Favorite Bible For Pre-Teen and Teen Boys

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If you are looking for a great bible for a pre-teen or teen, and really, boy or girl, I encourage you to check out The Action Bible. Our son, who is now 14, loves this book! When he first got it he was 10 years old and the graphic images were a little startling. It did not make a great bedtime story in that season!

We put it on a shelf and let him go to it when he was ready. As he got older it has been his go-to for free reading. He loves sharing it with his friends and has taken it to church on occasion to show the kids in his Confirmation class.

We also purchased the Audible Version of this title. My husband, Mr. Awesome, went through this whole book with the kids using the audiobook and physical book (almost TWICE!) to create a fun experience. The audiobook is VERY well done!

There is also a devotional in this series that we have, but that is totally optional. We’ve found that has spent more time on the bookshelf than in the hands of the owner.

We also have the Easter Story on Kindle from this series and it is equally engaging as God’s Redemptive Story!

3 Mudroom Hacks You Can ACTUALLY Do!

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This past fall we were on one of our regular IKEA trips when I found myself wandering areas of the store that I didn’t even belong in. My husband caught me in a trance staring at dish drainers. He walks up and says “Why would we want one of those?” He had a point. We’ve lived in this house 10+ years and haven’t needed one yet, but I still couldn’t stop gawking at them.

They were so simple, but so sophisticated. The construction was solid, and the powder coated metal frame felt good in my hands. I tried thinking as fast as I could about how I could justify purchasing one, knowing I wasn’t going to use it in the kitchen, and there was a chance I wouldn’t use it at all.

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Insert a random “Quincey Idea”, as my husband would call it.
I begged him to just listen to me for a minute, and reminded him that he’d be rewarded with a frozen yogurt cone at the end of our trip if he had good behavior and displayed patience. 😉

I pieced together and blurted out the idea that they could be used under the window in our mudroom. They’d be placed over the vent and the kids could put their hats and gloves on it to dry after they’d been out playing in the snow.

He hesitated a little, but he could tell I wasn’t going to budge, so he agreed to let me put it in the cart. Then I did the unthinkable…. I asked for a second one! “Sure” he says, as he trailed away looking for that promised cone.
I picked up two of the drainers and one rail. Because the rack can hang over edges of the rail it didn’t matter that the width dimensions would be a couple inches different.

I ditched the bottom plastic tray that came with the rack, because I wanted the air to be able to flow better.

We’ve been using this setup for a two months and it’s working extremely well! Thank goodness for that, because I don’t know how many more of my quirky ideas this guy will agree to before he puts me on house arrest and cuts up my credit card!

Here’s all you need:

2 Bygel Dish Drainers & 1 Bygel Rail

Safety Warning: Whenever you’re drilling into your walls, be sure you know where the studs and electrical lines are. A Stud Finder is a must for a DIY’er that likes to take on Home Improvement projects! Thankfully I have my own personal stud to run our Stud Finder! Bahaha, I’m so cheeeeesy!

Hack # 2:

Install a couple of simple Command Hooks (and yes, it’s driving me crazy that they don’t match, but it’s what I had on hand).

The white one obviously is holding a basket, and that’s so the toddler can reach her own gloves and hat.  The Brushed Nickel is for her coat.  I can’t believe how well it holds even with her tugging her big winter coat off of it each day.

Hack #3:

For hack numeral three I used more command hooks!  This was a flighty idea, but it has proved to work well!  I put two hooks on the back of the door for my big kids to hang their soaking wet snow pants when they come in from outside.  This way they drip onto the entry rug, and not our beautiful built-in oak hall tree.

Bonus Real Life Snippet:

This is what I WANT this area to look like:

Here is what it actually looks like on a typical day:

The kids have baskets on the hall tree to put their winter gear into once it’s dry, so it isn’t supposed to linger on the rack, but it does.  And really people, just set your boots up straight!  haha, oh well, I’m just happy we know where everyone’s hats and gloves are now!

A Toy They All LOVE: Pattern Blocks by Learning Resources

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We’re snowed in and enjoying our traditional post-Christmas morning. Ordinarily the kids would all be off in separate rooms happily occupied with their new toys, while Mr. Awesome and I continue trying to assemble whatever hasn’t been put together yet.

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This year though, the kids all woke up and gathered on the living room floor to play with little sister’s new pattern blocks from Learning Resources. It was such a sweet sight to see!

From ages 3-13 each of my kids are enjoying these blocks! I regret not buying them at the beginning of the school year when I was purchasing our 2015 homeschool curriculum.

I printed off some pattern block templates from PreKinders last night and laminated them front and back. Prior to this my youngest was sorting them by color into her new pots and pans for her kitchen.  That kept her busy for hours yesterday!

We also ordered the set of pattern blocks that came with cards, but those haven’t arrived yet. I think they will be a New Year’s Eve present (that’s a thing, right?).

I prefer wood toys, but after reading reviews about the color coming off of the wood pattern blocks by the same makers, I decided to go with the plastic ones. The wood may have been just fine, but I didn’t want to take any chances with our beige carpet.  These plastic ones have not disappointed us at all!  Even my husband and I have been playing with them…. for the kids, ya know? 😉

Anyway, I just wanted to share in case you have been on the fence about these. We’re loving them!

KonMari: All Things Books

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As I told you at the end of November, I’m going to be going through the book titled “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing”.  You can find a link to the book at the bottom of this post.
When you’re going through this one of the first things you’re supposed to do is define your “WHY?”

Why are you wanting to tidy?

My short answer: Plain and simple; I want fewer choices so I can open more time in my day.

The slightly more detailed answer: We have so many choices here; one trip to a Super Target or a Dollar Tree and you can clearly see we aren’t hurting for options. It gives me so much mind clutter. I want to be able to think quicker, and more effectively, so I can move on to the next thing. I want my children to be able to make choices quicker. I want to clear out the physical and the mental clutter so we can enjoy more time together. I’m looking forward to spending less time cleaning up things that don’t spark joy for us, but that we merely own. When I look around, I want to see only things we genuinely LOVE and not just things that are kind of pretty or useful.

I love how the author highlights not just the why, but also the how.  You can read more about that in the book.

She suggests that there are 3 things you need to remember to use her method effectively:

1. Touch everything, don’t just look at what you’re sorting, actually touch it.
2. Sort by what you want to keep, not what you want to throw.  This is opposite from how I usually sort/tidy/declutter/clean
3. MOVE QUICKLY; don’t spend too much time over analyzing.
Today we are tackling the BOOKS! We’re homeschoolers, and we LOVE books. Without a doubt I know we have way too many though, and that many of them don’t spark joy. Some of them I paid way too much for and they actually spark regret, and guilt.
It isn’t about getting down to a certain number of books, but about only keeping the ones we genuinely LOVE.

My challenges:

1. I buy too many books because they’re cheap at second-hand stores.
2. I write everything off in the name of homeschooling.
3. I run an unofficial neighborhood Little Library, so I keep extra books on hand for swapping out to both boys and girls of all ages from toddlers to teens.
4. I have children of both genders, and with a fair age gap between them, so I feel like I should hang on to books from my oldest to pass onto my youngest. That may mean I’m storing so-so books for 10 years just waiting for them to be read!
5. We have books stored all around the house, so the biggest challenge right now is getting them all into one place. Bless my sweet little kiddos for being excited about doing this and hauling baskets of books to the living room for sorting!

I’ll post a very raw honest looking before and after once we’ve completed this task!

Something you should know:  We just “sorted” our books this summer and I gave away easily a hundred children’s books.  I didn’t use this method though, so I am curious to see if I feel differently by tackling our shelves this way.

If you’re interested in grabbing a book and joining me you can find this title on Amazon.

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Embarking on the KonMari Method

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Have you heard of the KonMari Method?  I’m basically obsessed with the idea of it right now.  I’ll preface this with a disclaimer that I am one of “those women” who enjoy the act of cleaning the house.  Specifically, I like organizing.  Actually deep cleaning and scrubbing isn’t my thing, but I can alphabetize my books, sort glasses & plates by size, and rearrange the closets all day long.  I check the mail and recycle the junk within minutes of getting in the door.  I just like things tidy.

I’ve been intrigued by the Instagram hashtags for #Konmari.  After doing several Google searches and coming up with bits of information, I decided I’d just buy the “KonMari” book and see what it was all about.  I’ve spent $10 on things more silly than a book to teach me to organize, rather than actually getting up and organizing!

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If you aren’t sure what I’m talking about, KonMari is a Japanese method of tidying.  It was invented by Marie Kondo, who like me, also loved tidying at a young age.

I’ve loved cleaning and organizing since I was a preteen.  I can remember organizing the built-in drawers in my childhood home and rearranging the medicine cabinet above the bathroom sink in our tiny upstairs bathroom, all the time.

No matter how many times I had organized it, I just kept checking in on that cabinet and trying new ways to group items together.  I’d experiment with organizing by size, category, or color.

It was fun.

Only once did it ever become compulsive where I felt like I HAD to do it.  That was after I had moved out and came back home to find my parents had put all of their stuff in the cabinet and I claimed it a disaster!  At that point I stopped doing it all together, I mean it wasn’t my stuff anymore, and I was getting so worked up over it.

I didn’t want to be owned by it.

I am not a perfectionist.  In fact, I am very much fine with half-heartedly doing most of my projects so they’re “good enough”.

So my disclaimer here is if you are someone who gets obsessed easily or feels compulsive when you’re cleaning, get a buddy to do this method with.  Find someone who can keep you accountable.  If you are reading this, you are not a baby, you can do this*.  For the sake of your happiness, and the happiness of anyone else living with you, you can do this.  If nothing else, I think implementing some of this method will help cleaning and picking up before company to go much faster!

*Tidying Takes Tough Love.

I don’t feel like we have a ton of clutter, but there is always room for improvement.  I like a good challenge!  I know that I’m in a better mood when the house is cleaner, and so are the kids.  I think in general most children have far too many toys, and most women have far too many clothing and kitchen items, so I’m excited to be focusing on those areas.  I’d love for Mr. Awesome to sort through his tools (and his baseball hat collection), but we will see if the book covers that.  You know, if the book suggests it, he’s going to have to do it.  It’s practically the law or something. haha!

I’m going to be going through this book and sharing about my successes and failures here.

If you’ve read this or used this method, how did it turn out for you?  Are you still doing it?

I’ve read so many great things about this book that I feel like I’m already in love with it and I’ve only read just a bit of it!

One of the Most Overlooked Essentials in the Parenting Tool Bag

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Parents of littles, if you don’t own an otoscope yet, I highly suggest you order one now.
Like RIGHT NOW, before it is 11pm on a Friday and you need to check your 2 year old’s nose
to :
A) Figure out which nostril the popcorn kernel is in, if she did in fact put one up there.
B) Be sure she didn’t stick more than one popcorn kernel up her nose, even though she’s denying there
are any up there at all, but you’re sure by the look on her face there IS at least one. <– How’s that for a run-on sentence?  Pretty good, eh?  I just want you to read it fast and feel the anxiety I did for a sec.
The verdict:  One kernel, easy to dislodge after spotting it in her tiny little nostril, covering the opposite nostril and asking her to blow hard.
#toddlersmakemesweat
The thought of trying to explain at the ER why my 2 year old is even up at 11pm, that was just unfathomable.  I don’t think they’d be that understanding of my honest excuse:  “Uh, well Doc, because it’s summer and any sort of regular evening routine or schedule has been completely thrown out the window.  Tonight it’s 11:30pm, tomorrow may be 7:30pm.  Oh, and the popcorn? Well right now she’s terribly picky, so we just feed her whatever she wants to eat so she doesn’t die of starvation or something.  I mean how long can a kid live off of Larabars, popcorn, pineapple, and marshmallows?”
Just save yourself the trouble and order an otoscope, okay?  Now I do have a slight background in nursing which helps slightly with checking for ear infections, but anyone can use one of these.  They do come with a handy visual chart that is all sorts of helpful.  We’ve also used our otoscope recently for checking out a bee sting to the eye, a sliver to the foot, and details on bugs.

I’ve had mine (the same one in the link) for just over 3 years now, and it’s still working just like it did the day I opened it.

Purchasing through my affiliate links will not cost you any extra. Amazon gives me a small portion of each sale made through my referral links, which helps me run this blog, and support our homeschooling.

DIY: Convert a Standard Kid’s Bike Into a Balance Bike

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Not to brag, but I really love teaching kids to ride their bikes, and most of the kids love learning too!
One of the quickest ways to teach them to ride without training wheels is to first teach them to balance on two wheels.

In order to learn balance, they need to be able to reach the ground.  Remember that when buying a bike.  That’s super important.  Don’t buy a bike too big for your child, or you’re just asking for trouble.  Yes, I know it’s tempting to save a few bucks by buying a larger one they can use for a little longer, but it’s usually not worth it for their safety, and for their comfort level.

We have a tiny blue bicycle I picked up from a garbage pile a few years ago.  It was actually pink at the time, and maybe even from the 70’s.  Even though it clearly looked like garbage, my heart whispered that it was special.  So I brought it home, and with the help of my brother and my husband, we refurbished it.

I think I’ve taught 7 kids to ride without training wheels on that bike.  The first day or so we work on balancing by just using their feet on the ground, no peddles.  Then once they get going pretty smooth that way, we incorporate the peddles.  Works every time!

I’m sure you’ve heard of the craze with Balance Bikes, right?  I personally love them, but think they are WAY over priced.  Now to be honest, we did just get a  Strider No-Pedal Balance Bike for our youngest daughter, because we couldn’t modify one on our own to be short enough for her.  And because we got a crazy good deal on it that I just couldn’t refuse (Thank you Strider and Amazon!).

But just for fun, we made one for our son!  He’s 7 and has been riding the neighbor girl’s balance bike every chance he gets for a year, so I knew he would actually use this.

We converted his old $40 Wal-Mart bike into a balance bike in about 15  minutes, using a super helpful YouTube Video.  You can find used bikes EVERY WHERE.  Facebook, thrift stores, garage sales, etc.

I could try to write up steps for you, but honestly this guy covered it so well that I’m just going to direct you over to him:

Kitchen Gadgets Giveaway: Part 2.

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I used to use my bulky mandoline slicer all the time to make our zucchini into pasta.  You can read about that by
clicking here.
I really like my mandoline, but once I got my Zoodle Slicer, there was just no going back!  I’m using smaller sized zucchinis than I was with the mandoline, which I’ve found I actually like better!  The flavor is more pleasant and the seeds aren’t even an issue in these little guys.
Once the garden comes in I’ll have to remember to pick my zucchinis
before they get giant (which can happen the matter of a day)!
 
What makes the Zoodle slicer so
great? 
·
This little thing takes up a tiny fraction of cupboard space.
It makes nice firm ‘noodles’.·
It’s easy to use.
If you’ve been around here awhile you know that when I fall in love with a product I want everyone I know to know about it so they can experience the awesomeness too!

That’s why I’m hosting
a giveaway for a Zoodle Slicer.

You can win by visiting my Facebook page and liking/commenting on the “Giveaway Time” picture, or by commenting on a blog post last week or this week!

***THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED. CHECK BACK OFTEN FOR MORE GIVEAWAYS, TIPS, AND INSPIRATION***

Yummy Zoodles!
After you have a bundle of zoodles cut, put them in a pan with a jar of spaghetti sauce and heat them up.  Delicious!

Product Review: Squatty Potty!

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Before you ask, I haven’t been hacked.  This is for real.
This came in the mail today. I’m serious. #SquattyPotty
 I ordered the Squatty Potty.  If nothing else, I thought it would be a great gag gift!  But.. honestly, I think I’ll be using it!

Update: Okay the Squatty Potty has been in our house about a week now and everyone loves this thing!  Well,  everyone except my husband who just thinks the whole idea is ridiculous and is embarrassed we even have this in the house.  He’ll get use to it though. 🙂
I won’t go too far into the details, but lets just say….. IT WORKS!

If you want more details, and trust me you do, visit their web-site.

2021 update:  We have these in both bathrooms.  They’re incredible.

Mother Daugther- Girl Talk

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My oldest daughter is officially a middle schooler.  Don’t ask me how this happened, I probably blinked or something.  I have so enjoyed raising her and getting to know her.  I think that last part is almost more important than the first right now (almost!).

One way I actively get to know my daughter and nurture her heart is through what we call our GIRL TALK.  About once a week my husband takes the little kids and makes sure that this girl and I get alone time for an hour or so.  Sometimes we go somewhere, other times, like this week he just takes the two littlest outside to play while she and I sit on the couch and chat.

I start with a simple “So what’s on your mind?” or “Hey I noticed you _________ (insert just about anything here- um like- hit the neighbor kid, yelled at your brother, stomped away when dad was talking to you, etc, etc, etc. these are just examples) the other day, what was going on there? Do you want to talk about it?”  Our conversations get pretty silly with loads of giggles, but also pretty deep.  Sometimes there are tears of relief and understanding.  We always end or start our time in prayer.

Lately I’ve learned she’s pretty freaked out about the changes her body is going to be making as she hits puberty.  I remember for me it was such a traumatic experience where I went from being the annoying little sister to the disgusting little sister.  I shot up to being the tallest kid in my class (boys included!) in 4th grade and then REALLY felt like a freak.  I still feel that way when I tower over people around me.  I just want to be a cute teeny tiny Polly Pocket with delicate fairy wings!

It’s natural for any girls in this situation to be a little freaked out, but I do want to answer my daughters questions and ease her worries in an appropriate way that glorifies God and explains why HE designed her body this way.

We are working through the book called The Body Book (The Lily Series).  It’s been so informational and I love that it answers questions about puberty without hitting the topic of s.e.x. too much.

This book has been a game changer!

This book has been called the Christian version of American Girl book: The Care & Keeping of You.  We haven’t read that one, but I bet it’s great too.  We’ve loved the American Girl books!

My daughter is constantly carrying this book around and has her nose in it every chance she gets.  As a mom, that is a win!

Now I don’t fully agree with EVERY single word in the book, but I’ve only seen about 2 or 3 lines that I sort of shook my head at.  Not too bad if you ask me!

If you are a mom to a girl, I recommend this book for you!

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Disclosure

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