The Gift Of Laughter

The best gift you can give to your family is the gift of laughter. It is a stress reliever, it brings in happiness, smiles come from laughing, and it makes you life a longer and better life.

Some ways of bringing in some laughs and smiles into your home sweet home...

1. Be playful

2. Play chase

3. Listen to some fun children songs together, or upbeat tunes.Dance silly with them or for them.

4. Share funny stories , share jokes, and funny memories together.

5. Have a game night. ( for a dinner that night have sandwiches, cheese dip, and other favorite snacks.)

6. Family movie night with a great comedy! ~ Don't forget the popcorn and root beer

~ laugh and make a smile!

Cleaning Together

Having a nice clean home with a family of seven, can be a very complicated goal. There is always things to pick up, organize, and do. Besides all the laundry and folding and putting away clothes. Even meal times can be a nightmare.

Here are some tips that have always worked for me, and of course I am always adjusting and adding new ways to help maintain organization of our home.

Luckily, for me my teens, Stephanie, Nicholas,and Clayton (when he is here.), are very self motivated and great at helping. They, for the most part, clean up messes when made, do not mind helping with things, and they clean their rooms and bathrooms every morning. This is very helpful and takes such a little time for them, but is a big blessing to me.

I clean the bedroom every morning, and my husband picks up the living area before leaving, I am very thankful to him for this. It is usually not very messy just whatever we had out in the evening, usually there is a couple of throws and some children books.

My two small children like to help out when possible. Sarah has really been pretty good at picking up her room. The little ones are always so proud of themselves, they smile and clap their little helpful hands. I am happy that they are learning to take pride in their home and are becoming self motivated, as my older children are. This is pleasing to me!

The evenings are a little harder, for one because there is so much to do with everything, and everyone can not help but want to just relax.

Stephanie, usually cooks some meal during the week. This is sure help to me and it is something that she has learned to enjoy doing. Nick and Clayton help put up the clean dishes. Sarah has done this a couple of times as well. I usually do the dishes and clean-up, but Stephanie does do this from time to time.

My heavy cleaning is done on Thursday afternoons. I get off at noon, from my job and so I come home and clean and organize, and do the rest of laundry that I did not finish during the week, and vacuum and do the bathrooms and all. By cleaning my home on Thursday, I get to enjoy my Friday day off at home. It is so nice to have a clean home for the weekend. The kids really like to have the home nice to, it really is a home sweet home, that we all make possible!

~ work together, live together, bond together

Time For Us Two!

Having a big family, it can be hard to always bond with each sibling as an individual, and it can also be very costly. When it use to be just our oldest three Stephanie, Nicholas, and Clayton it was not as hard or as expensive to treat them all at once.

When the economy started getting tough, the gas prices went soaring, and our family grew, we found it to be easier to have a special treating time with each one. For instance, a movie night for Stephanie and Rod so that they can spend time together and have an outing , or a dinner date for Clayton and I so that he can enjoy his favorite Chinese food Restaurant and we can chit chat together, and so on. Usually though of course, it is the girls and I, and Rod and the boys. But, we do rotate so everyone has time together.

We do still, every now and then go out to eat or go and see a movie together as a family. Even though taking our big family out to a nice restaurant or movie can be very costly, indeed. (especially when our three teens are charged adult prices.)

Oh yes, and do not forget the great parents who work hard parenting!
My husband and I do not forget our need as a couple, we also date and take out time... for us two!

~ Each day of our lives we make deposits in the memory banks of our children.

2010 " A New Year."

Welcome 2010! In honor of the end of the first decade for the 21th century, let's look at things we can do to help our families thrive this year.

Here are some great goals to have in being a healthy family : Get plenty of sleep each night, drink plenty of water, start your day with a healthy breakfast, share great laughs and talks, limit TV time/ make more game time , eat healthy fruits and vegetables, make great lifestyle choices, and eat dinner as a family when possible. ~ enjoy each new day for the Lord has made...


For you moms and dads out there wanting to bring a great positive year to your children remember to give positive affirming statements, here are some:

I love you
You are strong and very capable
You are awesome
You are beautiful and precious
I'm glad I have been blessed by having you.
I am so proud of you.
Wow!
God has an awesome plan for you.
You can do it , and will do it well.
~ Enjoy 2010 with each new day!

French Toast For Breakfast!

Sunday mornings are awesome mornings for me. My family always has a special breakfast of some kind. Rod, Stephanie, and I love taking turns being the chef on Sunday mornings. Rod is great at making omelets, and pancakes. Stephanie loves to make sausage and biscuits and whatever else she wants to try for that morning. My specialty for Sunday mornings is, french toast.

My dad made this for me and my family growing up, and with this being my favorite I had to learn the recipe and how to make it. It truly is my families favorite breakfast.

It is very good and very affordable. From my kitchen to yours here is the recipe :

1 loaf of bread
3 eggs
1 cup milk
2 tablespoon Cinnamon
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup melted butter

mix ingredients in a bowl, use a nice size skillet or a griddle (I love using a griddle, cooks great and you can cook more at once),
dip the bread slice into the mixture, cover both sides, put onto heated pan or griddle, cook both sides golden brown, plate, and serve with butter and syrup.....I usually plate three-four pieces per person. If you want to make it really classy looking cut the bread slices into wedges,and when done sprinkle with powdered sugar... ~ try and enjoy!

Special Times Out

I remember well the excitement I felt as a young girl, going to the theater with my mother and cousins to see those well known classic Walt Disney movies,like Snow White, Cinderella,Bambi, and
all the other classics. Your heart would pound, you would be very ready for the lights to turn off and for the movie to start. You would laugh at some funny parts, and cry on other parts both happy and sad. I would always either hold my mother's hand, or my cousin's.
These were wonderful times in my life that I remember and hold dear to me.

I can remember as a young mother, when they first made these memorable classics into VCR movies so that one could buy. I at first, was not happy I thought, "oh no, I can no longer have that anticipating wait for when I heard that it would be on the big screen again." Because, no matter how many times you would go and watch Bambi, Fox in the Hound, or any of Walt Disney classics it was just as special and just as memorable as the first. I was sad to think I would not have this with my children.
Of coarse, I did go out and purchase all of these movies, so that I could have this great collection. We can watch these movies anytime we want. I guess that is a plus, but the minus is that I would have rather kept the special excitement of the big screen for these fine masterpieces of Walt Disney.
Today Mimi, the children's grandmother, took us all and treated us to see the newest Walt Disney movie, The Princess And The Frog. This was the first Walt Disney movie I have seen in a long time that has brought back the classic feel of these joyful movies. The movie was classy, full of excitement, I loved the songs in the movie, and it did make you cry...

Thank you Mimi for this special memory to have..

A Cold Day Means A Northern Meal

Here in our great ,usually very warm ,state of Texas the weather has turned to a northern cold temperature of 36. For My home sweet home and family that means a nice northern meal . I made a dinner that I love and that my mother had always had for us on these type of days, Navy beans and ham, fried potatoes and onions, and cornbread. This is a wonderful meal. I have been cooking the beans all day, so my home smells very good and homey. It is also a very cost efficient meal for our big family. It is great on cold days and you get to use holiday leftovers , like ham, or the ham bone, or both.

To me this dinner is a classic one that I love to have. Reminds me of my days in my home with my mom and dad growing up ,and I am from the north, born in Lawrence, Kansas.

~ warm yourselves from the inside out.....

Children are the heart of the home

Children are truly the heart of my home sweet home, they bring in laughter and love and warm the heart and soul. I am always very thankful to my dear God for my children. I have been blessed in having four, and through meeting my love of my life Rod , I am blessed with five. They are in this order from oldest to youngest, Stephanie Michele 16, Nicholas Brian 15, Clayton Garrett 13, Sarah Elizabeth 4, and KerriAnna Jean 23 months.

I have always loved children, even as a child I truly had a love for my babydolls and as a teen I babysat all the little ones I could.

In 1993, when I had my first child and became a mom at 22, my world had changed. I held my child and children as often as a mom possibly could and just breathed them in to enjoy . I stayed home with them and worked at places with children so that I could bring them with me and watch them grow. I feel I am very fortunate to have always had the oppertunity to work with children and be in a setting that is great for my children and I.

My world right now consist of being a mom of teens, this part means I have to be open for them and guide them and be a friend and a strong mother. It also consist of being a mother to my babies, this part of me needs to be patient and kind and be a 24-7 caregiver who gives her all. Overall, my job has been fun and full of laughtar. I greet each new day on a possitive note and give my day to the Lord to help us and protect us. ~ Love and Laugh it does go along way!!!

What Makes A Home Sweet Home...

As a young girl, I have always loved the feel of a family and a home. My mother and father worked very hard on giving me and my brother that. We had a nice home, it was always clean and organized and full of love. Another spark to our home was playfulness. My mother always laughed, kept our home very positive, and full of live. My father always came home and played with us, we would wrestle around on the floor or he would tickle us. We also played games and just enjoyed family times. We really were just a typical family. My mother and father both worked a full time job and my brother and I went to an all American public school. But, our house was a home sweet home. My mother always had a breakfast made for us and a nice dinner with a place setting table , so that we could enjoy and eat as a family. I give thanks to my mother for all that she did in my young years.
As a mother of five, I also try and feel as though I succeed at making my house a home sweet home. I offer my children myself in every way as a mother, and I have a clean and organized home full of love and playfulness. I always try to remain positive and allow family time to be a shared time and a special time. I am looking forward to sharing my ways and direction of making my house a home sweet home full of family fun, recipes , organizing tips and more.....