Bird Watch 2013

April 30, 2013 by Jules Leave a Comment

I'm not a "lets live out in the middle of no where" kinda girl but there have been some awesome perks that come with living in our borrowed log-cabin.

The past month we've been watching our dive-bombing friend, "Mamma Mockingbird" build a nest...right outside our back door...right there in the corner. Its a beautiful nest! I love taking pictures of it and ~~being grossed out by~~ admiring the unique materials she chose to use.

Shortly after training my girls to stomp across the deck as we approached the back door in the evenings, we found a tiny piece of a shell. WHAT!?! Yep, she had a baby up there now. So Cool!

I ran into the house the morning I found the shell and began our "homeschool spring science observation lesson". LOL Yeah, I don't so much plan these things...just pretend I'm clever like that. I first showed my husband the awesome find...he was less than impressed but a little more than eeked-out that I was so excited about it. I showed the kids who tried to mimic my enthusiasm. They were slightly confused.

I did convince the hubs to climb on a chair and take pictures for me. That was quite entertaining for me! He was slightly nervous about "mamma mockingbird" dive-bombing him as he snapped away with his phone. He could hear her chirping up a storm from the tree just a couple yards away. He may or may not have called me out there to "watch his back" and I may or may not have used bright colored paddles as a deterrent to her possible sneak attack.

Maybe this wasn't the best idea...GROSS! We didn't let the kids look in the nest for days...you can see why. We didn't want them to have nightmares! After they become slightly fluffy and a little larger/easier to see, we let each kids take a turn "observing them". Again with the mirrored excitement. With rules like, talk quietly and don't tough, there's little to be enthused about.flip flop pic courtesy of the Iz

We've been "observing" these babies for about 18 days now. They are still not adorable but MUCH better than the first site of pink-skin-lumps. I think we have discovered 5...although they all look conjoined and we still have a hard time identifying 5 beaks at any given time. The kids have learned to love seeing new pictures and even being lifted up to "check on the baby birds".

Our current fear...That Stare. lol No, really its that they aren't going to be pushed out of the nest by their mamma but that one of them {probably the one on the bottom of the stack} will breath wrong and they'll all tumble out. All I hear in my head is the song,

"There were 5 in the ~~nest~~ bed
and the little one said,
Roll Over.
Roll Over.
They all rolled over
and one fell out.
There were 4 in the bed
and the little one said..."

Anyways...I'll update you when they take flight. But until then, I'll leave you with this "meme"!

Happy spring observing!

Filed Under: Homeschool, Parenting, The ones about the Rothacher Home

Activities for Littles & Winter Sanity {Thoughtful Thursday}

March 14, 2013 by Jules 1 Comment

I know its supposed to be turning spring...really! Any day now. But if you live in Arkansas or any state with bipolar weather like AR then you know you're gonna need some tricks up your sleeve this month {and maybe next month as well} for those days when the brisk wind is more like ice daggers. Today I wanna share 3 silly things my kids love that cost little to nothing and entertained them for quite a while.

Pipe Cleaner Art

I had some construction paper, pipe cleaners, and {glitter} glue already in our craft supplies. My 4.5-year-old just went at it! Twisting and gluing. My 3-year-old was having a little more trouble. I ended up cutting lots of different colored pipe cleaners into tiny pieces. Then she told me what picture she wanted to make. I sketched the picture she described with a marker then I helped her outline the sketch with the glue, adding different colors to each part of the picture. They both really enjoyed it!

Indoor Water Play

You may remember we recently went to an awesome indoor playground called the Wonder Place. It was filled with numerous educational centers to play in, one of which being the giant water table. My kids spent the majority of our visit there. This reassured me that my plan to make a homemade outdoor water table for this summer was definitely gonna be worth it! BUT seeing as how we are still in transition and the weather is not exactly conducive to wet outdoor play, we modified our water play.

I filled our kitchen sink with warm water and dish soap. Simply giving them a few "tool" {strainer, spoon, fork, whisk, different sized cups & bowls, grater, etc} to do "experiments" with kept them more than busy.

I wasn't quite comfortable with my 2-year-old standing on a chair, step, or sharing the bench with his sisters for a prolonged period of time...there may or may not have been shoving involved. I chose to give him his own small tray of water with soap, and some safer tools on top of a drop clothe. #winning

Playdough Art

My kids all three love Playdough, like most kids. They do seem to get bored with the same ol' roll, smash, etc. They haven't quite mastered the molding concept yet. Soooo, I have saved a silly amount of cardboard circles from frozen pizza and we decided to use them in our playdough-play. We made, pizzas, faces, several other meals, and lots of "imaginary" things...

Once I got them going on these activities and gave general 'rules', they played interdependent very nicely. Giving them a "new game" seems to help them play well together as well as stay focused for a little longer.

Hope these help spark some ideas in these last few weeks of wacky weather and indoor boredom!

Filed Under: Homeschool, Parenting, The Ones about Post Series, The ones about the Rothacher Home, Thoughtful Thursdays

Getting off My Butt again

February 11, 2013 by Jules 2 Comments

Do you ever have those days where you know what needs to be done but can't fathom mustering up one more ounce of energy to accomplish whatever that thing may be?

Yeah, that! I know giving your kids chores are a vital part of training your children. I mean, how are they guaranteed to learn anything if we aren't going to take the time to teach them much less learn to do it the way we need them to do them...the RIGHT way? Being disciplined about disciplining your child is THE hardest part. I am exhausted all the time. It takes so much energy to make your kids obey. It can be done.

When Mags was an only child, that whole 18 months or so, we were Great about getting off our tush and physically making her obey. I'm not just talking about the count to 3 and then still show grace kind of stuff. Back then when we said, "Listen 1st time!" and "Delayed obedience is disobedience." we meant it! 90% of parenting really is choosing to get off my butt. There is no room for laziness. This is war. You give them an inch, they'll take 2 feet. lol

No but really, have you ever shown you child "grace" just because you didn't want to get up and make them do whatever it is you ask them to do? Have you ever said, "I'm about to ____ if you don't ____"? The phrase, "Don't make me ____" is a common one. A comedian once made a joke about a dad in a store saying, "If you do that one more time..." Really all of these can be translated, "Mommy {or daddy as the case maybe} is too stank'n tired to come make you so can you pleeeease, pretty please just act like you are going to do at least 1/2 of what I was hoping you were going to do like 20 minutes ago?" Am I right?

I've told you many times before of my awesome intentions and epic fails but I'm trying to start slow with a few new things rather than holding off on them "until we move & settle into a new house/routine/whatev like I would rather do. Feed the dog. Simple enough right? I'm just terrible at remembering this. Don't get me wrong, we've had our handsome Melkizedek since before "we" were "we". This has been Matt's dog. I've always ask that he be responsible for feeding, water, and bathing {bahahaha}. With him going to prison, I tried to help with this...well, I tried to make the kids excited about helping with this. My 4-year-old for real has a better memory than I do so I delegated 🙂

Often in the mornings she'll come ask me if Kiz has been fed yet. When I inevitably tell her no and give her "permission" to feed him she skerries off delighted. {sorry, all my brain wants to yell is SUCKA! anyways...} I've made this pet chore as easy as I can for my kids to do and it only required minimal training. Score!

1st I made all the pet supplies easily accessible. They are in the water heater closet right next to the back door where we keep the dogs bowls. Inside the giant Sam's Club bag I have a little cup they can use to scoop the food. They love this because they get to scoop way more times.

2nd I did this a couple times while they watched. Then I did it with them a couple times. Then I watched them do it several times {adjusting/correcting as needed} and now I have very little involvement. Woop Woop! As a matter of fact, Matt came home one day and ask, "Did you know the kids are out back on the porch by themselves?" "YEP!" 😉

3rd I try not to freak out on them. Yeah. Didn't see that coming did ya? I have lots of pet peeves. When Izzie decides to give Kiz "cereal" by putting his food in his water bowl I have to calmly explain to her dogs don't know about cereal and don't really like the left over shards of "cereal" left in their "milk". I don't like my children smelling like the stanky dog...but I have to be okay with them loving on the lonely, smelly, old-man, def dog ESPECIALLY when they are actually obeying and doing a chore I've given them responsibility for.

Any how. I AM attempting to find the energy I once had so I can keep my eyes on the prize and finish the race strong! It's no one else's job. When I ask my hubs, "What the crap? Where did this disrespect and disobedience come from? Rrrrr!"; it comes from Me...or the lack there of. Children were not born "good kids" or "brats". We are shaping them and the adults they will be. No wonder its so exhausting.

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

Personalized Mailboxes & Love Note Station {Thoughtful Thursday}

February 7, 2013 by Jules Leave a Comment

Thoughtful Thursday a weekly series on asJulesisgoing.com

Again with Target saving the day! I love the dollar spot & I was so excited they had these adorable mini mailboxes again this year {since I was too slow to score them last year}.

We are using these cute lil guys as part of our month long Valentine's Day Party. All I did was buy different color boxes for each child. My Target has pink, red, and white in the small $1 version & the same colors in the larger versions but those were $5. The only reason I got larger ones for Matt & I was because they didn't have enough of the 'right colors' in the smaller one. {almost missed them again}

I used some of that great chalkboard paint leftover from our chalkboard table project.

All I did was use painters tape to mark off the rectangles I wanted the tiny chalkboards to be on the front of the mailbox door as well as the side {that one was a little bigger than the front}. I made one rectangle "stencil" and pulled it off to use on each mailbox to make sure they were the same size.

Putting multiple coats is the best idea for a chalkboard that will last. I did chalkboards rather than just using sharpy for writing their names so I could use them for other things if I wanted to.

Let these dry really well between coats. Be careful though...if you let the tape stay on until the its completely dry it will tend to pull up the paint. I put on the 1st coat, removed the tape {placing it on the next box I was planning to work on} and then just added the next few coats over the area I already had marked out.

After writing each persons name on them, I set up a "love note station" where the kids as well as Matt & I can write sweet nothings to one anther through the month of February.

Love Note Station includes:

chopped up red, pink, purple, and white paper using cutesy scissors
heart hole punch
red, purple, black pens
pink highlighter
heart, flower, Valentiney stickers

Tuesday was our first day to introduce the boxes and they LOVED them! They loved getting notes from their parents about how much they're loved. They were also really into 'writing' notes to one another...this basket was EMPTY day one...I had to restock with more paper & random stickers.

I am also using these little boxes to give the kids silly treats or tiny toys {I got on 50%+ off sale after season last year}. Tuesday I cut up packs of those jelly window clings and gave each kid only a couple. I plan to give them a few at a time so they new doesn't wear off as quickly. I have heart bracelets, heart popper thingies, and candy divided up in bags marked with each child's name so every other day I can sneak a treat into each kids box.

My oldest is on the verge of reading/writing on her own so we used the highlighter to write messages she thought up and then let her trace the letters with her own pen. I think when they're a little older I will add a bible or list of scriptures about love to the station or even cutesy Valentine's Day library books for a little inspiration!

What are you do'n with your kiddos this lovely season?

Filed Under: Gifts Ideas, Holidays, Homemaker, Homeschool, Parenting, The Ones about Post Series, The ones about the Rothacher Home, Thoughtful Thursdays

Valentine’s Day Tattoo Gifts & Cards {early Thoughtful Thursday}

February 6, 2013 by Jules Leave a Comment

Thoughtful Thursday a weekly series on asJulesisgoing.com

I know it's not Thursday but I really wanted to share our inexpensive Valentine's before next week. These were so easy and I think some of you would LOVE this idea for your littles to hand out at their preschool or nursery.

I love not only giving our neighbors seasonal gifts but our church family as well. Since my kids aren't in daycare or preschool, we treat our church friends like classmates and it's a good excuse to show some love'n every now & then. Since we plan to homeschool, starting this tradition early will help form this habit as well as let my kids enjoy some of the typical public school traditions. Valentine's Day Parties and passing out Valentines were always so much fun!

We are on a pretty tight budgets so I wanted to do something simple yet fun for Valentine's Day. This will actually be one of our last Sundays with our current church family before our preview services & launch so I Really wanted to do something kinda special to let these families know how much they've meant to us.

When I found these adorable packages of tattoos at the fancy dancy Targe', I knew just what I wanted to do! I believe they were $5 a bag. . They only had two different kinds at the Little Rock Target I was in but it worked great. Boys- Pirate Tats & Girls- Heart Tats! I didn't want to simply put my kids' names on the 'from' line and to be honest, 1. I don't know all the kids in their 2 different classes, 2. I forgot to ask for a list and 3. You never know how many on said list or how many newbies will be there on any given day. I chose to make one {FREE PRINTABLE!} label work for both packs...mainly because I'm lazy 🙂 but partly because I wanted all the kids to be able to hand out guy & girl boxes and not from each specific child. I did cut them out using different shears to give them a little different look {girly vs boyish}. This kids had fun helping me put together their Valentine's! Here's the final product:

If I can remember, I may go back & snatch some left-over ones on an after season sale and have them for next year as well! Anyways... 😉 Maybe this will help somebody searching for an inexpensive Valentine idea for an entire classroom full of kids but with a small personal touch.

Don't forget to get your FREE Valentine's Day Pirate/Heart Printable Cards/Labels!