simplertimes's Profile

I YI YI!
so pretty ~ would love as a gift for my sis & bro in law in Milwaukee!

love this question!
so practical.
it hit me last fall, just after the kids went back to school; I just had nuthin.
what I ended up doing (& it worked :) is grabbing a cookbook from the shelf & "cooking through it"...finding recipes from it for the menu plan that week & just going through the motions of making the meals. Eventually my motivation came back.
good luck!
{also like tastespotting}

Our girls (age 3.5 & 18mths on arrival) have been home from Ethiopia 3 yrs now, & you are asking a great question. Since we had our three "big kids" aged 7,9,11 we were really starting over. We very intentionally kept our toy acquisition simple: wooden blocks, duplos, animals (plastic or wooden) in a tub, & a couple of dolls & blankies in a crib. Of course along with tons of books & maybe 3-5 simple puzzles. Seriously that was all. You can put any extras up in the closet in case they come in handy later.
Kids from institutional environments often must "learn" to play, or often be encouraged to use their imaginations, & since we started slowly, our girls have developed more naturally than we would have expected. We spent so much time one on one with them, on the floor, in those early days & they learned so much by modeling our play.
Oh! I just remembered! We bought a slide (plastic-ugh!) for one of their first gifts, because their energy level inside was amazing! They used it over & over (.....) for hours! one of the best things we actually purchased.
have fun!
~

just wondering....
how many posts a week are expected for the job?

While trying to boost my daughter's immunity last winter, I helped her get into the habit of a daily healthy smoothie as an after school snack. We added 1 T. of wheat germ & 1 t. of flaxseed oil to the mixture each day. They both mixed in so well, I would suggest it for anyone trying to find ways to add it to their diet.
~

We have five! kiddos 14 down to 4. We really really believe in family dinners, so it is one big dinner when 1) it is ready (ha ha) & 2) when everyone is home. They all snack a little after school (3pm) because sometimes dinner doesn't happen til 6pm.
All are in bed by 9, & supposed to be in-bedroom-by-8:30 so that time is ours....watch something on hulu...enjoy snuggling on the couch...read...dishes...honestly, we are pretty tired by then.
Getting time together & enough can be really challenging.
Hope some more tips come in!