3 Quick and Easy Steps to go from Church Chic to Homeschool Mom

I don't know about you, but I love to dress up to go to church on Sundays. I should probably dress for the Lord, but honestly, I dress up because I'm just so excited to be around other grown ups for a few hours! I like to do my hair, put on make-up, dress up fancy and wear heels. It makes me feel like a normal person and I love it!

But Church Chic isn't really appropriate for Monday meltdowns, mounds of laundry, and multiple stacks of dishes on the kitchen counter. So here are 3 easy tips to turn that Church Chic look into a simple and easy to manage Homeschool Mom look.

Step #1- Pony tail or bun

Long hair isn't manageable when you're bending over to pick up dirty clothes and toys, leaning over school work to explain fractions, or standing over a sink washing those mounds of dishes, so pulling it up into a ponytail or bun is very practical. But be careful because you could make this into another attractive hairstyle. If that happens, have no fear, just pull your bangs back with a bobby pin or one of those stretchy headbands.

Step #2- Comfy Sweater

I was homeschooled as a youngster, and I have fond memories of my mom standing in front of the chalkboard teaching phonics in a hideous gray sweater. I remember the cowl neckline, the massive buttons up the front, and the ratty bottom very well. In fact, at one point my mom made phonics tapes for the younger kids to watch while she did school with us older kids (I have 5 siblings), so I'm sure the physical evidence of that sweater is somewhere. She may even still have the sweater.

A while ago, when my older kids were younger, I found this hideous green sweater at Goodwill. It was thick, long, had massive buttons up the front, and the cowl neckline just like my mom's. I had to have it. It has now become my "homeschool mom" comfy sweater. My husband will not allow me to wear it when he is home. He doesn't know comfort when he sees it.

If you find one of these jewels, you can be warm, comfy, and look like a homeschool mom in a matter of seconds. You might even find one with large pockets on the front to hold your cell phone, red pencil, and whatever other essentials you need to carry around all day. That would definitely be a bonus.

Step #3- Jeans or Jean skirt

Depending on your personal style, this must-have accessory can be the clincher. For jeans, make sure the waistband sits comfortably above your mom-pouch (nobody wants to be sitting at the table helping to diagram sentences with a waistband digging into their middle). Also, make sure the hem comes just above the top of your sneakers. Just trust me on this one.

If you prefer jean skirts, long and pleated are the way to go. Give yourself lots of room to move around and breathe. Mid-calf is the perfect length for the look. Back pockets are not mandatory, especially if you've followed Step #2 and have the comfy sweater with the big front pockets. This applies to jeans as well.

I hope these steps will help your turn that Church Chic look into the Homeschool Mom look that's necessary for everyday chores. Follow these three easy steps and your day will be comfy, orderly, and without fuss.

Involving Children in Housework

As parents, sometimes chores and housework can get overwhelming. Add to that children of any age, and it can seem impossible. But there are ways that you can encourage your children to help around the house so you’re not doing the burden of the work yourself. 

The best way to get children involved is by making a chart of chores that they can do, and either giving them a sticker for each chore that gets done, or by marking it off. You can make one yourself by listing the chores and laminating it. You can get clear contact paper at the store for a cheap and easy self-laminate. You can also find free templates and charts online through various blogs and sites. 

Finding age-appropriate chores can be tricky, but with a little common sense and trial and error, you can find chores that your little ones of all ages can do. 

Ages Toddler-4 years

At this age, the little ones want to help with whatever you’re doing. Most of the time they don’t actually “help” but you’ll want to encourage them to help while they want to. If you discourage them at this age, then later when you need and want them to help, they won’t be willing. 

Some simple chores that they can do at this age are:

-pick up dolls, trucks, toys, and put them in bins or the toybox       

-put pillows and stuffed animals on their bed

-put away silverware, plastic bowls (in bottom cabinets), or plastic cups. 

               It’s nice to have a bucket or basket in a lower cabinet with the plastic cups, bowls, and/or plates in it. Then they can also help set the table by getting their own dishes. If you’re super organized and have a separate bin for each toy, it would be best to get down on the floor and help them put each thing away. Expecting them to be able to sort the toys at this age is a huge expectation.

Ages 5 years- 8 years

               Some children in this age range will still be struggling with dexterity and fine motor skills, so you’ll want to be sensitive to those issues. But as they grow older, they will relish having new responsibilities to feel like more of a family.

Expanding the chores at this age would be:

-clean up all toys

-make bed (it may not be perfect, but covers spread over the mattress)

-wipe countertops

-clean toilet

-put away cups, bowls, plates, silverware, etc

-take plates and silverware off of the table after meals

-vacuum small areas

-clean mirrors

               You might want to invest in nicer plastic dishes, or have them take one plate at a time, but at this age they should be able to clean off the table and put clean dishes away. If you’re worried about chemicals from cleaning the bathroom, look into more natural cleaning options.

Ages 9- 12 years

               At this age you can trust them to do more intense work. It still may not be perfect, but it all goes into training them to become responsible, knowledgeable adults. 

Chores at this age:

-basic laundry

-empty and load the dishwasher

-sweep

-vacuum whole rooms

-take out trash

-clean entire bathroom

               You might want to help sort the laundry and leave more delicate clothing for you to do. Or just have them do their own laundry. But the use of washing machines and dryers, and the folding and putting away of clothes can be done at this age. You may be able to think of more chores that they can do at this age, according to the need and the ability of each individual child. 

               As you can see, you don’t have to do the bulk of chores by yourself. By assigning age-appropriate chores, you can train your children to help you around the house. It may be more difficult at first as they’re learning how to do the chores, and how you want them done, but with a little patience and persistence, you can reap the benefits of that training.

A mum gift......or.....Menu and shopping list for 10/17-10/20

This paycheck is really tight. I mean, really tight. I made a menu for the next few days and I had $50 to buy it all. Here's my menu:

10/17 Thursday
Breakfast: French Toast
Lunch: Leftovers
Dinner: Tator Tot Casserole

10/18 Friday
Breakfast: Oatmeal, Fruit
Lunch: Sauercraut and Sausages (sauercraut I bought on clearance a few weeks ago, sausages are left over from a meal last pay period)
Dinner: Hot Dogs, Baked Beans, Potato Salad, S'mores (we're going to "camp" in the backyard)

10/19 Saturday
Breakfast: Biscuits and Gravy
Dinner: Shrimp Scampii (we didn't make the Black Bean, Corn, and Shrimp Tacos last week, so the shrimp is left over)

10/20 Sunday
Breakfast: Muffins
Lunch: Roast, Mashed Potatoes, Carrots, Rolls
Dinner: Leftovers

Here is my shopping list:

coffee                                             $2.79
creamer                                          $2.29
oatmeal                                          $2.29
juice                                               $1.39
hot dogs                                         $1.50
baked beans                                    $1.00
graham crackers                             $1.49
eggs                                                $1.39
sugar                                               $1.89
tea                                                   $1.99
milk                                                 $2.69
marshmallows                                $1.80
chocolate bars                                $1.49
green beans x3                                $1.50
cream of mushroom soup  x2          $1.20
roast                                              $10.81
carrots                                           $1.29
noodles                                          $1.69
broccoli                                         $1.49

I tried to plan the menu off of things I already had at home, so I could spend as little as possible!

So here's how my "gift" came to happen. As we were halfway done going through Aldi (my favorite grocery store) I saw that they had Mums for sale again, for $4.99. I wanted one last time they had them, but they were out before I got there. I turned to Kayla, my 9 year old that went with me, and said, "If we get all of our groceries and I have $5 left, I am going to buy a Mum." She looked at me like I was crazy, but we went on.

I had figured out prices while I was making my list, so I knew we were hopefully going to be right around $50. We got all of our groceries, stood in line, and then finally the lady started checking our groceries.

The total came to....


Wait for it....

$44.99!!

I almost started crying in Aldi. So I went ahead and paid for a Mum, Kayla and I bagged up the groceries, then I picked out my Mum. I was so excited!

I have teared up about 4 times thinking about it. God is so good to think of something so little, but allow me to be able to get it. So I have it sitting outside my door, a testament to God's love for me.

My husband, of course, said something to the effect of, "We can't eat a Mum, can we?" but whatever!

Review for Baked Eggs in Bread Bowls

This is my review for Baked Eggs in Bread Bowls. We had this on October 10th, view my menu here. 

This breakfast was truly delightful! Everyone loved it.

I sliced my thumb slicing the bread tops off, but it wasn't too bad, and healed quickly.

My daughter had fun digging the soft bread out from the rolls, and then cracking the eggs inside of them. (we snacked on the bread while the eggs were cooking)

They smelled so heavenly when we took them out, and they looked so pretty, too! Everyone was excited to get their own.


The eggs were soft but not yolky, so if you like a runnier egg you might want to shorten the time they're baked. It was so delicious to scrape the leftover bread from inside the roll to eat with the egg, and the flavor was delicious.

The kids have already asked if we could have them again, so I will definitely be putting it on the menu for next week! I might even try adding some veggies, or breakfast meats.

2 Weeks Later...

The day has come that nobody thought could happen. Not that most people cared, but still. I've been off of Facebook for two weeks. And I have no regrets and honestly, don't miss it.

The first week I was just fine. When I felt the urge to log on, I just did something else. I read my book, cleaned something, texted someone, I diverted my attention. Then that stuff got boring, and I had a few times of waiting in reception areas when it would have been nice to be able to browse everyone's lives. And then there was a day when I desperately wanted to escape my own reality. But I survived!

This past weekend, however, has been very eye opening for me. I've realized the amount of time I was spending on the website, and how many things I was not getting done. Before I left I hid 80% of my friends list and only had the people I genuinely was interested in on my news feed, but I found myself going to other people's pages anyway.

When I left on October 1st I said that I was going to write down names of people when I thought of them, and then when I reactivated my account, I would only keep family and the people on that list. Seriously though, it would have been a really short list if I had actually kept up with it. Instead I have been texting and emailing people, and that seems to work out just fine. I don't need to know what people had for breakfast, or what they're frustrated about, or where they're checking in to know about their lives. I don't need hourly, or daily, updates about their life, and they don't need them about mine. I have found that I need hourly and daily updates about my own life, and what I'm supposed to be doing in it.

I kept instagram on my phone, but I'll probably soon delete that too because I just find myself looking at pictures and reading comments from people I don't even know, just because I'm bored. Or rather, don't want to do something I need to do.

I also have been writing more on my blog but that was a huge disappointment! Without the sharing of the link on Facebook I am hardly getting any views, much less comments. But I'll keep writing on it because it's good training, and a good outlet. I just need to find more blogs to follow!

Honestly, I don't know how I found time for Facebook. I have had very few times when I've sat down and thought, "I have nothing to do. I could go on FB right now." In fact, it would only take me two fingers to count those times, in two weeks. That may sound contradictory to a previous paragraph, but there's a huge difference between "nothing to do" and "bored of doing stuff and just wanting to zone out."

I can't say that I've gotten more done, or that I've been a better parent, or been more active, or any of that, because I still can't seem to get things done that I want to get done. There aren't enough hours in the day, and I don't have the energy to get it all done! But I have little desire to get back into the social networking world because there has been a certain peace knowing that this is what God wants me to do. And it's really fun to get a text from someone; because it takes an extra effort to do that, rather than just commenting on a line that pops up in front of your face.

There's a time and a place for social networking. I am not against Facebook. I know the many benefits of it, and enjoyed it for a long time. But right now, in my life, it's not beneficial in my life.

Review for Tamale Pie

We had this Tamale Pie on October 5, 2013 and I got the recipe at Better Homes and Gardens.

Overall we were not very happy with this recipe. We had to double it to feed our family of 7, and we had to add a lot of seasonings to it to make it have a good flavor. We also didn't put it into individual serving dishes as we don't have them, and even if we did, they would have been too hot for our little ones.

We'll more than likely have this again, but skip the recipe.

To see menu and shopping list for the first part of October, go here.

Review for Creamy Chicken and Broccoli Curry

I got this recipe from myrecipes.com We had it for dinner on October 4, 2013.

It was very simple to make. Everything went as it was supposed to and the ingredients were sufficient for the amount I was making. The recipe says that it serves 4 so I did 2 pounds of chicken instead of the 1 1/2 mentioned, and we had plenty leftover, and we feed a family of 7!

                                                              Cooking the chicken.

                                              I added paprika to give it a little bit more flavor


Everyone really enjoyed it, and it was filling. I liked that the broccoli was added at the end so it was still green and vibrant by the time you sat down to eat.

                                          
                                                         Putting the potatoes in the oven.

I also make Garlic Baked Potato Wedges. I cut 11 small-medium Russet potatoes into quarter wedges and placed them skins down on a baking pan. Then I brushed them with olive oil and sprinkled garlic salt and pepper on them. I baked them at 350 degrees while I was making the chicken dish, so probably 30-45 minutes, I don't remember exactly. They were very tender and tasty! They went very well with the chicken curry, also, and the sauce made a good dipping sauce for the potatoes.


                                        
                                                     The finished dishes on the table.


We will definitely be making this meal again!

To read my menu and shopping list for the first part of October, go here.