.  I found several media software programs and purchased 3 of them.  None of them did EVERYTHING I wanted until I found Easy Media Creator made by Roxio.  I LOVE IT! 

I drop my photos into the program (and can even include video too) and add subtitles and titles.  The transitions are fun and exciting the make it fun for the kids to watch.  The thing I love the most is that I can add as much music as I want.

Every 6 months or so, I create a DVD that showcases all our photos taken from that time period ... I then add our favorite songs of "that time" as background music.  It's pretty fun to pull out the DVD's from 2 years ago and see how much the children have changed and to listen to some old favorite tunes ... all in one.  The kids will watch for hours.

It's fun now watching DVD from a couple years ago, I can only imagine how great it will be 10 or 20 years from now to have these memories (both photos and music) to timeline our lives.  I know now that I'm creating treasures for my family to enjoy for years to come.

AND ... I started making 6 copies of each DVD.  I place one in our video library.  I tuck one away for me and my husband ... and then one for each of the children that I will give to them when they get married or have their first child.  :)  They are also great gifts for Grandparents!

It works for me and I hope it will work for you too!  :)

For more information on the program I found to be the best one I tried, you can visit their website by clicking the image below:

For more awesome tips ... visit Rocks In My Dryer!