jls's Profile

Dave Ramsey worked wonders for us. It requires discipline and, as he says, "Adults devise and plan and stick with it. Children do what feels good."

Let the kids share. Our boys are 13 months apart and have shared a room from the time #2 was six weeks old and we moved him room the cradle in our room to the crib in their bedroom. Now they are 6 & 7 and still love being together.

During the summer months our family uses a good old fashioned clothes line in the back yard. Add the sunshine and gentle breeze to the benefits listed above and it really makes sense for our family. It also helps if the super soap doesn't happen to get a stain out then line drying will not set the stain and the sunshine helps bleach it.

I also use my leftover pieces to make cookies (my Mom always called them Crispies so that's what they are still called in my house) and to decorate the top of pies. One other use is to let the kids in your life make a mini pie either in a tiny pie pan, custard cup, or muffin pan. My kids love making mini anything and if the pie is for some special occasion they have to wait for then the mini pie gives them a preview of the goodness to come.

Thanks for sharing everyone. This is exactly what I needed after the long day I had.
My best blunder is a baking one. Early in our marriage most of my family and my husbands family were visiting us from out of state. I was making pies for dessert and decided a recipe for two crusts could be stretched to make three if I rolled them thin enough. I didn't have three "real" pie pans so I had to reused a foil one from a purchased graham cracker crust. When I baked the pies one crust seemed to shrink before my eyes. The entire crust pulled into the center by nearly two inches so the pie filling overflowed and made a mess. My brother-in-law was certain that this was because there wasn't enough crust due to me shorting the recipe. Once I cut into the pie we realized that I'd left the clear plastic cover that had originally covered the graham cracker crust in the pan. When I'd baked the pie it was the plastic that had shrank not the crust. The pie was picked at but eventually tossed since it tasted like melted plastic. I now own four "real" pie pans and just toss the foil ones!

Any shade of green. Kelly green for something traditional, sage green for something soft, forest green for something earthy, kiwi green for something modern. Go green.

I'm in love with this blanket. I really think my kids need one. And maybe a niece or nephews as well.

Summer Shandy, Sunset Wheat, (both Leinenkugel's) and Totally Naked (New Glarus) are all hits in our house.

We had our first son and then 13 months later a second son and 17 months later our daughter. Those first years were busy, hard, and exhausting. But they were also so happy and full of joy. If I could sit in the recliner holding my daughter with a little boy propped up on each arm of the chair while reading to the whole bunch I'd do it over and over. As they've grown they're best friends, a tight little knot of playmates, and each others entertainment.

This is exactly what I did for our three kids. When I first introduced the food I'd have pureed them very smooth but as the kids got older I'd leave more chunks. I too am "just" a mom and not a nutritionist but I really think this helped my kids get over any texture issues. Also, real baby food tastes so much more flavorful than jarred baby food. As a result my three eat nearly every veggies and fruit that crosses their plates. I get asked how I get my kids to eat so well and I don't have any advice for getting a picky five year old to try certain veggies for the first time but if you feed the veggies to your nine month old now you're a lot less likely to end up with a picky five year old.