Homemaker Archives - Page 23 of 42

2 Tips for fast & safe Outside Play {aka Fresh Air}

October 23, 2012 by Jules 2 Comments

Yesterday I talked about the importance of walking it off or getting some fresh air when you and yours are stressed. Today I wanna share a 2 big tips I've discovered to ease this option for sanity as well as keep everyone safe:

Prep ahead & keep necessities easily accessible
- shoes, socks, & set of clothing for each child {blush from the mom of the PJ-wearing kids here}
- outside-specific toys in a place kept outside that easy for kids to retrieve as well as clean up themselves
- stroller ready for ride
- bug spray & sun screen ready depending on the season
- sunglasses & hats
Set boundaries
- "don't go past the tree" or "stay on the driveway"
- teach children to walk on the right side of the road
- hook a rope to a stroller to train walkers near you on a walk
- place something in the way as a giant physical reminder of boundary as well as to keep other drivers a good distance from your little blessings

What fun tips do you have for gaining everyone's sanity once again or for outside play?

linked to Housewife How-Tos

Filed Under: Homemaker, Organizing, Parenting, The ones about the Rothacher Home

Preparing a Place for Guest {on hospitality}

October 15, 2012 by Jules Leave a Comment

Since hearing the story of The Shunammite Woman in 2 Kings 4:8-17 , I wanted to be that host! Always ready with simple essentials for guest, whether they are just coming to chat or stopping for an over-nighter. Having this mindset has helped me be prepared and not frantic when just such an occasion happens. And being prepared has made me eager! Eager to have guest in my home. I enjoy having people in my home on a regular basis.

I'm at the Homemaker's Challenge today sharing with them some of my thoughts on 'preparing a place' for guests, specifically overnight guests, although there's good info for everyone including those who don't have that actual room for them.

Filed Under: Cleaning, Decorating, Homemaker, The Ones about Homemaker's Challenge, The ones about the Rothacher Home

Some Times a Mom Needs to Brag

September 28, 2012 by Jules 2 Comments

Some times a momma needs to brag to feel accomplished with her routine tasks. Just say'n...

My girls both went to Nanna's for a sleepover last night leaving me and the lil man to hunker down for the night after heading to Lowes to grab some lemon grass {fail} and mums. We got home and I put Jamin straight to bed, sleepy boy!

When he was asleep I headed straight for the van to grab my plants and get them in the pots on the front porch.

I spot cleaned the living room carpet.

"Watched" Friends while writing a guest blog post.

Wrote a Thoughtful Thursday post {before it wasn't Thursday anymore}

And worked on my new "Virtual Assistant" job's site {more info soon} all while eating too many {not even very good} no-bake cookies and avoiding writing my #healthymomseries post for the week.

This morning felt like I slept in even though it was 7 {like normal} when the J woke up.

I cheated and we ate cereal in the living room and he watched Veggie Tales {laughing, cheering, and dancing} while I wrote 1 & 1/2 post for my blog.

When he got bored of the movie I brought in his Little People and he played forever.

THEN, J picked a fight with me so I'd chase and wrestle him. All B.O.Y. misses his daddy.

At like 10am, he ASK to sit at the table in his boaster seat...so I fed him lunch. While he ate

I cleaned the kitchen
put away clean dishes
moved and started a new load of laundry
took out 2 bags of trash
checked the mail
loaded the dishwasher

When he was down for his nap @ 10:30, I frantically cleaned all 3 upstairs {NASTY} bathrooms in anticipation of the girls coming home.
{you know it's time to clean when pink stuff starts growing on your blue shower}

Showering, making beds, and working on tagging my consignment items has yet to be checked off the list...

Now I am working on a few more VA details and just found out the girls are coming home around noon.

OOoooo, I almost forgot, I need to eat lunch! See ya later!

Filed Under: Cleaning, Homemaker, Parenting, The ones about the Rothacher Home

DIY Cake Stands {Thoughtful Thursday}

September 27, 2012 by Jules 11 Comments

I love baking! But surprisingly I don't own a cake stand, of any kind. Hmm, how did that happen. Anyways. I'd seen tons of cute DIY cake stands on Pinterest and when this shower came up I thought it would be the perfect time to try out a custom made colorful cake stand and several other Pinterest inspired projects!

As always I looked at pictures online but I'm terrible at following directions so I winged it and did a little tweaking to work with what I had or could get easily. Here's what I came up with.

Supplies {enough for 1 cake stand- I ended up making 4}:

1 dollar tree pizza pan {preferably not warped}
1 dollar tree {short} glass candle stick holder
1 can of each desired color
Glue {E6000- great for glass!}

Directions:

Head to the local Dollar Tree {ya know, where everything is Uno Dollar!} and snatch up your suppies then shoot on over to where ever you buy your spray paint {I did Krylon from Wal-Mart because they had the colors I needed but pic your fav}
Peel off the wrapping from the pizza pan and pick a place to spray away. I prefer to do a light coat on the bottom of my project 1st so then I can concentrate on the most visible part. In this case, the TOP of the pan will be the bottom of the cake stand.

Next spray paint your candle stick holder. I did spray inside of the holder and then the bottom but the focus will be the outside since it will be glued on the pan and sitting on the bottom but I wanted maker sure the white wouldn't be transparent.

Place your pan on a flat surface, find the center of your pizza pan and glue your candle stick there. This is important so it balances your cake and won't tip over. I chose to put the smaller end of the holder on the pan. Then I balanced heavy books on top of the 'bottom' of the holder to assure the glue adhered well.

Vuala, Cake Stand!

If you liked this DIY Cake Stand Tutorial, pin it!

Filed Under: Homemaker, Projects, The Ones about Link-Ups, The ones about the Rothacher Home, The Ones about things Jules tried off Pinterest, Thoughtful Thursdays

Seasonal Decor

September 26, 2012 by Jules Leave a Comment

I love seasonal decorations! I love bright colors. I love bold. I'm a photo lover. But if you've been here long, you're like, "Duh. And??" So you would understand that I have found fun Spring and Summer items. Here is a picture of what my mantel looked like this spring and summer; minus the Easter or Valentines day items I added during those months. See, simple. And lots of PICTURES!

Even bright funky Christmas decor I love. Now Fall...Fall is hard. For years I've settled with the 'traditional' pumpkins, corn, wood, dead flowers, and country scarecrows just because I haven't found something that's me. This year I'm trying something a little different. COLOR! Something uncommon. A little something to add to the red, orange, yellow, and browns of fall. Here were some of my attempts with what I had: