Home Maid Simple

Category: parenting

The Sick Kids Basket to Keep Them on the Couch
When the kids are sick and have to stay home from school, having a sick kids basket will keep them from feeling bored. Thanks to Pfizer for sponsoring this post. The Pfizer Pediatric Platform products, information, and additional gift pack have been provided by Pfizer Consumer Healthcare. All thoughts and reviews are my own. This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you click through and make a purchase.

I am not a doctor! For medical advice consult with your local doctor.

There’s little I dread more, then a kid waking up on a school day sick. Then they have to stay home. Your day is thrown off, and if you were planning any errands – restocking the empty fridge or returning overdue library books – they get thrown out the window.

Even if it’s not a school day, getting kids to rest when they are sick is a challenge. After Venice had a bout of the sickies last week, I decided it was high time we had an activity basket that only came out on sick days. Sick Just Got Real™!

I sat down with my sister in law to make this list, and while shopping at Target picked up a couple more items that stood out to me. These are all things that I would find useful no matter the sickness. From colds, flu, and strep, to broken bones and post-surgery recovery.

In My Sick Kids Basket:
- audiobooks/books
- coloring
- ball
- playing cards
- notecards
- pencils
- LEGO set
- BrainQuest
- WaterBottle
- Sanitizing Wipes
- Battery operated LED Light stick
- Applesauce squeezers
- Individual Gatorade Packs
My sick kids basket may not look like yours, but these are things I know my kids would enjoy. I tried to focus on items that could be wiped down before putting away to avoid spreading germs. – Books, playing cards, balls, LEGO pieces, LED Light and the water bottle are all washable with the sanitizing wipes stored in the basket.

Keeping the kids’ minds sharp while missing school is also important. I’m not talking stress them out because they do need to be resting, but games like BrainQuest will keep them learning in a fun way.

I also added note cards and pencils to the basket. What better way to teach them the value of handwritten notes, then when they’re stuck relying on others to care for them?

Applesauce and Gatorade should be staples in every home. If your family is like mine though, if those are sitting in the cupboard, they won’t last until someone is sick. By storing them in the sick kids’ basket I know I’ll have some when they are really needed.

As much as I love my sick kids’ basket, and it helps keep them confined to one area without getting too bored, it’s not going to help get them well. Taking another page out of my sister in laws book –and it helps her hubby is a PA – I decided I needed to start separating our medicines by illness.

I’m so tired of pulling out our Medicine Box to try and find a fever reducer, or cough suppressant. By the time I find it, or realize we’re out, the medicine box is a mess, and the kids are just dying!

Thanks to Pfizer Pediatric Products, I now have a well-stocked Cough and Cold Medicine Basket! In this smaller basket, I have all our get better needs – Children’s Advil®, Children’s Robitussin®, and Children’s Dimetapp®.

If you ask my husband, I hate taking medicine (truth), but when it comes to getting the kids better, I know and trust the Pfizer Pediatric family. With the Chldren’s Dimetapp® being alcohol free, I feel safe giving it to them.

I then added in my extras like Chapstick, Tissues, and Honey. Honey is another one of those food staples everyone usually has, but when I really need it, it’s all out. Keeping one bottle in the Cough and Cold Medicine Box will make sure I always have it handy.

Help Kids Avoid the Sickies
- Wash Hands frequently. Help teach them how important this is, and practice with them.
- Eat Healthy and Exercise. I think kids naturally rebound from, and have a hard time resting during the sickies, because they are generally fairly active. This goes for adults too. The better you take care of your body, the better chance you have of avoiding illness or rebounding faster from it
- Take Vitamin C. Don’t like taking pills, there are a lot of natural ways to boost your Vitamin C intake. I personally love this Vitamin C Boost drink.
- Probiotics! Another staple, but something you can’t really keep in the medicine box, is yogurt! Full of probiotics, they help fight those bad bugs.
The next step is keeping these baskets out of the kids reach. We have an awesome shelf in the laundry room that is even too high for me without pulling in a kitchen chair to grab. This is a safer location than under our master bathroom sink where we’ve previously stored them.

What would be in Your Kids Sick Basket?

~~GIVEAWAY~~

~~Pfizer Pediatric Products would like to send 1 Home Maid Simple reader a bundle to help keep their family healthy through coughs and colds!~~

~~Open to US 18+. Ends 4/12/16~~

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Looking for more ideas to store medicine? Check out my First Aid Kit.
April 5, 2016
Chloe’s Baptism

Last month our 2nd oldest turned 8 years old. She chose to be baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. This is her baptism story.

I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

I know who I am. I know God’s plan.

I’ll follow him in Faith.

I believe in the Savior, Jesus Christ.

I’ll honor his name.

I’ll do what is right; I’ll follow his light

His truth I will proclaim.

Primary Hymnbook

I believe as a parent one of the most beautiful things we can witness is our children making decisions that will impact their life for good. Choosing baptism may seem an easy one when you grow up in your faith – but it’s still a choice we give our kids. We hope they choose it and encourage them by teaching our faith. It is, however, ultimately their decision.

Only 16 months prior Venice, our oldest made the same decision. I wasn’t sure than if we had adequately prepared her. Was she old enough to make such an adult decision? All the thoughts I hoped were normal for a parent wishing they were doing the best they could for their children.

Having been here once before, I stopped the questions before they started. I’ve been teaching Chloe, and her siblings, her whole life to love God, love family and be kind. So I knew she was ready to make her choice.

Part of baptism in our church is a meeting with the Bishop. This is a chance for Chloe to share her testimony and make the final decision without my influence. Later our Bishop told me when he asked Chloe a question that she didn’t know the answer to, she told him “I don’t know, I’ll go ask my mom!” and then got up to come find me. He was impressed with her honesty, and knowledge of where to find answers to her questions.

In the LDS, or Mormon church we believe children under the age of 8 are innocent. At 8 years old, though, they know right from wrong and have the knowledge to choose between the two. Choosing baptism is the first step in choosing the right. We promise to obey God’s commandments and honor his name. In return, he has promised his spirit to be with us. We never have to walk alone in this life when choosing the right.

Isn’t that a beautiful promise? My heart is full with the joy baptism has brought to my life, and now to my two oldest. Chloe invited a few friends from school to attend her baptism. Not knowing any of them or their parents, I wasn’t sure if they’d come. One of her best buds did come, though. It was wonderful to chat with his parents, to share our faith with them, and hear about their own beliefs.

Is it even possible to not feel the joy steaming off this photo? Chloe is and always has been a joyful child. I hope she continues to spread that joy in her life, and never feel shy to invite people into her life and knowledge of her Savior.

March 7, 2016
Learning to Live Without and Save Money

This is a sponsored post; compensation was received. All thoughts are my own

Sometimes I look at my life, and I wonder, how do I do it? How have we continued to make it despite the constant struggle for employment that will cover the cost of living? I’ve been reflecting on that as we begin a new adventure in a city that is literally close to everything you could ever want. The answer for us has been simple

Live Without.

You Don’t NEED things. You can live without, and still survive. People do it all the time around the world. There are of course a few basics every human should have – food, clothes, shelter. After that, though, the rest is just to add comfort and adventure to our life. The great news is, you can find comfort and adventure without spending a fortune. In fact, you can get those things while saving money at the same time!

So I’m here today to tell you how you can save money, and learn to live without, while still enjoying life.

Skip the Treats.
This is probably the biggest for us. When it comes to our grocery budget I’m tight. Very tight! People are always asking me how I manage to feed us with our limited budget, and most of the time I honestly don’t even know. One thing though is we skip the desserts and treats. Periodically we indulge, but they are not common in our home. If we have treats, it’s most likely homemade from scratch, like my apple pie burritos.

Free Entertainment.
One thing I love to do is find free entertainment. When you’re living on a budget, memberships to gyms, museums.and zoos just aren’t going to happen. So instead, we walk around our local farmers market, take in some free concerts in the park, and get out in nature. Mostly, though, we enjoy hanging out in the backyard, finding new bugs, and swinging on the tree swing.

Money saving apps.
Then there are the apps. I love Checkout51 and Ibotta the most. The key to using these apps is not to let it sucker you into buying extra things just to get the money back. Just like coupons, I only use them if it’s something I’m already buying. So I may not have high returns, but every little bit adds up.

Giving Assistant.
A new favorite discovery of mine, is Giving Assistant. After living in North Dakota I finally caved to buying more things online out of necessity. With Giving Assistant, I can do my online shopping through places like Amazon (my personal fave!); get cash back, AND donate to charity! You can choose how much of the cash back you get and how much goes to charity.
Now besides shopping my favorite site, I noticed they also have a deal with Thred Up. I’ve never personally used ThredUp, but I know it’s a way to save money on clothes. What makes that better, oh just getting cash back by shopping through Giving Assistant.

What have you learned to live without? How do you save money?

July 14, 2015
Daylight Savings Time Sleep Tips

This post is sponsored by Sleep Number. Opinions are 100% my own.

This Sunday is Daylight Savings Time. Every year my newsfeed floods with friends and the dread of kids losing that extra hour of sleep. No parent wants to lose sleep, because come on, most of us are probably running on very little sleep as it is.

Sleep Number recently took a new sleep survey and put together some tips to help you get through this weekend without feeling like you lost any sleep. Rather, you may even feel more rested! I’ve added a few of my own tips as well.

Start a day early

This is something I truly think makes a difference in the mindset. On Saturday, I automatically start thinking of everything as an hour later. Lunch at 11, dinner, at 4 or 5, and bedtime for the kids at 7. By thinking of everything as an hour later, you lose your hour during the day before, instead of at night when your body is recharging.

Screen Free Zone

Survey results indicate that people who use devices in bed are more likely to feel they don’t get enough sleep (51 percent). 66% of respondents bringing devices to bed are from the Western US.

You’ve heard it before, I’ll repeat it again. Keep the screens out of the bedroom. Screens have a tendency to keep us awake, for me mostly because it draws me in – ooo facebook, hey another Instagram like, I wonder what I need to work on tomorrow…. You know how it goes.

Make a bed on the floor

Alright, this is not just a Daylight Savings Time sleep tip. No no, this is my personal tip for sleeping anytime with small children. I know many of you have kids out there like mine. They get up in the night. No real reason, other than they woke up and have this incurable need to wake up mom. I get why some couples buy a King size bed! We prefer our Queen, though, so my solution is a floor “bed”. Basically, I toss an extra pillow on the floor before I fall asleep, and have a blanket or two with it. The older kids know to just lay down and go to sleep. The younger two are still learning, but it keeps them near me, without sleeping on me.

15 More Minutes

Over half – 54% – of survey respondents report they are not getting enough sleep to be at their best.

Sleep Number suggests adding a mere 15 minutes into your sleep schedule. Baby steps I’ve learned are the key to long term success. Add 15 minutes, and start feeling more rested.

Monitor Sleep

58% of survey respondents wish they knew more about how to improve the quality of their sleep, yet only 16% actually monitor their sleep habits. Also, women are more likely to monitor their sleep then men.

I am bad at this. I really don’t monitor my sleep at all. The harder it has been getting with the kids, though, I’ve been thinking more about just what kind of sleep I’m getting. Sleep Number’s Sleep IQ technology offers a simple solution to those who want to know better sleep.

Prep Breakfast

Again, this works great for anytime, but especially Daylight Savings Time. If you don’t have anywhere to be early Sunday morning, prep breakfast the night before. Set out bowls for cereal, cut up some fruit, toss some Oatmeal in the Crockpot, whatever you want for breakfast. Then when the kids or spouse wake up early, and you want to sleep in, they don’t have to bother you for breakfast!

What are your Daylight Savings Time tips?

March 5, 2015
Tips for Kids Sharing a Bedroom

Not every home has the space for kids to have their own bedroom. If you’re one of those families, check out these tips for kids sharing a bedroom in this guest article from Nicole at Confident Foundation. This post contains affiliate links, and I will receive compensation if you make a purchase after clicking on these links.

These days it might seem that having a room all to themselves is a right of passage for kids just as soon as they are born, or at least as soon as they get old enough to ask for one. There are many advantages to having children share a room, however, even when you have to tackle challenges like having a boy and girl together or fitting everything into a small space. Here are the best tips to make the most of a small, shared room to maximize the potential and minimize the bumps!

Store and Organize Vertically

In small rooms, floor space is especially tight, and if you’re needing to fit in two beds it becomes even more so. Of course, there’s always the old standby of the bunk bed that you can turn to, but often when children share a room they’re too young to be sleeping in a bunk.

One of the best ways to store and organize vertically is by utilizing bookshelves for far more than books. Bookshelves can be used to store toys, books, games, and with the purchase of a few baskets even essentials like diapers and clothes! You’ll be amazed at how much more clean and open the room feels if you add in a few large book cases. Far better than huge toy boxes, with shelves things are easy to see and access, making it much more likely that they will actually get used. Be sure to secure them to the wall with brackets, not just straps, in order to ensure the safety of your little monkeys! You might also consider having a small step stool in the room to help them reach high shelves, rather than climbing on the case itself. Another option is to secure many different shelves to the wall at different heights.

Take Full Advantage of Closets

When it comes to children’s clothing when you hang them up they are considerably shorter than adults and leave a lot of empty space underneath. Be sure you’re taking full advantage of this space by also thinking vertically in the closet! There are a couple of different ways you can do this–for example:

In my son’s closet, I again took advantage of shelving options by adding in a small case and storage bin. On the side of the storage bin are sacks with all their blocks. This is a great place to store things like games, puzzles, doodle pads, and more! Since in my daughter’s closet I don’t have as much empty vertical space I turned to boxes. Using two empty cardboard boxes we did a few different craft projects and created a dress up clothes and dress up accessories trunk. It keeps all the tutus out of the way most of the time, and gives me an easy way to haul them out into whatever room I want when it’s dress up time!

Maximize Your Space Options

When you’re considering how to tackle storage for clothing take stock of what you have available. If you have large closets and one dresser, hang all the clothes that you possibly can. If you have the opposite hang only clothes that would get wrinkled easily. Store all the rest in drawers or on shelves.For the clothes that you have in drawers and baskets, roll them — don’t fold them! You might have learned this trick for traveling but it works just as well for everyday life too! It’s amazing how many more size 4T pants you can fit into a drawer when they’re rolled rather than folded and piled on top of each other.

Store extra blankets, out of season clothes, and clothes that are too large for the moment underneath beds.

Less Really is More

When you have little space to work with embrace simplicity. It’s far too easy to allow the room to become overly cluttered and chaotic feeling. Box up any toys that aren’t currently being used and loved. Set a reminder in your calendar to swap them out in 6 months. Teach your children of keeping only things that they loved and enjoy. Each time you rotate toys help them pick out any they would like to donate or sell. This also applies for books–although it might be hard to think you could have too many books they can quickly overtake a room. You can always take advantage of your local library to continually have fresh books in your home without it eating up all your space.

Let Them Express Themselves

Let each child have at least one “wall” for themselves. On it you can hang decor they like or that fits their personality. Although gender-neutral colors work best when you have a boy and girl together, they can still use their favorite things without it clashing. For example, walls themed with flowers are a nice offset to Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. The most important thing is to let them have a space they feel is all their own–and less about making it to the cover of Better Homes and Gardens.

About the author:

Nicole Elliott is the girl behind Confident Foundation (previously Wyoming Girl turned…) where she blogs about Organizing in Small Spaces, Parenting, Recipes, Travel, Beauty, and whatever else tickles her fancy that day! She has moved cross country 6 times in the past 8 years and her two children have successfully shared a variety of small rooms since her son was born in 2010.

February 27, 2014
I have a Dream..

Famous words that began to change a nation. A nation, that regardless your political affiliation, now has a black President. A dream fulfilled for many that only ever believed it to be a dream.

These 4 simple words are now in the popular – and one of my favorite – movies Disney’s Tangled. As Rapunzel turns a crowd of ruffians and thugs into a singing and dancing group that only ever had a dream.

Often I believe we look at the past and think, gosh they really did something wonderful, but then we look at our future and don’t believe we have the same capabilities. That our dreams can not be realized.

I disagree.

I believe we can have dreams, big dreams! As long as we always strive toward them, and try our best, our dreams can become reality. And as Flynn says, then we can find a new dream to pursue. Let me share some of my dreams with you.

I have a dream, that my children will see the good in everyone around them. That they will look past faults and mistakes, to see the inner child of God.

I have a dream, that one day the media will stop pushing unhealthy body images – and that our young women will respect their bodies no matter the size and shape.

I have a dream, that one day we will own the perfect home for our family. Where our children will have room to grow, but not too much that it overwhelms us all.

I have a dream, that one day our political differences will unite us instead of separate us. It’s our different points of view and abilities to see both sides that will make us a strong nation.

I have a dream, to travel the world with my husband.

What’s your Dream?

January 20, 2014
School Pictures using PicMonkey

I love the tradition of taking “First Day of ___ Grade” photos with the kids. It’s something we can afford to do and keeps memories alive for years to come. Use this Picmonkey tutorial to make the best out of your photos! This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated when you click on and purchase through them.

Here’s the kicker, we don’t have the money nor the space to buy full props to really make some of those amazing pictures you see. So I turned to my trusty photo editing friend, PicMonkey, to make our First Day school pictures pop just a little more while sticking to a budget. I hope you enjoy this tutorial.

Raw, Unedited Photo.

A simple Auto-Adjust and Crop take out any unwanted visuals (like naked babies climbing stairs) and give you a more vibrant color. From here you can play with the color brightness, RGB Levels and more but I’m usually pretty happy with the auto-adjusts setting.

For the First Day School pictures, I like to browse around PicMonkey’s School U theme. I grabbed a chalkboard shape it overlay and played with the color until I was satisfied. To make it look more natural after adding the overlay, in the little edit box that pops up with it, there is an eraser button. Using that I very carefully erased the part of the chalkboard covering her thumb. Voila! An instant home made chalkboard that needs no space in your home.

To finish up, I used the Eraser Dust text to write our First Day Of… on the chalkboard.

Let’s do it again, but this time I’ll show you inside the super simple editor.

Upload your photo into PicMonkey’s photo editor. On the very to left is an icon with 3 lines and dots. This has your general editing tools – crop, rotate, contrast, etc. Click that to find the auto adjust and cropping tools.

For this one, I chose to use an effect on top of the color adjustment. At the bottom left you’ll see an apple. This has the different themes. Once in there choose School U. For Princess C I added the yearbook effect which made the brick behind her a little less harsh and put a slight yellow tint to it.

Instead of a chalkboard overlay, I thought Princess C had the perfect pose to add a shield. Black was a bit hard though, so on the right is the item edit box. Here you can play around with the colors of different items you add to your photo. You can choose colors straight from your photos too!

Finally, add your First Day of __ Grade and Export to your computer.

I hope this little tutorial helps some of you. Picmonkey has a FREE version, but for only $7.99/month ($3.99/month if you pay yearly) I find the Royale version to fit all my photo editing needs. I use it on an almost daily basis.

If you have any questions on how to use Picmonkey, I’m more than happy to help you out! Just shoot me an email, or leave a comment.

September 11, 2013
Not enough hours in the day

It’s official – there are not enough hours in the day to do all I want to do. When I became a mom I started throwing my whole self into that – motherhood. Slowly I began doing things I enjoyed again – like reading. As a homemaker, the kitchen became my domain. 3 home cooked meals a day (although that includes cereal most mornings) has turned me into quite a little chef. Having so much time to spend in the kitchen has helped me grow my cooking and baking skills. I can adjust recipes as needed, substitute with what I have on hand, and sometimes make stuff completely up and have it all taste pretty good.

With so much time devoted to feeding my family, and just staying on top of daily chores, my other hobbies have gotten left behind. This last Christmas I decided to start sewing again. It’s not something I was ever great at, but I did enjoy. So I made some hooded capes for my nieces and a hat for the littlest one. There was supposed to be a matching dress with the hat, but I ran out of time. I finally made the time to get the dress finished – 3 months late. I am really pleased with how it turned out.

Of course now I need to remember to get to the post office with it before she outgrows it.

I am actually really excited to have accomplished this. I plan on many more sewing adventures in the future, and perhaps more tutorials to share with you! Now I just need to find the hours to craft, go running, scrapbook and garden. So many fun things, so little time in the day.

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This week we should be finishing our bathroom remodel. It’s also the end of the month – YAY – so our menu this week is real simple! Enjoy

Monday – Paul Bunyan Burgers

Tuesday – Biscuits and Gravy

Wednesday – Beef Stew (from my freezer meals)

Thursday – Hawaiian Ham Skillet

Friday – Phyllo Chicken Rolls (another freezer meal)

Saturday – Leftovers

Sunday – Jerusalem Dinner

March 25, 2013
Worrying Never Helps

I had plans for a different post today.

I was going to show you some of the fun decorating we’ve done in our house. Followed by some pictures of the furniture remodeling I have planned for this year.

It was all going to come after I finished my morning plans. Take care of kids, start laundry, clean kitchen, take Prince L to the doctor.

So I did all that. And after leaving the doctors, I spent my time researching, spending more time with my kids, and just worrying. Well, worrying doesn’t do anything productive, so I’ve finely decided to change my post today – since I haven’t taken any photos yet, and the day has gotten away from me.

Our doctors visit was a routine well child check. Prince L is 9 months, and we’re in a new area, so I thought it best to get him in and check how he’s growing. He’s also had a cold, and some pretty terrible nights of screaming that have put me in tears myself. I wanted to have his ears checked as well, in case the cold had caused an ear infection.

The good news – he doesn’t have an ear infection….yet. It’s close to becoming one, so I need to get him better before it goes there.

The worrying news – he’s dropped significantly on the charts in his weight. In fact, thinking about it, I think he weighed the same today that he did at his 6month check. He was born in the 90th percentile, and had slowly come down to the 70th. Today however, he was down to the 5th-10th percentile. His height has continued to be consistent however (90th percentile…big kid).

I love our new doctor. He always has a smile, and completely listens to the 3 Princesses voice their concerns for little brother, and tell him all about their princess dolls, while at the same time actually doing his job of checking up the patient. He reminds me of our very first family doctor – and yes, I did ask him if I could pack him up in a box and move him with us. I liked him that much. So I am very happy to find another doctor that makes me feel secure in my children’s health.

So the new course of action – Calorie Packing my little guy. I’ve had 3 kids who have all grown steady, and could follow what the books say on when to feed certain things. Prince L is going to be different. He’s going to get everything we eat, but in smaller bites, and sometimes mushed up with my baby food grinder. I seriously love this thing by the way! All parents should have one.

And the news kept coming…… Our previous doctor found the abnormality, during his 4 month visit – a concave chest (I’m refraining from pictures here, because it can be quite the shocker if you’ve never seen this). At the time, he wasn’t worried, but wanted to keep an eye on it. Well then we moved. Our new doctor has requested we get a chest X-ray done. He said it’s pretty normal to do, so he can see just how far in his chest goes, and whether it might be causing some of the weight problems. More than likely it’s not, but later on it could also cause some heart problems, so it will be nice to know the extent of his abnormality. I am worried though. I mean, have you ever tried to get a 9 month old to sit still? Not to mention I’ll probably have 2 of the other kids with us as well.

But worrying really never helps. I just need to move into action. For the sake of my little boy, I can’t let the worry of what may happen, what the final outcome may be, cripple me from making the changes necessary for him.

Did you all read my book review yesterday? The book is called Goodnight, Brian. It’s a very touching story of a little boy who isn’t thriving, and instead getting poisoned from the “special” formula he’s taking. It takes so long to find the problem, that the boy ends up severely disabled with a diagnosis of never being able to walk or talk. After reading that book, and then being given the news that my boy is not gaining weight, was a bit distressing to say the least. If I learned anything from the book though, it’s that love can conquer the impossible. I am now officially done worrying, and moving on to lots of loving!

January 15, 2013