Lost Domain Name and Other News

Well friends, it's been a while! I didn't check my blog email for months and the result is that I didn't see the email telling me my credit card on file was expired so my domain name would not be renewed. If I want to renew it now they are asking for lots of money so I'm not going to do it. In the mean time, please note that the address for this blog is now Family Life and Home blogspot.com. That is https://familylifeandhome.blogspot.com/ . 

Papa and I 

Checking In!

Hey everyone, yes I am still kickin'! I disappeared for a while; I kinda imploded. Not a pretty picture. I was burned out big time with blogging and I had to take a step back and take care of me a bit. My food allergies had become so intense I was getting desperate for help, life was miserable! I knew I would have to get serious and come up with some kind of a plan to get better and quick. 

I Just Had a Moment

Excuse me but I just had a moment; after a long day thats still not quite over, a moment of tears running down my face, crying uncontrollably for just the tiniest of moments. Oh don't misunderstand, they were tears of joy, tears of sheer gratitude and love and the realization once again of my many many blessings!

I sat down for a brief moment and started scrolling through the photos on my phone that I have taken over this last year. It has been a busy day, the big kids are out of school and my house is bursting with children. I love days like this one, the kids playing together so well. They laughed and had so much fun and squeezed every ounce out of every moment. Not that there weren't moments of disagreements and a few boo boos. But all the hard work of training them to be kind and polite to each other showed today. The really hard work of being patient while helping them work through being selfish and hard to get along with and instead learning how to share and be fair in play.

Taking a Break till August!

Hello everyone! I am really having a hard time juggling all my responsibilities and blogging duties! With all the kids here everyday and with the heat it's has become very hard for me. Most of you all know I have Fibromyalgia and Hashimoto disease. Daily life is hard period! But the heat really slows me down.

Perfect Gift for Grandparents

As a grandparent, I have always planned to write my life stories down someday for my grand kids. Family stories are so wonderful to have and I most certainly love and cherish the oral stories passed down from my grandparents. (It would be so great to have those stories in writing!) But where to start? And what is is interesting about my life?

Well I now have the perfect thing to jump start my memories and stories! Stories From My Grandparent, an Heirloom Journal for Your Grandchild has been put together by my blogging friend Susan Adcox.  It is an heirloom journal that asked the questions for you; you just fill in the blanks! Oh it's wonderful and so easy to do! And I really do love that it's spiral bound and lays flat to easily write in. A perfect gift for the grandparent in your life.

3 2 1 Cake

Itty Bitty who is growing fast and not so itty bitty any more was at my house on her actual birthday. Her birthday party is scheduled for Saturday. I only had two girls and of course she needed a birthday cake. I mixed up a quick 3 2 1 Cake in a half pint Mason jar and topped it with sparkly pink sprinkles and a splash of colored sprinkles. I found that I didn't have any candles and put a match on the cake instead for her to blow out. 

A Picture Paints a Thousand Words

I've been sitting on this news for a while..........

Yay! Need I say more?! 




Copyright © Family Home and Life 2010-2014 All Rights Reserved

Radio Flyer Ziggle: A Review

*Disclosure: I received a free Ziggle ride on toy from Radio Flyer for purposes of review. However, the opinions below are completely my own. 

Parents and grand parents, or anyone who wants to buy a ride on toy for their favorite child please read this! You need to get them a Ziggle from Radio Flyer! Oh gosh have we had fun with ours! A Ziggle is a ride on toy that your child will love too. With a twist and wiggle to make it go, it takes only a second or so for them to figure it out and they are off! Then the giggles start! What a wonderful way to get them out side and enjoying the wonderful spring time weather. 

  

Artterro Eco Art Kits; A Review

Disclosure: I received free product for purposes of review. Opinions are my own.

I am excited to tell you about Artterro, Eco art Kits! Artterro is an award winning company that offers quality art supply kits that are also eco friendly. When I agreed to do the review, I thought I would be receiving kits for kids....but let me tell you that while your kids will love Artterro Kits, the adults in the family will too! If you have read my blog very much you know I believe in teaching kids to sew. Learning skills like sewing and crafting is wonderful for kids self confidence. Skills that create an 'I can do it' attitude. 

Who Am I Going To Be Today?

I haven't written a post like this in a long time. I hope you will read this in it's entirety; thanks!  Oh and FYI - I have chosen to alter my photos as I have to discourage unauthorized reuse of pics of my kids :)

I can say with certainty that where ever you are right now and with whatever is going on in your life, it will change! It won't always be like this. Try to see the bigger picture of your days and know that it all passes, usually too quickly! 

Pocket Purses

I call these Pocket Purses and they are easy and fun to make! I made them for my grand daughters but I want one too. They would be perfect for going window shopping as they are the right size to hold the basic necessities, just add a longer handle. Add a different handle to dress them up or make them your own style. 

Mason Jar Monday Gifts

Isn't this just the sweetest, cutest, prettiest thing you ever saw?! I have stopped by What Happens At Grandmas several times to have a look at them. Joyce made these for her grand daughters and I am absolutely in love! I'm trying to figure out how I can get adopted by one of her kids so I can qualify for one of these jars! I'm not going to tell you why she made them or from what - yes it is something special - because you should stop over to read for yourself. You made need a tissue like I did for the tear or two that I cried. I am sentimental like that! 

Lollipop Seeds

This is a re-post from last year as I simply ran out of time. Have you heard of Lollipop Seeds? Then be sure to read on!  I am giving the kids Lollipop Seeds again for Easter this year as I had special request for them from the two older kids. 

Easy Easter Gift

Here’s the Easter project I made for the grand kids. It’s simple, easy, and inexpensive. I need all three of those ingredients! It may not seem like enough of a gift, but with all the other candy and toys they will receive, I doubt they even think about that. I think it’s a gift they will remember for years too. Let me show you what I made.

Celebrating What I've Learned

Today I want to give a short run down on some things I have learned about blogging this last year but first......welcome to March! Yay! Oh, why am I so happy about March? Well those of you who know me and read this blog know that last month was terrible - so happy to see it behind me. And best of all....March is my blog anniversary month! I can't believe it has been two years since I first began. (2 1/2 really, you will have to read my about me page to understand that) This last year, I really stepped it up by posting better content on a regular basis, and started two link parties...Wow Us Wednesday and Grandparent's Say It Saturday. 

Peanut Butter & Jelly Game

This is a home made gift I keep on hand when I need something quick to give to a child. It's called the Peanut Butter and Jelly Game. Super easy to make, of course, it's inexpensive too. (you know me :) Kids from about age 4 to 8 love this game; some 3 yr olds may understand how to play too. The directions here are for enough pieces for 4 players.

Please Vote!

Family Home and Life has been nominated for the SeniorHomes.com 2013 Best Senior Living Awards! The contest aims to identify the best resources–both online and off–for older adults as well as the caregivers and professionals who serve them. I am are thrilled to be nominated for this award and I need your votes to move on to the final round!
To vote for FHL, “like” FHL on our nominee page here. Both Facebook "likes" and Google +1s are counted as votes, so vote twice – if you want! Thank you for voting for the 2013 Best Senior Living Award!

 Thanks again :)



If you are reading this post anywhere else but at Family Home and Life then it was used without permission! Please report it! Copyright © Family Home and Life 2010-2013 All Rights Reserved

Spoon Dolls

I had my oldest grand daughter dropped at my house for a quick and unexpected visit. She always likes to make crafts with us so I decided we would make Spoon Dolls, a craft I had wanted to make with them but I wasn't totally prepared for. Dad said we had thirty minutes so I got busy gathering craft supplies. I recreated parts of this tutorial for you because I was rushing to get through it all and also wanted to enjoy our crafting session as much as possible, so I didn't take enough photos.

You'll need fabric scraps, chenille stems, scissors, spoons (any kind plastic or not) glue, a glue gun or safety pins, eyes or paint them on or use markers.

Cut the yarn into 1/2 inch or so lengths and cut each chenille stem in half. Cut fabric scraps in roughly a triangle to fit the handle of the spoon.

Glue on the eyes (adhesive ones would be nice here) or paint them on. I used acrylic paint for the eyes on some and permanent marker for others; the marker can rub off. Wrap the chenille stem around the spoon, bend the ends up for hands. Wrap the fabric around the spoon handle until you are happy with how it looks then secure with the glue gun or use a safety pin. I have a straight pen here to hold it until I took them to my glue gun which I had in another room to keep little hands safe. 

Now pour some glue into the spoon bowl and start adding your yarn pieces. Add more glue and yarn until you have enough. Now you will need to wait for the glue to dry, we sat ours out in the sun. You could use the glue gun for the hair too but my kids are too young for that and then I would have taken away from them a large part of making these dolls.

And here are our three little Spoon Doll cousins! We had fun and the girls loved their little dolls. It doesn't take a lot to make a craft with your kids. And while it's nice to have lots of crafting equipment and supplies around you really don't need them. I love to make things on the fly like this and use what is already in my house. I don't want to buy more 'stuff' when it's not necessary. I've learned to make do with what I have, and that's all I need.

I have had a lot of content theft lately. If you are reading this post anywhere else but at Family Home and Life then it was used without permission! Copyright© Family Home and Life 2012 All Rights Reserved

Family Harvest Day 2012

We had a wonderful time at our Family Harvest Day and had a smaller crowd than last year. We kicked off the day with family group photos on the straw bales set up for this purpose. We are short on boys in our family but the girls make up for it with silliness and rough housing! No get together is ever complete with out a wrestling match with Papa :) 

Then it was on to the fun and games! First we had a sack race that I completely forgot to photograph.  After a short break we had a three legged race with a child paired up with an adult. Even the adults had fun with this one and I think we had three or four races before moving on to the next activity. Then we made Scarecrow faces on paper plates all voting to forgo the full size Scarecrows we usually make.

All the kids had decorated a pumpkin to bring and they had a parade around the yard and through the house while carrying and displaying their pumpkins. (I only took the one small pic of that above). Look at these fancy pumpkins! The middle one is Cinderellas Coach, she is inside. The one on the end is Dr. Pumpkin that is happy to make house calls. Great job! 

After this we enjoyed a home cooked pot luck meal that celebrated the fall harvest time. I used the dishes and flatware I purchased last year in keeping with a 'out in the country, down on grandma's farm' feel I was attempting to achieve inside a big city limits :)

There was plenty for the kids to do with a huge yard to run in, a trampoline to jump on, and a large swing set complete with a slide and fort. The kids all the way down to the two year old had an archery lessons using the straw bales for their targets. The oldest girl there, is a very good shot. The day ended with a swim in the pool, yes it was warm enough here for that! 

What  a lovely, fun and relaxing time to visit and play; while celebrating the Harvest season and the blessings we all enjoy through out the year. And we didn't need a theme park or carnival; we accomplished it all the backyard with our family. We made some wonderful memories that day! 

If you would like to read about another grandmother who puts on a Holiday gathering for her family that is out of this world wonderful, then head over to What Happens At Grandma's.  I may be linking this post at these link parties. 

I have had a lot of content theft lately. If you are reading this post anywhere else but at Family Home and Life then it was used without permission! Copyright© Family Home and Life 2012 All Rights Reserved

Hang It Backwards

Here's a tip I learned from the Flylady. Have you heard of the Flylady? If you are living in 'chaos', need help getting organized, need help figuring out how to get your house cleaned up and keeping it that way, then you should get to know her. 

The Flylady suggest that you put all your clothing hangers backwards in your closet once a year, then after you wear them hang them back the right way. After a year throwing out all the clothing items that are still backwards because you haven't worn them.

(I intended to have a pretty photo of my grand kids closet to illustrate this with but things didn't work out that way so here's a pic of hubby's closet. I'll replace it when I do have a pretty picture)

I can think of at least one other way to use this 'hanger backwards in the closet' trick. How about helping your kids know what to wear for school in the mornings? In our family, the dad's are often the ones who are getting little ones ready and out the door to school; and occasionally grandma. With a weeks worth of clothing hanging in the closet with the hangers backwards (prepared by mom ahead of time), it's a snap for dad, the child, or grandma to pick out an outfit for the day. 

Here's Flylady's site if you are interested in having some organizing help.

Linking at these parties.

I have had a lot of content theft lately. If you are reading this post anywhere else but at Family Home and Life then it was used without permission! Copyright© Family Home and Life 2012 All Rights Reserved

Reading to Babies?

The other day I had my hands full with two cranky one year old's and a over energetic four yr old. While I was putting the babies down to nap, perhaps earlier than necessary (ahem, the day started with them arriving at six a.m. thank you very much). The four year old decided to read stories to her stuffed toys while I was busy with the babies. When I came back and sank gratefully in my chair for a much needed break, she handed me a stack of books she had read. I thought she was going to ask me to read to her; but instead she said, "Now it's your turn; you read to my babies." I politely declined. 

Would you have read to the stuffed toy babies anyway?




I have had a lot of content theft lately. If you are reading this post anywhere else but at Family Home and Life then it was used without permission! Copyright© Family Home and Life 2012 All Rights Reserved