Guest Blogger Numero Dos

Child Labor Laws 

Written By - Jennifer Hambrick

This one has soap box potential. Consider yourself warned.

We had just gotten home from the grocery store with a van full of food to bring in and put away.
It was past dinner time.
Nobody had napped.
Jeremiah had to work late so I was by myself.
I was having numerous contractions and knew I needed to lay down.

And so, I asked every kid to help carry in the groceries with me and then asked Ella if she would get the boys in their pajamas while I worked on putting away the groceries and starting dinner.

She did a stellar job.

And we all got to eat dinner a little sooner.
And I got to lay down a little earlier.

I have read and overheard on several different occasions lately of other mothers proudly announcing their opinions that it was "unfair" to "burden" their older child(ren) with caring for their younger child(ren).

Ahem.

To put it nicely, I just sort of scratch my head at this train of thought. I don't get it. I feel absolutely no angst or guilt about expecting all family members to do their share of work and help each other out when necessary. I don't see any benefit in the whole coddling thing, and I make no apologies for it.

While I am careful not to delegate any responsibilities relating to safety to Ella (at least at this age) I can only think of the good things that come about from her sharing in the responsibilities of the family in age appropriate ways. Or possibly in some maybe not so age appropriate ways, as I don't know many other five year olds that can get their younger brothers ready for bed.

Then again, I don't know of any other five year olds that have a four and three year old brother either, ha!

I can, however, think of numerous character flaws that might arise out of raising a child to grow up thinking that they shouldn't be made to carry any responsibility within a family.

I can't wait for the day that Ella can actually baby sit for us. Or for the boys to cook dinner for me. And you had better believe they will all be pitching in with laundry. Glory hallelujah, I can see a day coming!

I am trying to raise self-sufficient children, after all.

Ok, stepping off my soap box here.

Am I completely off my rocker here? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this issue...

In the meantime, I have to go check on my son who is currently cleaning my living room.
























**Actually, he is just fulfilling his "consequence" for deciding it was a grand idea to break his pretzels up into little tiny pieces and fling them all over my living room.**

Guest Blogger

Straw Bale Gardening: 101 

Written by Tasha Via 

It appears as though I have sparked some interest from many of you about my straw bale garden.

Let me just preface this by saying, I don't really know what I'm doing.  This is the first year I am attempting this and, as I quite frequently am reminded of, I kill just about everything green around this house.

With that in mind, I do have a couple of helpful sites with step-by-step information on how to get your own straw bale garden started.  And since I never profess to be better than the average gardener I will let these sites speak for themselves.

Why would you choose to do a straw bale garden?

• We live on top of granite...literally.  It is about six inches down under the whole town of Rolesville.  It makes gardening even that much more difficult.
• You don't have to have a large yard to have this kind of garden.  Just large enough to put a few bales of straw.
• You don't need much soil.  It really saves money in the long run.

Where did you figure out how to do this?
First of all, I saw the idea for the first time on this blog.  I figured it was worth a try.

Her bales looked awesome by the time it was all said and done.

Then, my friend, whom I've talked into doing this with me, found this great link to a local guy who is obviously a pro at this sort of thing.

Do you have any pointers for us?
Yes, I have already learned that you are supposed to place the straw bales sideways, with the string around the perimeter and the loose ends up and down.  This will help keep them together as they begin to disintegrate.  I turned and rearranged my bales yesterday.

Do you have any other resources that you can pass along?
If you are still unsure about this technique or have more questions, this site may be able to help.  It goes into great detail about the type of bale you should buy, the different layouts of your garden, how to plant your seedlings and how to take care of the garden.

And if you're still not sold on this idea, you can read more about straw bale gardening HERE, HERE and HERE.

Hopefully by the end of the summer my garden will look something like this!  Hey, a girl can dream can't she?

No Not Me Never Ever Monday ; )

I would never ever make a blog and let it sit for over two whole months . . . No Not Me, Never Ever!

I would never ever chalk it up to being pregnant and not feeling well, and then I surely wouldn't blame it on having a baby and being so completely exhausted.  I mean, what mom (that has three children 2 years and under) would ever be exhausted any how?  If I were to be so exhausted, I wouldn't secretly envy all of my sister-in-laws who I feel are super moms.  (Yes, even you Joy . . . crazy Super Nanny Therapist)

I also wouldn't ever read other mom's blogs and drool over their energy and tenacity.  I mean I always have my act together.  I have each day planned out and maximize my time to capacity.

And certainly, I would never ever watch TV while FINALLY getting around to writing a blog that I hadn't put off for two months.  No, because that would distract me and it might also take twice as long to do a task that I am always so focused on.

Adoption Fundraiser

 

Friends! I am trying to help raise funds for two families to bring home two precious little girls from Africa!

From now till the end of this month, I will be giving 100% of my commission to these families.

For every dollar, they will receive 25% to go towards their adoption.

Plus! AtHome America is having their HUGE January SALE! So, you will get a ton for your dollars worth and give to a great cause at the same time!

Visit www.athome.com/keeshavia to look at a catalog and place your order. Or, ask me how you can give directly to these families' funds!

Please spread the word!

Let's try to get 25 $100 orders by the end of this month and help bring those precious girls HOME!


Keesha Via
AtHome America
HomeStyle Specialist #42343
www.athome.com/keeshavia
keeshavia@gmail.com
_________________________________________________________


Follow the link to get connected to this event on Facebook.

Oh My Lanta!

This was the look on my face  j u s t  before I, well, you will have to read on to discover my unfortunate fate.

I was feeling so exhausted earlier that I decided it would be a GREAT idea to let the kids have some room time for them selves while mommy rested a bit. 

Everything seemed to be going swimmingly.  The kids were getting along.  I heard playing and laughter.  I was able to get in a good nap.  Then, I heard Bella fussing a little bit, and I kind of knew what that meant.  It meant that Ilijah must have fallen asleep, because, frankly, her world is pretty much perfect when her brother is around. 

Sure enough! 

I came down to the room to check on the kids, and Ilijah was sleeping soundly on his bed.  Sweet, I thought.  But it was at that very moment that a strong odor began to saturate my poor pregnant proboscis.  I chalked it up to a poopy diaper, and then proceeded to take Bella on downstairs. 

When I made it down the steps, I noticed the foul smell was not coming from her diaper, but rather her HANDS!  Oh my LANTA came to my mind, and then I began investigating. 

Why did her hands smell so bad?  Where was this coming from?  She doesn't have a poopy.  Her clothes are intact, and for the most part, everything seems normal.  What is going on? 

I cleaned up her hands as best I could, and made a mad dash back up the stairs to further investigate.  That is when the above mentioned picture came into play.  There, in the middle of the kids' floor was one of Ilijah's pull ups with poop all up in it.  Around the pull up was poop everywhere! 

Needless to say, I made a mad dash back out of the room and into the bathroom . . . you can fill in the rest of this scenario with your own imagination. 

Now, Ilijah is still sleeping, and he is under his covers, so I still have no clue if the pull up on the floor is the one he was wearing, or if Jacob or I simply forgot to properly dispose of one previously.  What I do know, is that I CANNOT GO BACK INTO THAT ROOM. 

Poor Jacob has to come home from work and immediately get to work on one of THE most disgusting things I have yet encountered as a parent.  But I tried.  I fought twice to go back into that lugubrious
room to undertake the vile duty of cleansing the filthy sewage, and both instances, the circumstances were the same. 

I am weak, I admit.  However, I do have the unfortunate "gift" of the almighty pregnancy proboscis!  Which I believe is much more of a curse.  This "gift" is so dissatisfactory, that I can smell things almost 10x more potant than usual.  Uggh it is just simply awful.

As I wallow in self pity, I ask my self, "Has anyone else encountered a similar fate one unsuspecting afternoon?"  I do have to look on the upside, however.  At least I made it to the bathroom.

Deal of the Day!

Purchase the Casual Cook Red Rectangular Baker - Medium for $15.99 and receive FREE shipping on your ENTIRE purchase order!

Visit athome.com/keeshavia to view our online catalog and then e-mail me at keeshavia@gmail.com with your order!

Handcrafted, versatile bakeware adds a pop of color to all your culinary creations. Sports a glazed exterior and a cream interior, and handles for easy handling from oven to table. Dishwasher, microwave and oven safe.

Yeah, It's One Of Those Days

Today is just one of those days.  A list of things to do a mile and a half long.  The never ending nag of things past due, things needing to be done, and things yet to come.  If I make it through this day without procrastinating, it will be a miracle.

How do things creep up on you so quickly?  I mean, that is an oxymoron right?  Creeping up quickly.  It feels as though I just did all of that laundry, and I just cleaned the kids entire room.  What happened to my squeaky clean bathroom?  Oh my.  Discouragement settles in.

But, I WILL conquer this day!  Just knowing the fortitude of other mothers I have out there backing me as I go into battle will help me fight the good fight.  I also know that I have God on my side, and that in the end, a squeaky clean home isn't necessarily what He needs from me at this moment.  Oh my, it is good to know that I can rest in Him.  Starting to calm down.  Thank you Lord for letting me cast all of my cares upon you.  Thank you for making this world mean so much more than a mundane meaningless morning.  Praise be to you God for your glory endures forever.

Guess who's back?

That's right.  I am back as an AtHome America Specialist.  I know some of you all were wondering if I was selling this season, and I am!  If you need anything for the Holidays, we have tons on our Clearance section in the Attic.  Plus, you can earn a ton of free gifts by becoming a HomeShow Host.  Let me know if you need anything and I will be glad to help you out!

Signs of a Reader.

For all you moms out there who have begun the task of teaching reading. 

What were the first signs that they were ready?

What were your first steps?

Where do I go from here?

Ilijah has always shown signs of being an overly motivated learner.  I was gung ho about pushing him early on, and then I decided that he can learn tons without having to "sit down and work".  Now, however, he is showing further signs that he is ready to move on to the next level by recognizing words. 

We were sitting in the movie theater about 2 months ago when a trailer came up for the new Scooby-Doo movie, but all that came up was some music and the text of the movie.  However, Ilijah knew right away that it was Scooby-doo, and he screamed it out in excitement.  Now, I understand that he probably just recognized what the typical Scooby-doo text looks like, so I didn't pay it much mind.  Then last night, we were watching a documentary called Babies and when the text for the film came up again, he yelled out "BABIES!"  This time there were no cues, no pictures, nothing that would lead him to recognizing this word.  Jacob and I were astonished and so we rewound it and asked him to tell us again what this was, and he did.  He has been doing this with several words lately, so my question is . . . What now?

Bella's Birthday Cake

 

Let me start this off by saying that this was the very first time I have ever used fondant.  Needless to say, I was more than a little nervous.  I mean, I have heard horror stories about this stuff and how hard it is to work with.  

However, I must say that it wasn't bad at all.  As a matter of fact, I would even go as far as saying that I preferred this over having to use icing to decorate with.  Now, of course I did dirty ice it in order for the fondant to stick . . . oh, and icing is better tasting, so we just peeled the fondant off when we finally consumed the cake.

This Barbie Princess cake was made from Devil's food and strawberry cake mixes.  

I layered it with two layers of Devil's food and strawberry in between.  

I iced it with chocolate in between and strawberry slices, and then I dirty iced the whole cake with white frosting.  

Then, all I had to do was roll out the fondant, which was pre-made and purchased from Wal-Mart in the cake decorating aisle of the art section, and lay it on the three layers of cake.  

The cakes were baked in two bowls and a pan.  

Each bowl was a different size in order to give it the cascading dress effect.  

After I placed the fondant on on the cake, I cut a slit in the cake and gently stuffed Barbie in, then I simply formed the dress the way I wanted, and then cut the excess fondant with a pizza cutter.  

Then came the hard part.  

I had to now paint the icing.  

The colors I purchased were not at all what I had wanted, but I worked with it none the less.  

It would probably be better just to make your own concoction with food coloring, plus this icing paint tasted like poo . . . it is a good thing that we put it on the fondant and not in the actual icing.  

And, that is it!  It wasn't a difficult task, just time consuming.