I'M MOVING MY BLOG!

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 12:15:00 -0500

Dear Friends,

I just want to let you know that I am in the process of moving my blog posts over to two new blogs! I am so excited about this! Here are my two new blogs:

The Nourishing Home - http://nourishinghome.blogspot.com/
This will be my main blog.

The Nourishing Cookbook - http://nourishingcookbook.blogspot.com/
I will be moving all my recipes to this blog where I will be expanding it to include complete information on how to create a recipe book, menu planning, eating frugally, etc.

Come on over and take a look at my new blogs! This blog will remain "as is" while I make the transition. Thanks!

Ultimate Homeschool Expo - Giveaway!

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 21:39:00 -0500

I am so excited to share with you another giveaway from Cindy Rushton! This one is a workshop on scheduling and it is awesome! I am also including an article Cindy wrote on scheduling that will complement this workshop. This is just a sampling of the many workshops that will be included in the Ultimate Homeschool Expo coming up April 28 - May 3. The neat thing about how Cindy is setting this Expo up is that you pay the one-time fee for the membership website and have access to ALL the Expo goodies indefinitely! You can download all the free goodies in the Mommy Grab Bag (which will include several of my ebooks as well as hundreds of items from others as well!), listen to the mp3 workshops, read the articles, etc. at your convenience. Cindy has just done a wonderful job setting this all up and it will be worth your time to take a look! Click here to find out more about the Ultimate Homeschool Expo 2008!

Ok... now for today's goodies.....

Scheduling ABC’s Audio Workshop with Cindy Rushton
Let Cindy take you by the hand and show you secrets to
developing a schedule that works for you and your family!

Download by Mp3
http://tinyurl.com/2cpsb9

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Psst! A Secret to Scheduling Success!
by Cindy Rushton

Want to know one of my biggest secrets to homeschooling the easy way? Want to know one of my biggest secrets to scheduling success? This one secret can make your daily schedule finally fit. It can end your scheduling frustrations forever.

I am not a "schedule by the minute" type of person. (GRIN) I fail with schedules like that. They don't meet my needs. My life includes too many areas that have different needs daily. Timed schedules just do not work for me.

So, what has worked for me? Setting up a framework to my day. This is one incredibly powerful tip. It can make a HUGE difference in your day as well. It just might be the secret that has alluded you through the years.

Wondering what I mean by a "framework" for your day? By framework, I mean a general flow to each day that includes all of the areas of my life that I juggle. But, how do I do that? Here are some quick tips:

1. Decide what should be included in your daily schedule. Look at what you are all about. Look at your goals, activities, values, priorities. Look at your husband's schedule--wrap everything around him. Look at what you need to include in your day to get everything done--quiet times, lessons, homemaking, read alouds, work, etc. This is important. Otherwise, you will include things in your schedule that may not be the very best choices. And...one big risk...you may never get around to the things that matter the most. Decide what really needs to be a part of each and every day for your day to be successful.

2. Decide the best time for the tasks you need to complete each day. This will help you get a good flow to your day. For me, quiet times are just best at the beginning of the day. Chores are great right after them--I need them completed so my brain can focus on the table time. Our business work and errands need to be done in the early afternoon. Read alouds are best before bedtime. You get the picture. When I tried to read aloud over lunch, we had so many distractions that we could never fit it in. Trying to work the business in the morning would never work...and of course, we couldn't take care of business errands at night. See how important it is to really look at the best time to get tasks done. Look at the best time for all of the tasks that need to be done. Look at the best flow to get everything done easily each day. You may not get this right at the beginning, but you will get closer and closer each day. You will love it!

3. Balance your day. Don't let any one area of your life get out of balance. Everything that we do in our day has a tendency to grow into a big time thief--homeschooling, homemaking, home business. Those important aspects of our life can easily grow out of their boundaries. While I love each of them, they can get rather exhausting if we don't keep them in balance with the other things that we have to do. The best way for me to stay balanced is to be reasonable about what I expect for each day, keep things simplified and easy, and keep everything inside of its time of the day. I don't mind those days that we want to dig deeper in a topic that we are studying. I also don't mind those days that we tackle a messy room. I don't even mind those days that we have a special business project that needs more time. But, if those areas were demanding extra time every day, it would be easy to get burned-out, frustrated and battle with our time each day. Want to make it work? Find a balance for your day.

4. Set up routines. Talk about a HUGE help for me. Without routines, things can get so frustrating every day--there are constant decisions, there is more strife in the family, there is no consistency. Routines help us to make things go faster, without the strife and struggle of figuring things out DAILY. Routines reduce the stress of making decisions daily. Routines help our children to know what to expect so they can move through all of the things that they need to do each day. Routines are crucial. They assure a smooth ride. They keep us on track. They keep us out of the ruts. They take us in the direction that we want to go. One of the toughest things I ever did was develop routines in my home. However, one of the most rewarding things that I ever did was develop routines in my home. When I got very, very sick, everything kept going. During those times that I have been stretched, things kept on going. All because of routines. Set up routines. Then, your children will know what to expect. They will learn what is next and next and next. The decisions will be made for you. They will be able to "just do it" with or without you. Set up routines for your family. Develop one set of routines at a time--look for the time of day that things go haywire. If it is morning, for example, look at all that needs to be done. Brainstorm. Make a to-do list for that routine. Write it out. Work it as a checklist until it becomes a habit. If you see other things that need to be added into that set of routines, add them. Tweak it until it is smooth. Then, move to the next troublespot. Do this for all of the times of your day. Watch to see how much it helps!

5. Prune anything that is not necessary. Truth is, we cannot do everything. What we do in our day keeps us from doing other things. It zaps our time, energy, strength. We need to be picky about what we add to our day. Every single thing that we do costs us something. We need to constantly prune those things that are not necessary. Prune anything that hinders, distracts. Be honest. Be ruthless. Prune. Even the good things! Go for the best!

6. Take the squeeze out of your schedule. Watch out for the squeeze in your schedule. Don't fill every minute of your day with something to do. Why? Because there are always going to be crisis situations, interruptions, melt-downs, delays. If we have our schedule maxed out, we will constantly be overwhelmed, overworked, and squeezed. Find ways to take the squeeze out of your daily schedule--cut out extra running, watch out for time thieves, prioritize your daily to-do's (and eliminate any that make the day too tight), cut out extras that are unnecessary, keep the day simple and easy. Keep a relaxed atmosphere. Constantly, take the squeeze out of your daily schedule.

7. Stay flexible! Stay adaptable! Actually, one of the reasons that we really want to develop a framework to our day is so we have more flexibility, so we have more "space" in our day to be adaptable. We want to be able to seize opportunities that come our way. We want to be able to slow down and enjoy our children. We don't want to miss teachable moments. These days just go by too fast. We want to enjoy every second. We want to make sweet, sweet memories. This requires that we stay flexible and adaptable. So, take the time to develop your own framework to your day. Do the tough work. Get your plans together. Work on these suggestions. Then, stay flexible. Stay adaptable. Grasp on to all that God has in store for you!

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About Cindy Rushton…

Cindy Rushton is the hostess of the Ultimate Homeschool Expo, the very first online homeschool convention. She is recording Preview Chats for the Ultimate Homeschool Convention RIGHT NOW! Join her wonderful guests FREE for the next weeks as they count down to the Ultimate Homeschool Expo (April 28-May 3, 2008--BUT! NEVER ENDING because it is an ONLINE Convention!). Get your ticket NOW and receive her awesome A Quick Start for Notebooking Mini-Set FREE today! Check out all of the details here:

THE ULTIMATE HOMESCHOOL EXPO 2008

Watch for more giveaways in the next couple of weeks as we count down to this awesome event!

P.S. Just a reminder that if you are interested in getting $25 for FREE, check out my blog post here!
(Deadline is April 15th!)

Check out this offer - Get $25 FREE!

Wed, 9 Apr 2008 16:28:00 -0500

I got an email from a friend and thought this was too good to be true...but it isn't! This company, revolution money exchange, is kind of like Paypal, except there are no fees. You can send and receive money without paying anything.

The real bonus is that if you sign up for an account BEFORE APRIL 15, 2008, they will credit $25 to your account! You can either transfer this to your checking account (for free) or request a check be mailed to you (for a $2.50 service charge).

You can also earn $10 for referring someone! The button below is my referral link. If you wish to just go to their website to sign up, go to: www.revolutionmoneyexchange.com.

Here is the link:

Blonde Brownies - Healthy Version

Sun, 6 Apr 2008 19:53:00 -0500

I am at it again...trying to convert some of our favorite recipes to be more healthy! I made these last night and they were so good! I thought I would share the recipe with you. I made them healthier by replacing the brown sugar with some organic sugar and molasses. Give them a try!

BLONDE BROWNIES - Healthy Version

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 cup organic sugar (or sucanat or raw sugar)
1 tablespoon molasses
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Butter a 9x9x2 inch baking pan. Melt the butter, then add the sugar and molasses. Mix well. Add egg and vanilla and mix well. Stir in dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, and salt) until well combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Spread in buttered pan and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Make Your Own Brown Sugar

Sat, 29 Mar 2008 15:40:00 -0500

I was making a batch of chocolate chip cookies and trying to convert the recipe to be more healthy. I already substituted whole wheat flour for the white flour, but was trying to figure out what to do about the brown sugar. I substituted some organic cane sugar for the granulated sugar, but wasn't sure what to do with the brown sugar. I did a search on the internet and came up with a recipe to make your own brown sugar! Here is the recipe:

HOMEMADE BROWN SUGAR

To make homemade brown sugar, mix 1 cup granulated sugar (I used the organic cane sugar) with 1-2 Tablespoons molasses. It is that easy...and it works!

You can either mix this ahead of time and store in a container, or just dump the sugar and molasses into the recipe. That is what I did with the cookies I was making and they turned out great!

Graham Family Ministries - Homeschool Blogger

I'M MOVING MY BLOG!

Ultimate Homeschool Expo - Giveaway!

Check out this offer - Get $25 FREE!

Blonde Brownies - Healthy Version

Make Your Own Brown Sugar