Family Briefs

As I find another podcast coming together, I’m very excited to be ahead of schedule! We may actually be finding our “podcast groove.” Maybe - you be the judge!

We started off talking about some of the struggles we’ve experienced with helping our kids get enough sleep. There was a great interview that we heard on a Jumping Monkeys podcast that gave us lots of fascinating facts about how our bodies react to not getting enough sleep. It certainly gave me a lot to think about (especially after I put our podcast intro at both the beginning AND end of today’s podcast! Not to worry, Rylan pointed out my error and it’s been fixed!).

We went on to discuss our kids’ latest idea to manage their screen time. We touched on the subject in a previous podcast when the topic was a fantastic family meeting we’d had. It’s a great system that’s been working beautifully during the school year. We may really put it to the test here in the first few weeks of summer, so we’ll be reporting back on modifications and improvements we make along the way!

Finally we talked about some of our favorite toy companies that stand behind their products (Tonka, Air Hogs, and Melissa & Doug, to name a few). Of course, what we found that we REALLY love are the kinds of toys that you can “add on to.” You know, something you can add to an existing toy to revive it - like a new Playdoh mold or a blender for the toy kitchen. We’ve added a couple of cool pirate accessories to our backyard play set, and the kids haven’t been able to resist playing on it - even though it’s been 90+ degrees!!! It’s been quite a treasure!

We hope you enjoy the show, and we’d love to hear your feedback. We might even build a future show around your comments or questions! If you’d like to subscribe to our show, you should be able to find us at iTunes by searching for “FamilyBriefs.”

My sister and her husband were in town two weeks ago, and all we did was cook all weekend! Don’t get me wrong - it was great fun. She brought delectable cheeses and crackers, wines to coordinate with any occasion, and scrumptious Valentines cookies. I didn’t bother to post last week because we were just living on the leftovers!

This week, however, we’re back to the grind of actually having to cook! (Well, if that’s what you can call my quick and easy menus ):

MONDAY
Lunch - leftovers STILL from last weekend!
Dinner - Out with Grandaddy to Cici’s (everyone’s favorite!)

TUESDAY
Lunch - Potato bar - broccoli & cheese (Green Giant), baco’s, sour cream, shredded cheddar, Ranch dressing, a can of soup and a salad
Dinner - Barber’s Stuffed Chicken Dijon Bleu, Green Giant green beans with almonds, Lipton broccoli/cheese rice side dish

WEDNESDAY
Lunch - ham sandwiches, chips, apple slices (our car “picnic” that helps get the 3-year-old to ballet on time)
Dinner - Slow Cooker Pork Tenderloin, sweet potatoes, canned asparagus, Green Giant corn in butter sauce Read the rest of this entry »

Have you ever used these? Oh, I was skeptical at first. I’ve used the feather dusters. I’ve used the electro-static dusters (if that’s even what they’re even called). So I just figured these little Swiffer dusters would move the dust around just as well as these other tools.

I decided to take the plunge and purchase a little Swiffer Duster Starter Kit a little over a year ago. I’ve been VERY pleasantly surprised with the results! I still use my feather duster for some cobweb dusting, but I give the kids the electro-static dusters because they are completely useless to me (the dusters, not the kids ). And I really thought with 4 kids and a dog in our house, we’d be burning through those little refill duster packs like toilet paper. Not so, thank goodness (remember, I try to be frugal)!

Now, I’m not a frequent duster by any stretch of the imagination. I actually have this really complicated rotation system for dusting each room in the house that I Read the rest of this entry »

Before children, I had a very sticky brain. I could remember any phone number I dialed. For that matter, any phone number I’d said aloud, written down, or typed in! Today, I’m lucky if I remember the number long enough to get it dialed!

I was supposed to take my mother’s trash out the week after her knee surgery - I told her I would, but I completely forgot! I knew I could remember to go by her house on the way home from a meeting, but the railroad crossing was closed. Going a mile out of my way to get around the closure, I ended up on the street that leads right to my house. So, of course, I drove straight home - never thinking about her trash again. She was not happy with me.

I decided then that my brain Read the rest of this entry »

During our monthly Mom’s Nite Out, a friend was talking about her slow-cooker recipe that her family would be forced to eat on for the next week (that’s what happens when you use a 4 lb. rack of meat for a family of three ).

I suggested that she Read the rest of this entry »

If you have more than one child, and your oldest child happens to be in a school that has a car line, and you have to take the younger siblings with you to go pick up said older sibling, and the younger siblings whine and complain about how long the car line is EVERY.SINGLE.DAY, then this tip might be for you. Of course, there may be other applications, so read along just to humor me .

I think I’ve mentioned that my oldest really had Read the rest of this entry »

I remember finishing dinner at a-friend-of-my-husband’s house, helping her clean up from dinner. She just put everything down the disposal. I was in shock! I couldn’t really say anything because I didn’t know her well enough.

Over the past several years, I’ve had several people tell me that they just can’t “do” leftovers. There have always been a variety of excuses reasons, but I consider myself Read the rest of this entry »

Did I mention that we had leftovers coming out our ears last week? We’ve gotten rid of a lot of the plastic in the fridge this week, but we still enjoyed a lot of leftovers!

Enjoy this week’s plan! Read the rest of this entry »

When I first saw the Lunchables, Jr. advertised, I never thought I would ever purchase it. Convenience foods aren’t cheap, and I am awfully frugal. Of course, I held onto the coupon I received at the check out just in case.

I.LOVE.THIS.PRODUCT. Just one use - that’s all it took for me to realize how many ways these could make my life a littler easier. Isn’t that what convenience foods are all about, anyway?

When the rest of the family Read the rest of this entry »

Let me begin by telling you I submitted a post to the Carnival of Family Life, hosted this week by My Two Boys. It’s a great read, and you’ll find lots of entertaining stories by other parents!

Speaking of entertaining . . . there are some great entertaining stories over at Chilihead’s place. She’s also got an interesting carnival going about Read the rest of this entry »