Creative Homeschooling is...Thinking Out-of-the-Box! - Homeschool Blogger

I'm back!!

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 15:47:00 -0600

I'm sorry I haven't added a new post in waaaay too long! It has been a very busy past several months around here. First, we updated our Times Tales product, which involved several months, a few hundred hours of work for me, of learning a new graphics program called Illustrator. The project was finally completed in June, just in time for our next printing.

Also, this year, we did a bathroom remodel this summer and are right now, into a kitchen remodel. Of course all the kids were involved learning to take down walls and cabinets. --learning life skills again, at home!! I will try to post more picts as we progress.

Mexican Riviera Cruise!

Sat, 1 Mar 2008 17:07:00 -0600

Sorry haven't posted in a long time, but I'm back now. A couple weeks ago myself, husband and our two eldest sons went on a Mexican Riviera Cruise. It was eight packed days of eating way too much, getting lots of sun and exploring Mexico. We barely made it to the ship in LA as just when we were to travel, several huge storms on the west coast were rolling in. We drove which meant leaving earlier to avoid road closures...We were literally 8 hours ahead of the very roads we had to travel being shut down. When we finally made it to LA, it was pouring down rain, and lots of flooding. But we made it safely to the ship, soaking wet from the rain and tired from a marathon drive!

Our boys (13 and 12) loved exploring the ship and eating 6-7 meals a day! I just loved being in hot summer weather while hearing reports of massive snow back home. I speak very basic Spanish (like a 3 year old) which actually got us around in Mexico (and out of the tourist trap areas). I had most fun bartering our cab rides. One drawback to our ship experience was a Norwalk Virus outbreak. Several people were sick (and quarantined) which lead to many reports by the captain, how to avoid getting the virus. They actually had forced hand sanitizing before we could enter the food areas--they had someone stand at the door and spray your hands before entering. They got it under control by the time we docked back in LA. Overall it was a great experience!

Closet Make-Over!

Thu, 17 Jan 2008 17:42:00 -0600

After all the work this house took, the closets were way down on the list for improvements. When we moved in, I just put our stuff in there and ignored the rest. For some reason, right before Christmas I got motivated to spruce up the master bedroom closet. It took me one day, some left over paint and peel and stick tiles. Cost aprox. $30

BEFORE

AFTER

All Grown Up!

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 13:52:00 -0600

Sorry I haven't posted for a while~

I forgot to post these pumpkin patch pictures we went with the homeschool group. Below is a picture of my mom and my two older boys dressed up in their suits. We are getting ready to go on a cruise and the boys were showing Grandma their fancy dinner attire. They look so grown up. Grandma said they were strutting around like peacocks!

Me and son #3.

Grandma with two handsome grandsons!

Cheap Cupboard Make-Over!

Tue, 27 Nov 2007 18:28:00 -0600

This House Make-Over post is for all of you who don't think you have the time or the money to fix up your house. This "kitchen cupboard painting project" was done in one day, with one adult (me!), 8 children (ages 4-13) and for less than 100 bucks! See, you have no more excuses not to get started on that project you've been putting off.

Need more information on how to do your next project? CLICK to see lots of great "How To" home improvement videos.

I didn't mind the stain on the cupboards too much but in many places the wood had water damage or the stain was worn off, so to make them nice again, it would have taken ALOT of sanding. Since we plan to do a major kithchen remodel (when we get enough $$ saved for it) down the road, I only wanted to spend minimal amount of money and time making this kitchen look better. Painting the cupboards was the solution. Of course those GIANT knobs from the 60s era had to go!!

Step #1: Take down the cupboards. Even though it takes more work than painting while still attached, it's just too hard to not get paint on the hinges, which looks awful.

Stiep #2 Remove hinges and screws: We had the daunting task of removing total of 360 tiny screws.This is where the 8 children came in! Pictured above is the "hardware crew". Three kids at a time would work for about 20 minutes and then I would rotate a new group of kids to spend 20 minutes, until all hardware was off the cupboards.

Step #3 Lightly Sand: While the hardware removal was going on INSIDE, the sandpaper crew was working OUTSIDE. You will notice that even my four year old was sanding. This job was perfect for the little ones as it just had to be lightly sanded or as I told them, "scratch it up kids!".

Step #4 Prime and Paint: I used less than a half-gallon of KilZ primer (water base) and a little more than half-gallon of creamy white, semi-gloss paint. Primer dries very quickly which meant by the time I finished with all the cupboards I was ready to paint. Yes, the children even helped with this. While I don't have the pictures to prove it, I do have the paint stains now permenantly on my cement. Oh, well... Tip! Before allowing children to paint, double up on the plastic covering!

Step #5 Reattach hinges & knobs: The knobs were the cheapest I could possibly find and actually were the bulk of the total cost to do this project (I already had the paint sitting around). To stain them, I had one of the kids dip each one in a bucket of stain and then let dry. IF I had decided to replace the hinges this project would have cost double (or more!). Since my hinges were covered in dirt and grime, I soaked them in TSP/water solution while we painted. We scrubbed them a little and they came out shiny and clean.

A few days later, I ended up priming/painting over that ugly wallpaper. Did you know you can paint over wallpaper? When we remodel the kitchen down the road, we will put in new drywall, so painting it seemed the best choice for now.

The end result is a brighter, cleaner looking kitchen. An inexpensive, quick fix to hold us off until we do a ktichen remodel. Now, what to do about those pink countertops...any suggestions (cheap and fast of course)???

No More Stinky Kitchen Rags!

Sat, 10 Nov 2007 23:52:00 -0600

My husband has always complained about my stinky kitchen rags and sponges. He's a chef and teaches sanitation courses, so this is one subject that is near and dear to his heart. He'd say I was going to make the whole family sick...which hasn't happened to the best of my knowledge. The problem being, those darn kitchen rags turn "sour" in just a day or two....I just didn't have enough rags or motivation to continually replace them to keep ahead of the stink.

One day, I had a brilliant idea...of course, why didn't I think of this sooner?!?!? Way back, before children, I had a budding career as a waitress. EVERY restaurant I worked, ALWAYS had a bleach bucket where the rags where stored in between uses. This not only solved the stink problem but the germ problem as well!

So, I grabbed a decorative, small, ceramic flower pot, and VOILA!...I had my own little (pretty) bleach bucket right next to my kitchen sink. No more stinky rags or sponges! When I'm not using them I just toss in my little STINK-FREE pot. I have to admit, I don't change the water/bleach each day, like we did in the restaurant, but it usually stays bleachy fresh for about three days straight. And when it's time to refresh the water, I just replace the rag. Another added bonus is, the "old" rag doesn't stink in your dirty laundry while waiting it's turn to be cleaned....in my house, that could be a week.

I just got $250 of Groceries, FREE!

Sat, 3 Nov 2007 22:29:00 -0500

I've been at the Grocery Game now for about three weeks and boy is it paying off! My cupboards are more full than ever....and I spent half the money! Last night, my sister (one of my grocery game partners) and I spent an hour and a half, planning our "game". We went to the store and what a thrill! I bought $350 worth of groceries for $100. This included things like half and half, 24 lbs. of Tillamook cheese, an 18 lb. Turkey, 12 boxes of chex's cereal, 25 lbs. of flour, 3 bags of chocolate chips, 2 gallons of milk, 10 lbs. of potatoes, artichoke hearts, 4 cans of evaporated milk and a few other things I can't think of right now.

You can seriously save a lot of money doing this, IF you are willing to spend some time planning it out. It makes going to the store FUN! My sister and I feel like we are going on a scavenger hunt when we go shopping now. Saving the money is just the added bonus to the "game".

To learn more go to my partner, Dena's Blog, she is the Grocery Queen and has all the links.

Turning Leaves into Cash!

Sun, 28 Oct 2007 15:24:00 -0500

My children are no strangers to hard work. They've ripped off roofs, laid carpet, sod, and linoleum floors not to mention have painted more walls than most do in a lifetime....all before they're even old enough to drive! So, when the leaves started falling, my kids grabbed their rakes and hit the neighborhood. In the past week their "raking business" has brought in over $300!! They have so much "work" they've needed to recruit the help of their cousins (girls in the picts below). Yesterday (Saturday) these little entrepauners raked for 8 hours! Of course they came back home for small breaks and food but otherwise, they did it the whole day.

As I see my children pulling their wagon filled with rakes and boxes of trash bags, I wonder why they're the only kids doing this? Our neighborhood is filled with able bodied boys and girls that could also be raking for money. Is this because children today are just lazy? Or, is it because money is handed to them "for free" (by their parents) so why work for it? If we could go back in time forty plus years, I'd bet this neighborhood would be filled with kids competing for raking jobs...but sadly that isn't the case. Hopefully, this isn't an indication of what our future adults will be like in regards to hard work.

Fun at the Grocery Store!

Sun, 14 Oct 2007 17:43:00 -0500

My partner Dena, spent only $136 on $466 worth of groceries recently by doing the Grocery Game. Seeing all the loot she got (CLICK to see!) inspired my sister and I to try it out for ourselves. So, we met at Albertsons with our "list" (and no children) and boy did we have fun!! The first 15 minutes were spent in front of the cereal isle trying to figure out how all this coupon combining works. I can't tell you how excited I got when I realized I could get 15 boxes of Trix (reg. $ 3.79 per box) COMPLETELY FREE! After 45 minutes of combat shopping ("keep your eyes on the list...") my sister and I went up with our load and coupons and boy did we ever put the checker through the test with all those combined specials. In the end I didn't do quite as well as Dena, but was proud that my original bill of $195 went down to $65, which I COULD HAVE gotten down to $55 had I known that Albertson's honors Safeway's $10.00 off coupon (I threw mine away previously).

The store manager told my sister that recently a woman bought $200 worth of food and only spent $7.00 at his store, playing the Grocery Game!! WOW!! Dena, just posted a new coupon site that is free, check it out.

There I am with a big old grin on my face as I watched the dollar$ come off the total!!!

Here's my loot for $65 which included 12 lbs. of real butter (not the fake stuff, yuk!) and 6 lbs. of Tillamook Cheese and a small cottage cheese...besides a ton of cereal boxes. (we don't usually eat that much cereal but for free, it's a good sweet snack).

Homeschool Truants!

Thu, 4 Oct 2007 14:41:00 -0500

Recently, my two boys (13 & 11) and their homeschooled neighbor friend, had a run in with the law! It all started with a seemingly innocent bike trip to the local store for school supplies. They weren't gone for more than ten minutes when I got a call from the police department. The officer told me he stopped the kids for truancy on their way to the office supply store. I immediately informed him (in a nice way of course) that they are homeschool students and not under the truancy laws. He insisted that although they are homeschooled they are still "students" which are required to be "in school" during certain hours. I went on to explain that I am required to school my children 180 days out of the year but not necessarily at the same time the Public Schools run. He back peddled a bit and said that in future, please send them with a note explaining where they are going.

Well, for the next week, whenever my kids went out (without me) during Public school hours, I had to write a note! This note writing got very old, as they are out a lot during "school hours": paper route, riding bikes or playing in the park across from our house. How did this story end? The police officer called a week later and offered an apology. Apparently, he had checked it out with his police chief and discovered that homsechoolers (in our town anyway) are exempt from truancy laws. I thought it was nice that he did that but more relieved that I didn't have to keep writing notes.

Going to the Studio with Dad!

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 22:20:00 -0500

One of the things I love most about homeschooling is the freedom if provides children to go on "mini-learning adventures" as they arise. My husband, an Executive Chef, does a cooking segment about once a month for a local Morning show on ABC. This month, he decided to take our eldest son (13) with him....how fun is that?!?! He got up at 2:30 a.m. to be at the studio by 4:00, help with cooking the food to have ready to go on air by 5:00! Of course the studio people asked the old stand-by question "why aren't you in school?" but they also thought it was neat he came and helped his dad out. If he were in school he would have missed this opportunity and so many others that come up.

Dad and son- Prepping the food before going on air.

My husband is on the right, the man on the left is his assistant.

Eating the food on the air...actually I think it's commercial break but they do eat whatever he makes on the air and talk about it.

They did a few shots of cooking the food outside as well.

Pull Em' Up or Pay Up!

Mon, 13 Aug 2007 21:36:00 -0500

Well it's about time! A city in Louisiana is fed up with young men walking around with sagging pants and exposed underwear. This baggy pants thing has become so silly, it's comical. I kid you not, I have seen some of the these "saggy baggies" so far down, the guy can hardly walk! I just don't get it, how does one interpret that as looking cool!?!?! By September 15th, young men in the town of Mansfield had better pull up their pants or risk a $150 fine being in a state of nudity. Good for them! At what point does our society finally say "enough!" to this latest bare-it-all fashion...when they youth of today are walking around totally nude?

CLICK TO READ Article

Dining Room!

Sat, 11 Aug 2007 17:58:00 -0500

I just realized that I don't have many photos of our dining room make-over. This room cost us around $400 which includes refinishing the floor (we did ourselves) paint and a light fixture that I bought off of Ebay and installed myself.

Porch Make-Over for 100 Bucks!

Fri, 3 Aug 2007 14:00:00 -0500

One of the last ugly bits to go on the outside of our house is the porch! We really didn't notice it unitl we painted, added grass and the new windows, then suddenly we couldn't stand it! The total cost for this was just under 100 bucks and took aprox. 8 hours of work spread over two days. There was a beautiful wood floor hiding under all that ugly paint.

***If you want great ideas on making fabulous bedrooms go to RemodelingMySpace.com....I love the bold colors! They also have several How to Videos, CLICK HERE for many do-it-yourself projects!*

Whenever I need to get a good estimate on a project I use this nifty online tool...The Cost Estimator. CLICK HERE!

Bring on the Green!

Mon, 30 Jul 2007 12:25:00 -0500

We finally have grass in our front yard! We actually put it in a few weeks ago but I forgot to post the picts. Rolling out the sod (instant grass!) was the easy part. Getting the lawn ready with a rototiller, leveling it, killing the weeds and taking out the dirt clods was the hard part. I am so glad to have grass! No more tracking in all that dirt into the house. The cost for a 1200 SF lawn (front lawn only) was just under $400....well worth it.

The night before the grass was delivered I got a hairbrained idea to line the walkway with bricks. So I jumped in my car and off I went to Walmart for some bricks. These bricks cost around $25 and took me about 3 hours to put in. I finished up under the moonlight but I got it done just in time; so glad I did as it's a nice effect for very little money. It was also a great way to incorporate more of the dark red.

Some flowers we have in the front yard...I call them "clown flowers"

A Chance to Win $5,000!

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 19:05:00 -0500

I just discovered last night that an article was written about my blog on my home renovation project... AND I have a chance to win $5,000!!! The contest is for the best home make-over blog with the winner to be announced Sept. 1st...If any of you would like to vote for me, I would be greatly honored.Yippeee!! This whole thing motivated me to post some more before/after picts.

And to answer the question at the end of the article, "what if they fall in love with the house and not want to sell (flip)"....the answer is "yes" we have fallen in love with the house and no longer have any intentions of doing a flip...not any time soon anyway.

To Vote for me CLICK HERE!

Tip!! I just saw a video on RemodelingMySpace.com, that had the best tips on how to use a circular saw. Did you know one way to avoid wood splinter with a circular saw is to score the wood first with a blade? Lots of good tips and tricks that will help with your next project. CLICK HERE!

Homeschool Convention!

Mon, 9 Jul 2007 14:30:00 -0500

Here are some pictures of a homeschool convention we recently went to in Portland, Oregon. There was someone that stopped by our booth that frequents my blog...I'm sorry I missed you! The kids were practically running the booth by themselves the second day...they sure are learning young! The funniest comment I heard from a previous Times Tales customer was, "Times Tales saved my marriage!" When I asked her how in the world that would be possible she said her husband was so frustrated that their son couldn't learn his times tables, he was ready to have her (his wife) stop homeschooling! Well, you know the rest of the story. It's so great to hear face to face feedback. :)

10 Ways to Get Kids to Have a Good Attitude Towards Chores!

Tue, 3 Jul 2007 11:27:00 -0500

I recently wrote an article on chores for the A to Z Homes Cool website. You can read the article by clicking below.

Does getting your kids to do their chores, feel like an uphill battle? How many times do you end up doing the work yourself because it's just easier?.....CLICK to Read more!

New Windows!

Wed, 27 Jun 2007 18:18:00 -0500

Well, the 100 year old windows with the wavey glass are gone...so sad, NOT REALLY! Since we moved into this fixer-upper, one of the top things on my wish list was to get new windows. It took the glass guys 2 and a half days to replace all 29 windows. I can feel the difference inside already! It's much more quiet (we don't hear the cars drive by) and I don't feel a breeze blowing through my house.

Paper Mache Fun!

Sat, 23 Jun 2007 11:20:00 -0500

This little cat is made from nothing more than newspaper, flour, aluminum foil, some paint and decoupage.

How to Make Paper Mache Figurines:

Make a paper mache paste, 1 part water to 2 parts flour, until you get a runny glue-like paste. Next, take your aluminum foil and begin to shape your figurine. You will need to add more foil as you go long, building your figure until it takes the proper shape you want. Then, cut newspaper into small strips, dip into the paper mache paste and begin applying the strips to your aluminum foil figure. You will need to work with the paper by adding several layers and smoothing it as you go so that it molds tightly to your aluminum foil. Let figurine sit for 24 or until completely dry and hard. The last step is painting (I like to add a primer to completely cover the newspaper) and then adding decoupage to really make it shiny.