Years ago my family switched to natural cleaners we purchased through our Shaklee, our vitamin and natural supplement company. I wanted a cleaner that was safe for me, my family and the environment, but also one that cleaned well! While I’m far from a cleaning expert, the diluted solutions seemed to do the job.

Recently I started stocking pile Clorox Clean Up wipes. Nothing beats the ease of grabbing a wipe and cleaning. I keep one in every bathroom and under the kitchen sink. When the gunk starts to build, I just whip out a sheet and clean.

Then I discovered a new product from Clorox called Clorox Green Works. Seems like Clorox has jumped on the “green” band wagon, and I’m so glad. I tested the all purpose and window cleaner and the first thing I noticed was the smell. It had a citrusy, clean smell unlike my other cleaner. But does it work? I have no complaints. My counter tops and bathroom look clean, and I even cleaned the dog smudges off the back door!

Clorox Green Works has a full line of natural cleaning products from kitchen counters to toilets all made with plant-based ingredients taken from coconuts and lemon oils. Sounds good enough to eat!

For those really concerned about the environment and animal testing, this is good news. GreenWorks products contain over 99% natural ingredients that are biodegradable and eco-friendly with recyclable packaging, and they’re not products tested on animals.

The only issue I had with these products is trying to find an online price for them, though the company does say these cleaning products are a little more expensive than traditional cleaners because of higher costs to create them. And I’ve known for years how much more expensive natural and organic is, but my family’s health is worth it!

I do recall seeing this product at Walmart, so I’m sure they’re available wherever Clorox products are sold.

You can read more about the desire, development and discovery of this wonderful product!

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In the past I had just wrapped my four kids’ presents and put the name tags on them, then I’d separate them into piles for each child. It made opening presents with four kids less chaotic on Christmas morning.

Then a couple of years ago I started selecting different wrapping paper for each child. No pesky name tags, and I can just throw the presents underneath the tree. The different wrapping paper is easy to find. Of course, it’s important to remember which paper goes with which kid so I just keep a sample with their names on it hidden until Christmas morning.

This year I’m trying something different with Christmas morning since we really don’t emphasize Santa. I’ll be putting the presents under the tree BEFORE Christmas and on Christmas Eve I’m going to hide them all over the room. So we’ll start off with the Christmas story and emphasize how the wise men sought after Christ, the greatest gift of all. Then I’ll give them their little scrap of wrapping paper and let them go find their presents.

Reposted December 2006 

We actually did this last year and the kids seemed to have fun hunting for their gifts. I think we’ll try it again this year! 

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With the holiday season fast approaching, we are starting to look for the perfect gifts for our kids, and since JumpStart World was heralded as “an educational theme park” by the New York Times and “a masterpiece of children’s technology” by USA Today, we felt compelled to check it out.

Knowing that our kids often have limited attention spans, JumpStart has created a unique program that grows with a child, providing new activities every time they sign on. Different learning packs cater to each new grade level (K-2nd), and the program customizes itself to the pace of each individual child. It’s great because parents can be involved in the learning process with features like progress reports from the child’s game-play, customized rewards for encouragement, and educational activity ideas.

JumpStart World has been described as “educational software game based on national and state curriculums and research regarding how play can help children learn. Colorful and fun, JumpStart World is filled with hundreds of games with 3-D adventures that build reading, math, and critical thinking skills while instilling a love of learning and confidence, two of the key ingredients in academic success.” We think Jumpstart is the perfect blend of fun and education and want you to experience just what we mean.

REVIEW:

I was supposed to have a review up, and I tried, I really tried, but installing the product has become a huge hassle. I’ve tried several times, communicating with the quick and attentive customer service reps, but for some reason when I try to install it it comes up as a malicious script and my computer won’t install it.

Obviously this is something others have come across, because they sent me a link for this problem. I tried to reinstall, but the script came up again. Maybe I’ll be able to post about this at a later date, but I’ve spent too much time already trying to figure it out.

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With no family in town, finding babysitting has always been a hassle for our family. That’s why ten years ago we started the Babysitting co-op. A group of families got together and started swapping babysitting and keeping track of how often each couple went out and watched others. It’s been great for these past ten years, but for some reason as our children have gotten older and busier, it’s getting harder to find families to babysit our kids when we need them to.

Our oldest is just getting to the age where he can watch the little ones for a short time, but we’re still not comfortable with him (and neither is he) watching them for long periods of time at night and teenage babysitters are extremely hard to come by.

So what’s a family to do?

Enter Care.com

It’s an innovative and safe way to find quality babysitting!

I’ve only browsed the childcare/babysitters in my town, but they also have petcare, tutors and senior care givers.

I was happy to find Christian babysitters from churches I’m familiar with. It’s really easy and simple to browse the list of available caregivers. You pick the age, price range and distance (among other things) to find a list that’s compatible with your family needs. Then just browse the bios. References are available and for a limited time care.com is offering this service FREE to my readers for three months. So why not give them a try?

To sign up for three free months visit this link! http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=oIbDBoEmAU0cT1wsoFcmLw_3d_3d

After playing around of Care.com I can say this is just what I needed LAST YEAR, when I was looking for a part-time nanny to come to my home a couple of days a week while I homeschooled. These girls are in my town and I’m familiar with the churches they attend (though not all are Christian). I tried finding quality care through the local universities, but this site makes it so easy!

Here’s what one mom has to say about the service! 

“Just as I signed up for my complimentary subscription, I found myself in my own caregiver panic situation. My long-time babysitter just told me last Monday that she needed to get a full-time job, which I can’t offer her. So I went onto Care.com, found a few people in my area to choose from, and checked out their references. In just a couple of days, I pinpointed someone who matched my family’s needs exactly, interviewed her, and fell in love with her! I’m always nervous about hiring a new babysitter unless she’s been referred by a close friend, but Care.com made me feel completely comfortable that the sitters on the site were pre-approved and qualified. It was easy and convenient, and I’m thrilled with the results.”
~ Dana Hilmer, Mom Central Consulting principal and author of Blindsided By A Diaper

Ready for your FREE trial? Visit this link! http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=oIbDBoEmAU0cT1wsoFcmLw_3d_3d

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If you’re a parent of children who plays video games, then I’m sure you’ve struggled with whether a certain game is appropriate for your child. In years past it was almost impossible to know how violent or inappropriate a game was without sitting down and playing the game with your child.

Things have changed thanks to the ESRB rating system. Similar to the movie rating which guide parents in choosing the movies they allow their children to see, the “ESRB ratings were developed to serve as a guide to help consumers make informed decisions about which games might be appropriate for their children and family. ” Many of you may be familiar with the ratings system which looks like this:

On the front of almost every computer and video game sold today is the lettered ESRB rating symbol suggesting age appropriateness. On the back it describes in detail the rating, and content of concern and the reason for the rating. For more specific information and other answers to the ESRB rating go here.

If you’re unsure about a game your child wants, you can find the ESRB rating for that particular game on the home page of ESRB’s website, which allows you to search by title, rating, content descriptor, publisher and platform. My son is wanting some new games for Christmas. Before I say yes, I’m checking out that link!

While the ESRB rating is a great tool to help protect our children, it’s not the only thing we as concerned parents can do. The ESRB website has an easy step-by-step guide to setting parental control features on the newer game consoles like the Wii, Play Station 3 and XBox 360 to prevent your child from inappropriate games.

My boys recently pooled their money to buy the Wii and with the many sports games I wasn’t too concerned about what they were playing. But now there’s dozens of other games to choose from. The ESRB rating helps me make informed decisions on the games they are allowed to play, but I recently learned the Wii can also be programed to manage what content is accessible to the console users.

I have a 5, 7, 10 and 13 year old playing on the same game system. A game my 13 plays may not be appropriate for his younger siblings. To prevent the younger ones access to that particular game, I can set the Parental Controls to the strictest setting and share the 4 digit PIN code with my oldest so he can have access to his games. This link walks you through setting the Parental Controls on the various game systems. If it wasn’t for this site, I don’t think my kids would have let me know about the Parental Controls on the Wii.

My son also likes to access the Internet on the Wii and I just learned that I can control what websites he visits through the Parental Controls.

Esrb.org provides other helpful tips for parents including resources for family-friendly video games.

Though it’s always important to know what your children are playing, it’s not always realistic that we can sit down and watch every minute of every game play. But it’s good to know the ESRB has these guidelines that make our jobs as parents a little easier and our children’s minds a little more protected from inappropriate content and unnecessary violence.

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I’m not very savvy when it comes to the technical side of computers. I love taking photographs, but don’t even know how to edit them to my satisfaction. I’ve tried the basic program on my computer, but it’s limited and does’t do what I want it to do. Plus it’s hard to figure out. I thought about downloading something off the Internet, or buying a program, but it all had dozens of steps and instructions I didn’t have the time or patients to wade through.

Then I found www.lunapic.com

It’s simple, straight forward, not downloading a big program on my computer and best of all it’s free. I’ve only used the crop feature so far, but watched my little cousin work magic with all kinds of special effects.

It really is so simple and easy, even my five year old could do it, if I let her!

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Email addiction!

Lots of people have it. If you don’t, you’re probably in denial!

I really didn’t miss checking my email twenty bazillion times a day when I was on vacation. So what is the urgency to check it every five seconds? Okay, I’m exaggerating, but I think you get what I’m saying.

Is it need for validation? To know that someone is thinking of me?

Is it a need to solve someone else’s problems or requests? To Get R Done, so to speak?

Or is it just procrastination?

Like Michael Hyatt (and almost everyone else with email) I check my email first thing in the morning, then throughout the day and last thing before I go to bed. During the school year I resolved not to go on line BEFOR lunch. On the times I did this my day was very productive. I need to do it again!

If you want more time in your day check out this link! It just might help!

http://www.michaelhyatt.com/fromwhereisit/2007/06/breaking_email_.html

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Check out this neat program for writers.

What writing programs tools, books do you use to help in your writing?

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And they’re always glad I came!!!

I’m making friends left and right! I’m telling you if you need a self-esteem boost, just join Shout Life, the Christian networking space. In just one day I’ve made of 34 “friends” and the requests keep coming, but don’t worry I’m not naive to know they all really want to be my friends. It’s a networking group! And I’m still learning the ropes!

Anyone on Shoutlife? Give me a shout!

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If you haven’t read my Christian Seder series be sure to go back a few pages and catch this three part series. It just might be a fun new tradition for your family.

In addition to an Christian Seder our family incorporates the following into ourEaster festivities:

Resurrection Eggs:
These plastic eggs with “little reminders” of the Easter story is always a favorit. The ones you buy have a wonderful guide to help share the good news, but you can make your own as well.

Legend of the Easter Egg “In The Legend of the Easter Egg, young Thomas learns the deeper meaning behind Easter eggs and the Easter story itself. When his older sister, Lucy, falls sick, Thomas goes to stay with John and Mary Sonneman at their candy store. But all the candy he could desire does not cure Thomas’s aching heart. Only when Mary Sonneman shares with him the story of Easter does he understand the hope he has—and what he can do about his sister’s illness.”

The Easter Promise This is my all time favorite Easter video and a MUST HAVE!
“Jerem dreams of being a soldier for a king. He is thrilled to hear about the upcoming arrival of the true King Jesus. Jerem, however, is fooled by appearances and soon rejects Jesus along with most of Jerusalem. In a wonderful lesson about truth, appearances, and forgiveness, Jerem ultimately trusts in Jesus and witnesses the fulfillment of the greatest promise of all — the resurrection.”

I’m experimenting with Mr. Linky
Do you have any great resources, books and videos you’d like to share? Post about them and leave your link here! And please invite others to do the same, so we can share the Easter love this season. Just link to this post and invite your readers to share their tips here!

Once you click on Mr. Linky, the window with all the links will open up!

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I’ve been having trouble with Internet Explorer 6. My gmail type and visual draft on Wordpress had shrunk and I didn’t know why. Heather suggested I try Internet Explorer 7 but when I downloaded it my computer slowed to a snail’s pace! It took me 20 minutes to get my email up where usually it pops up instantly with highspeed internet. And then when I tried writing an email, another 10 minutes.

So I finally decided to try Mozilla Firefox on Heather’s recommendation and I felt like the blind man healed by Jesus! “I can see!”

No more squinting to see the print on the computer! It’s all back to normal and I’m a believer…in this new browser!

Having trouble with Internet Explorer? Try Firefox.com!

Want more great ideas? Visit Rocks in My Dryer.

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In the past I had just wrapped my four kids’ presents and put the name tags on them , then I’d separate them into piles for each child. It made opening presents with four kids less chaotic on Christmas morning.

Then a couple of years ago I started selecting different wrapping paper for each child. No pesky name tags, and I can just throw the presents underneath the tree. The different wrapping paper is easy to find. Of course, it’s important to remember which paper goes with which kid so I just keep a sample with their names on it hidden until Christmas morning.

This year I’m trying something different with Christmas morning since we really don’t emphasize Santa. I’ll be putting the presents under the tree BEFORE Christmas and on Christmas Eve I’m going to hide them all over the room. So we’ll start off with the Christmas story and emphasize how the wise men sought after Christ, the greatest gift of all. Then I’ll give them their little scrap of wrapping paper and let them go find their presents.

I’m hoping it’s gonna work for us! For more great ideas go here.

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This is reprinted from a published article from 2001
copyright Gina Conroy

It had been my mother’s dream for me to attend a Christian college. Yet she didn’t realize her answered prayer would put 1500 miles between her and her grandchildren.

Like so many college graduates, my husband and I chose to make our home in a state other than where we grew up. For years we have struggled with moving closer to our roots, but always return to the reasons why we stay. It is a great place to raise children, the cost of living is very affordable, and we are involved in our church and community.

Having grown up in the same house as my grandmother, I know the importance of extended family. Although my children may never have that same experience, their grandparents don’t have to be strangers. Since we chose to live so far away, I feel it is our responsibility to do everything we can to keep our kids close to their grandparents.

Here are several ways we try to strengthen the ties that bind us together:

One of the best things we did was purchase a videophone for each of the grandparents. We chose the phone version (although there is also a camera for the computer) so it would be portable and able to travel to extended family gatherings. So far we have enjoyed Christmas, Thanksgiving and ordinary days with our relatives. Now the grandparents never miss the kids opening their birthday gifts or Christmas presents. They’re right there watching… it’s the next best thing to being there in person.

The next best thing to the videophone is sending videotapes or CDs. Once or twice a year I record a videotape of all the special and everyday events of the kids. The grandparents really appreciate watching the kids grow up and having a keepsake of their most precious moments.

Photographs are very important, especially when the kids are young and changing every couple of months. I used to send my family loose pictures. Then one holiday I gave each grandparent a scrapbook photo album with pictures of the kids. I chose a hinged album so I could send pages to them instead of pictures. Now when I send pictures all they have to do is put the finished pages in the albums. Needless to say the grandparents are very appreciative of this.

If you’re like me when we visit family I take several rolls of pictures. But how many pictures of the same pose do you really need in your albums? With the extra pictures we make family placemats. Just attach photos to a piece of paper and laminate it. You can have dad’s family on one side and mom’s on another. Writing the names of each family member also helps them remember who everyone is.

During the school year, my house becomes cluttered with school papers. I send several school papers and copies of their progress reports to their grandparents. At the end of the fall semester we make calendars for everyone with the papers and artwork I couldn’t bring myself to throw away.

We always send homemade cards and gifts for every holiday. We’ve even surprised grandma with an unexpected birthday fax to office.

We love to sit and look through pictures of the trips to the grandparents’ home. It helps the boys remember the fun times they had and not be so shy the next time we visit.

Let’s not forget all the cyber ways to keep in touch with families. There’s email, blogging, online videos and photo albums that allow access to whoever you invite to your site. It’s easier today to keep in touch than it was twelve years ago when I had my first child.

At least once a year we visit both grandparents try to come and visit us.
Since my mom likes to travel, we’ve been meeting her in different states. It’s a fun surprise when we visit a place like Florida and grandma is there.

No matter how long we’ve been apart, when our children get together with their grandparents we all feel as if we had just had Sunday dinner together. It might take some effort, but with help from grandma and grandpa it is possible to stay close even when you’re far away.

For more great tips, you know where to go.

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My six year old has been asking me for weeks, “How many days until Christmas?” He tells me it’s because when it’s Christmas, it snows (though it looks like there’s a good chance of snow tomorrow.)

So I decided to make this Christmas countdown chain. We’ve done it every year, but usually not this soon! Each night we break off a chain and you can see how many days/links until Christmas. Keep reading because there’s a twist to this countdown chain.

Inside the links we put names of friends, family, and anything else we might want to pray about. Then when we break off a link, we read the name and pray for that person!

What a great way to countdown to Christmas while focusing on this season of giving!

For more great Christmas ideas go here.

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Last year when I took a plate of Christmas cookies to my daughter’s preschool teacher I was surprised by her comment.

“Thank you. Not many people give homemade Christmas cookies anymore. It seems to be a lost art around.”

That made me sad to hear that so many people forego this holiday tradition. Growing up my mom always filled shoeboxes of cookies for neighbors, relatives and friends. It was her gift to them. And they’d come to expect it every year and cherish their favorite cookie recipes.

I have to admit I don’t bake nearly as much as she still does. One of the reasons is that it’s too stressful cooking with four kids underfoot and trying to do everything else for Christmas. But if you still want to bake and give those holiday cookies without the stress, here are some great ideas that have helped me.

Start baking now!!! Pies, cookies, sweet breads are all freeze great!! So don’t be afraid to freeze them. I usually freeze holiday cookies (and cookies throughout the year) for those unexpected guests! Then I just pull them out and let them defrost!

Organize a cookie exchange!!!This is the BEST way to do the least amount of work and get the most variety of cookies. Invite your friends over to a cookie exchange party. Then have everyone bake a couple of dozen of one or two varieties of their favorite cookies. On the day of the party, break out the Christmas eggnog and coffee, scented candles and music and arrange all the cookies on the dining room table. You can even have everyone bring their favorite snack to share at the party.

Make sure everyone brings and empty container to take home cookies. Then after you visit for a while, start revolving around the table grabbing 3-4 cookies of each variety. If you brought 3 dozen cookies, you take home 3 dozen. If you brought 2 dozen, then you leave with two dozen.

Then take them home and enjoy. I usually share my goodies with teachers and friend. They don’t have to know you didn’t bake them all!

Cookies in a Jar!!! This has been my standard teacher’s gift for the last couple of years. It is so easy to do, and everyone loves to make their own cookies without all the measuring and the mess. You can make them months ahead of time, so start saving those applesauce, mayo and tomato sauce jars now!
Here’s some recipes to get you started. You may have to cut the recipes in half for smaller jars! Don’t be afraid to change up the ingredients and get creative!

Next week I’m starting a new tradition! Thanksgiving cookies! I’m going to bake and deliver my cookies and breads early. Why? For one thing, the teachers won’t be expecting goodies at Thanksgiving time. Plus it’ll lesson the stress for me when it comes time for Christmas!

For more ideas on “Holidays made Easier,” visit Eileen aka Cybercelt at CoolAdzine.
For more great Christmas idea visit Rocks in My Dryer!

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We started playing this game in the car a couple of months ago, and I don’t know why we haven’t played it sooner! It’s a great argument and back seat bumping diffuser, and even helps the youngest ones recognize their ABC’s.

Start out looking for road signs with the letter “A”. You can either have each child find an “A” or have one person find the “A” then move on to the letter “B.” The problem with the second way is that the older kids almost always find the letters first. Keep it up intil you get to the end of the alphabet!

Today when my youngest two started to argue over something, I just said, “Can anyone find an “A?” They immediately forgot their argument and the game kept them busy all the way to and from picking up my older boys.

Even my 9 and 12 year old got into the spirit of the game!

Try it out, it just might work for you.

For more great tips check out Rocks in My Dryer.

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This FREE program has revolutionized the way I keep homeschooling records. I can’t remember if I discovered it on a WFMW, but it’s well worth mentioning again.

The past couple of years, I bought those spiral notebook type daily planners that all the school teachers have. No design really fit my needs, but I used them anyway, scratching out subjects and scribbling over dates. This year I designed my own daily planner on the computer, one that would fit my needs, but then I found this.

It’s a homeschool record keeping program that will work with any commando planner or unschooler. In less than an hour I walked through the set up program, and was able to add my four students and get a feel for the program.

We’ve been using it for two months now! I rarely preplan their lessons, but what I do is use the tracker as a record keeper of what we’ve studied. I especially love the reading log feature where it records all the books my kids are reading and the copy feature so I can duplicate a lesson or book to my other kids’ log with just a click of a button.

I know there has to be some homeschoolers still using the archaic method of record keeping, afraid of the technology learning curve, but it wasn’t that difficult and it will save me tons of time while keeping my records neat and orderly.

Give it a try! And don’t forget to back up your homeschool records. A couple of weeks ago I thought I lost 55 days of record keeping! But the computer guys found it!

For more great tips check out Rocks in My Dryer.

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This book totally changed the way I viewed each of my children. In fact, I think it’s time I read through it again.

When my oldest was two, he drove me crazy with his bossiness and his involvement in everyone’s business. He was demanding, confrontational with other children, and often had trouble in social situations. He never obeyed and often ran off on his own. Now he’s twelve, nothing much had changed, except that I read this book and realized he’s just who God made him to be.

And there’s a profile in this book that fits him like a glove. It helped me to understand the places in where my son would soar and excel. Here’s a glimpse of the table of contents.

Helping Your Child Fly

Finding Places Where Your Child Soars

Unleashing the Power that Keeps Your Child Soaring

Understanding How Fast and How long your Child Can Fly

Understanding How Your Child Works with Others

Dusting Off Discipine and Helping Your Child Find the Right Skies

Helping Your Child Navigate Treacherous Skies

Putting Your Child in the Best Possible Position to Learn

Wow! After reading those great chapters, I really DO need to go read this again. And maybe this time I’ll pick up the workbook.

One downside to this book is that it’s out of print and you have to search around on ebay or Amazon. I was lucky enough to discover this on a discount book table!

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When my kids were younger I wanted to find a way for them to feel connected to far away relatives and friends, so I made placemats with all the photos they sent us.

On one side I put photos of my family, grandparents, cousins, etc. On the other side I put friends. Then I laminated it. So each day they got to “eat” with their family and friends and when it came time to visit, relative faces were already familiar so my kids didn’t shy away from the hugs and pinched cheeks.

It worked for us, maybe it’ll work for you!

For more ideas visit Shannon.

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I used to send birthday cards to everyone. Cousins, uncles, aunts, friends, etc. That was before I had four kids. I started tappering off the card sending to the third cousins a couple of years ago. It’s not that I didn’t want to, I just couldn’t keep up and to tell you the truth trying was too difficult especially since no one ever sent my kids birthday cards.

But living out of state, I still wanted my family to know I cared about them. Then I rediscovered this or this. I would send the occassional email card here and there, but then I realized I could pre date the cards to send on my loved ones birthday. So in a couple of hours, I picked out cards for most of my family and if they keep the same email address, it will be sent atomatically on their birthday. I even get a reminded email telling me the card was sent.

Free computer cards. Send them and forget them! It works for me!

Visit Shannon for more great ideas.

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