Do you clean your house and then before nightfall, the clutter has returned? It happens to all of us. A fun solution may be to invite Chester to your house. “Chester” made his appearance at our home many years ago. I can’t recall exactly where this idea came from, but here it is: You get […]
Grandma Peterson’s Rolls
The Thanksgivings I remember best happened at my grandma’s house. She would put up tables in almost every room of her house, complete with a cloth tablecloth. We would always eat on glass plates, drink from glass cups, and have real silverware—if you tried to use plastic she’d just wash it..so don’t bother. The food […]
Five Steps to Reduce School Paper Stacks
Divide and Conquer! First sort the papers into three stacks— Papers no longer needed (Don’t throw away the trash pile yet…there is another use for it.) Papers to “Keep” Papers/projects you’d like to keep, but they are a weird size. Now, here we go! First, get an expandable binder for the “keep” pile. Make a […]
Books at Bedtime
“Please, one more chapter, Dad!” “Not tonight, you need to go to bed.” “We will be nice tomorrow, if you read one more!” “Sorry, we will read more tomorrow night.” “I hate it when you do that. You always stop at the best part.” “Good night. Love you,” I say with a smile. Often the […]
Inspiration
I have been a mother for almost 18 years. I have six kids, and I know that each child is unique…so the parenting that involves each child must be unique, too. Books and teaching techniques may help, but the only perfect source to look to is Heavenly Father. He knows each child. He loves each […]
Colored Celery?
How does water creep up into plants? Let’s experiment. Cut off the bottom of a piece of celery that has some leaves. Let the children examine the cut edge. Point out the straw-like circles on the cut edge that will soak up the water. Put the celery into a clear cup containing about an […]
Memorizing Scripture Tips
We learned several years ago that there could be both power and fun in memorizing scriptures. While we have not always been consistent at doing it, we have learned that there are some things we have enjoyed doing as a family. At times it was fun and silly and at other times, a little more […]
Date Night
“Go to bed…” “I don’t want to. Can I have a drink of milk?” “No” “Why?” “Because we need it for our date.” Years ago we decided that we wanted to do something that would help us have a little date everyday and strengthen our marriage. We both like cookies and so Oreos became an […]
Zu-Cake
It is the time of year you have an extra zucchini sitting on the counter and haven’t had time to do anything with it. Here is an idea. Buy a chocolate cake mix (devil’s food also works). Mix it according to the package instructions except add a few shakes of ground cinnamon to the dry […]
Storytime!
On Sunday evening, we have a tradition of gathering together to read and share stories. We pop popcorn and have either hot chocolate or juice. When the kids were littler we would gather on the “popcorn blanket” in the front room, but now we are more disposed to just sitting around the table. Each person […]