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Merry Christmas, world!

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December 23, 2011 by 12 Comments

Just popping in for a moment to let you know that the silence on my blog is good, not bad.  We’re busy preparing to celebrate the birth of our Savior, and hope you are too!

Blogging might not resume until sometime after the new year…then again maybe it will.  If you’ve been here long, you know how well I do at sticking to schedules.  If you haven’t been here long, you could spend the time you would have been reading new posts and review some old ones instead.  Or you could step away from the screen and make cookies.  Or clear a path through the stuff-bomb on the floor.  Whatever works best for you and yours.  I’m not judging, because I love all 3 ideas.

 

Filed Under: birthdays/holidays

Christmas articles for the struggling attitude

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December 16, 2011 by 15 Comments

Remember my Bah, Humbug post, in which I confessed that I don’t like the holiday season?

Since then I have come across a couple of articles that have helped with my attitude.  In some cases, authors formulated what I had been thinking and trying to say far more clearly than I did.  In others, I was simply forced to rethink things in a different light.  Either way, I was ministered to, and I hope you will be.

 

G.K. Chesterton:

“Christmas is built upon a beautiful and intentional paradox; that the birth of the homeless should be celebrated in every home.”

 

By Rachel Jankovic, author of Loving the Little Years (which I am currently reading and loving!)

…Christmas is the ultimate celebration of the material. Because Christmas is the time when God became man. Word to Flesh. Unfettered spirit to the hazards and joys and stresses of physical life. Think about it. Some people want to filter the material out of Christmas and morph it into some pure ethereal spirit religious day. And some people want to filter all the spiritual out of it and make it simply a holiday celebrating the purchasing power of plastic. But the power of Christmas is when spiritual and material meet. And it always has been. That is the joy of the season, that is the good news, that is the laughter and the paradox and the earth-shaking magic of Christmas. The infinite Word became a physical baby.

It wasn’t like that first Christmas was a time of quiet reflection. Mary and Joseph were on a huge last-minute trip. And she’s big pregnant on a donkey? Think of it. It sounds like the worst travel experience of all time. No room. No bed. No privacy. Baby coming. Not just any baby either — one Mary knew was the Messiah. Angels? Shepherds dropping in? You think she felt dressed for that? I doubt Mary had time to throw together a cheese platter. She was in a barn, forced to place the King of kings — her Lord — in a trough. And I doubt her livestock roommates were quite as cute as they look in the storybooks.

The truth is, that’s what it’s like when the Spiritual becomes Material. When God became Man. It’s not easy, because it turns the world upside down, a true cataclysm of joy…read the rest

 

From C.S. Lewis’s God in the Dock:

Three things go by the name of Christmas. One is a religious festival. This is important and obligatory for Christians; but as it can be of no interest to anyone else, I shall naturally say no more about it here. The second (it has complex historical connections with the first, but we needn’t go into them) is a popular holiday, an occasion for merry-making and hospitality. If it were my business to have a ‘view’ on this, I should say that I much approve of merry-making. But what I approve of much more is everybody minding his own business. I see no reason why I should volunteer views as to how other people should spend their own money in their own leisure among their own friends. It is
highly probable that they want my advice on such matters as little as I want theirs. But the third thing called Christmas is unfortunately everyone’s business.
I mean of course the commercial racket. The interchange of presents was a very small ingredient in the older English festivity. Mr. Pickwick took a cod with him to Dingley Dell; the reformed Scrooge ordered a turkey for his clerk; lovers sent love gifts; toys and fruit were given to children. But the idea that not only all friends but even all acquaintances should give one another presents, or at least send one another cards, is quite modern and has been forced upon us by the shopkeepers. Neither of these circumstances is in itself a reason for condemning it. I condemn it on the following grounds…read the rest

 

And a quote from my wise and understanding husband:

I think too many Christians stress about the (false) dichotomy between the spiritual and material aspects of Christmas. It’s a FEASTing season where we give good things to our families.
Relax, it’s OK for the kids to be excited about the food and the presents. They represent tangible manifestations of God’s blessings. When God give you are present – a raise, a bonus, a great deal on something you want, don’t you get excited? When you do that for your kids, shouldn’t they?
I think so.

Filed Under: birthdays/holidays

4 Moms: Gift shopping for a crowd

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December 15, 2011 by 6 Comments

4moms35kids 4 Moms: Gift shopping for a crowd

I used to love going Christmas shopping at the mall.  I never really loved the mall itself, but the whole experience was part of Christmas for me.  It was very nearly the only time I went, because it was the only time I felt the need to visit 21 different non-grocery stores in the same week.  It was fun and exciting to haul 6 small children and a double stroller 45 miles on icy Ohio roads for an all day trip to the mall.  Part of the fun was using everyone’s coats to hide 42 gifts from 6 recipients without arousing suspicions of shoplifting, then trying to get everyone back to the minivan without freezing to death.  Motherhood does strange things to us.

Something has changed over the years, and I no longer feel the same need or desire to visit the mall.  Maybe I changed.  Maybe the internet changed me.  The mall is no longer the best place to do my gift shopping, and I no longer feel the least desire to set foot there.  I suspect my kids miss those days, but I haven’t asked because I just don’t want to go there.  If they read this post, I hope they won’t tell me how much they miss those days.

Now, the internet is my friend.  Instead of letting kids watch TV commercials to get gift ideas, we can browse the WORLD.  We can check reviews to make sure it’s as great as it the packaging makes it look.  We can find the best price anywhere on the best idea ever, and we can probably get free shipping with no sales tax.

This is great, since I am potentially shopping for a much bigger crowd now than ever before.  Did I say 42 gifts?  That was just one apiece from Dad and Mom to each child back when we had 6 kids, and one to each sib from the kids.  That doesn’t begin to consider the fact that I’m the oldest of 14 children and Perry is the oldest of 6.  I now have 10 children and something in the vicinity of 25 nieces and nephews, and we belong to a small, close knit church where most of the members exchange gifts.

How do I shop for a crowd?  We have done many things to simplify gift giving in large families:

  • Shop early and shop online. If you’re prone to stress at this time of year, do everything you can to avoid the last minute crush.  The longer your list is, the sooner you should start.  A little stress early in the game will help you avoid a lot of stress later on.
  • Give the same gifts within certain groups. Many loved ones receive gifts that are either similarly themed or identical: a custom designed calendar with family photos and birthdays (Costco had the best quality for the best price), homemade goodies, framed family portraits, or handcrafted items.   This alone can simplify things immensely.
  • Use your resources. My husband works at Vision Forum, which makes it especially easy for us to choose and buy gifts there for our loved ones.  You probably have special access to something that would make a great gift for others in different circumstances.
  • Arrange a gift exchange. We do this often for children with their cousins and sometimes for the adults in the extended family.  In a large group of children with a wide range of ages, it can be helpful to divide the children into 2 age groups, so children can choose a gift for someone in their own age range.
  • Give or contribute to a group gift or a family gift. We did this for our own children more than once.  Since they buy gifts for each other and receive from others outside the household, they still received many gifts but shared one big gift from me and hubby.  For extended family, we often give just one gift per household rather than one for each person.
  • Let go. Realize that you are not obligated to buy a gift for everyone you interact with or even everyone who gives you a gift.  Don’t feel guilty if they give you a gift and you don’t have one in return.  Just offer genuine thanks.  Like the gifts we receive from God, a Christmas gift is free, not something you earn with a gift of your own.
  • Eat a lot of chocolate. Or do whatever helps you unwind.  Try not to be a scrooge like I am.

I won’t say that Christmas shopping is stress free, but I will say that I feel a lot more sane than some of the people I see in WalMart this time of year.

The rest of the 4 Moms are buying gifts too:

Upcoming topics for 4 Moms:

  • December 22 – Q&A
  • December 29 - How to handle all those incoming gifts

Recent topics:

About 4 Moms, including a complete list of all past topics

 

Filed Under: 4 moms 35 kids, birthdays/holidays

To do today

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December 14, 2011 by 13 Comments

Since I have fallen off the blogging wagon – is it just me, or does that seem to happen every December? – I’ll share today’s To Do List here instead, in the hopes that I’ll somehow feel more accountable to actually do the stuff after announcing it to the People of the Internet.

Mom’s To Do List 12/14

  1. Assemble 4 orders for Geneva Bible Pages so they can ship tomorrow. Done! Just added single bookmarks to our Geneva Bible Page shop on Etsy. Now there’s a choice that is less than $10 with free shipping!
  2. Make some Mounds and Almond Joy bars. Done, with lots of changes.  I took the suggestion of a commentor on Lynn’s post, and baked it with a shortbread base.
  3. Try Tammy’s Chewy Granola Bars recipe. Done exactly as directed, and cooling on a rack.
  4. Fix the shadecloth over the deck, which tore loose last night and had to be temporarily tied down to keep it from breaking the windows as it flapped in the wind.
  5. Figure out what’s for dinner, and start it sooner than 8 PM now that Perry is back on 1st shift and will know if we don’t eat before 9 o’clock.  :)
  6. Write my 4 Moms post for tomorrow.
  7. Wash a mountain of dishes, since all my big girls are gone today and we didn’t do dishes last night.  Done, for the moment.  There will be a new mountain soon enough.
  8. Make homemade Nestle Crunch for the 5th time in the last 2 weeks. Done, and this time on impulse I made an add’l batch with – brace yourself – bacon bits.  What do you think?
  9. Kiss my Hunney. Are you kidding? This isn’t getting crossed off no matter how many times I do it.
  10. Finish my To Do list.  OK, I’m kidding.  My list never ends.  I just remember more things and make it a little farther down some days than others.
Filed Under: mom needs sleep

Bah, humbug.

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December 10, 2011 by 29 Comments

candycanes 300x225 Bah, humbug.Will you hate me if I confess that I don’t like the holiday season?  That’s not to say I don’t like Christmas.  I am unspeakably grateful for God’s gift of His Son, and for the salvation that flows out of Him. But I don’t like all the stress and tension and busy-ness that invariably accompany the holiday. Six weeks of…

  • a schedule gone topsy-turvy, which is to say no schedule at all.
  • heavy traffic and nightmarish lines in the store every time I leave the house for milk.
  • hype and hysteria in my inbox.
  • gift planning, shopping, shipping, for everyone you love – because of course you must buy a gift for everyone you love or even like.
  • tired, cranky children who are perpetually overdosed on sugary holiday sweets.
  • looking for addresses for Christmas cards.  If you think it doesn’t count just because I haven’t actually finished Christmas cards in 10 years, you’re wrong; guilt just adds to stress.
  • cranky, scroogy Mom trying to put on a cheerful face and pretend she’s having fun and getting enough sleep, because what sort of person doesn’t like Christmas?!

Sometimes, I envy the Ingalls and their blizzards.  A quiet Christmas at home with little fanfare and one small gift apiece for immediate family sounds appealing.  But who am I fooling?  Quiet, with 12 Coghlans trapped inside?  I can hear the maniacal laughter already. I know that the problem is with me and my attitude, because much of the tension flows out of our blessings:

  • If we didn’t have money to spend on Christmas, we wouldn’t have to figure out who is on our list and what to buy them.
  • If we were struggling to put food on the table, we wouldn’t have to begrudge the time spent on cooking all those holiday goodies.
  • If we didn’t have children, we wouldn’t have to put up with their insulin-driven rollercoasters.
  • If we didn’t live in a prosperous land, we wouldn’t have to deal with traffic jams and sales announcements and endless mobs of shoppers.

And if we didn’t have a Savior, we wouldn’t have to concern ourselves with how to celebrate His birth.

photo credit: Patrick Q

Filed Under: birthdays/holidays, madness, mom is neurotic, mom needs sleep

Giveaway: Blu Track racetrack!

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December 9, 2011 by 258 Comments

A few weeks ago, Perry Boy decided he wanted to earn enough money to buy a racetrack.  He may be only 5, but he had obviously put some thought into this.  After a few minutes on Walmart.com and Amazon, he already knew the features he was looking for:

He wanted something…

  • cool, that his friends would love.
  • that more than one person could use at a time, so it would be easy to share.
  • that wouldn’t break easily – a big problem in our house.
  • that he could easily take to other places.  This ruled out the ones that attach to the walls.
  • that didn’t take batteries, so he would never need to worry about running them down.  He was adamant about this, and I was thrilled.

He didn’t find anything that fit his requirements, but he was unfazed.  He immediately started earning money, begging for any paying job he could find.  He made my bed daily, brought me my Super Mom vitamins, honed his flyswatting skills, cleaned chicken poop off the deck stairs, picked up trash in the yard.  He was tireless and relentless.

After a week, he had $8 and was ready to make a decision.  I warned him that he was going to need more money, but I wanted him to stay motivated so we got online to look some more.

That’s when we discovered the Blu Track.  Perry was instantly transfixed, and spent hours poring over the possibilities.  The info on Amazon was sketchy, but at BluTrack.com we found tons of photos submitted by actual owners.

 

For me it was a no-brainer, but I self-consciously held back and let him make the choice.  We went over his list of features he was looking for and how each racetrack we had looked at lined up.  He realized on his own that only the Blu Track fit the bill.  He still wanted to be sure, though, and decided to think about it for a few days.  I didn’t blame him.  This one didn’t have the plastic dragon or flashy decals or gimmicks, but he was very impressed with what people did with it in the videos.

He loved the overall length, and the fact that it could be temporarily attached to doors, walls, and other high areas.  He had visions of sending cars careening off the edge of the deck!  He was sold when he saw the video of a track running over a grandfather’s head.

After a couple of days, he told me that he was very sure this was the track he wanted.  BluTrack fit all of Perry’s requirements, and we were able to help him get it.  He has taken it to a church retreat, to work with his dad, to church, to the big Thanksgiving family gathering.  Everywhere, it was a hit.  After more than a month, he’s still smitten.

Blu Tracks can be set up in endless variations, with loops and curves, jumps and valleys.  Configurations take some tweaking and trials, but that’s part of the fun.  Kids have to think about what they’re doing, why it didn’t work the first time, and how to improve the design.  You should hear the triumphant whoops when the car makes a jump and lands right in a bucket of water!

Don’t tell, but we already ordered a 50′ track and some ramps to go with his 18′ track!  He’s going to be one happy boy in a few weeks!

What do I like about it?

  • I love that unlike so many toys these days, the Blu Track required creativity.  I hate toys that do all the entertaining while children sit and watch.  The Blu Track slogan is, “We make the track… YOU make the fun!”
  • I love that it’s virtually indestructible.
  • I love that it has 2 tracks, so kids can race their cars at the same time.
  • No batteries.  My boy has my heart on that matter.

ENTER THE GIVEAWAY!

One winner will receive a free 18′ Professional Blu Track!  This is great by itself – that’s what we have – but our winner will also receive ramps and stiffener bars to help do even more stunts!

To enter the giveaway, do any or all of the following.  Please leave a separate comment here for each entry.

  • Tell why you want to win this giveaway.
  • Like Blu Track on Facebook.
  • Like Life  in a Shoe on Facebook.
  • Share this giveaway on Facebook.  There’s a button below to make it easy.
  • Subscribe to Life in a Shoe.  You can use the box at the top of the sidebar to subscribe by email if you prefer.  If you’re already a subscriber, that counts too!
  • Join the Life in a Shoe newsletter to be automatically entered in every giveaway.  No need to leave a comment for this one! Note: this is not the same as subscribing to our blog posts.
  • For 3 bonus entries, blog about this giveaway. Remember to leave 3 comments for this so you’ll be entered 3 times.

We will take entries until Friday, December 16, then choose a random winner!

This giveaway has ended.  The winner, chosen by Random.org, was Christian.

Filed Under: fun, giveaways & deals, reviews

For sale: Swords, RC Helicopter, and more

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December 8, 2011 by Leave a Comment

posted by 11yo Natalie

I have a few things to sell.  The reason that I would like to sell these things is because I need money for Christmas.

This year we are doing something new where each person gets one present.  Everybody chips in except the person it’s for.

I really need some money to chip in, so I am selling these things.  They are brand new and very cool!

Please add $5.00 shipping per order.

I have 2 Roman Short Swords for $19.00 each or both for $32.00.

57851 m For sale: Swords, RC Helicopter, and more

And the other is a Remote-Controlled Gyroscope Deluxe Helicopter I will sell for $36.00.

63582 m For sale: Swords, RC Helicopter, and more

 

And Becca has an English Adventure Sword that she bought from clearance.  It’s new, but has a few scratches and is missing the sheath.  She would like $16.00 for it so she can chip in on gifts too.

99760 m For sale: Swords, RC Helicopter, and more

 

And Megan wants to sell some things in my post.

10178 s For sale: Swords, RC Helicopter, and more

Fun Ride Super-Z Zip Line for $90

10162 s For sale: Swords, RC Helicopter, and more

Fun-Ride Deluxe Zip Line for $60

10160 s For sale: Swords, RC Helicopter, and more

Fun-Ride Original for $30

72574 s For sale: Swords, RC Helicopter, and more

The Jubilee Doll for $45

72588 s For sale: Swords, RC Helicopter, and more

The Fidelia Doll for $45

72584 s For sale: Swords, RC Helicopter, and more

The Abigail Doll for $45

And that’s all!  If you want to buy something on this list, please use the form below and my mom will email you.

Your Name (required)

Your Email (required)

Subject

Your Message

Filed Under: Huh? Category?

4 Moms’ favorite holiday recipes {linky}

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December 8, 2011 by 8 Comments

4moms35kids 4 Moms favorite holiday recipes {linky}

For reasons that make perfect sense to me, many holiday traditions center largely around food.  What are your favorite food-related holiday traditions?

This week we’re sharing some of our favorite holiday recipes.

One of my favorites is also one of the easiest.  Coincidence?  Your taste testers will never know.

Poor Man’s Toffee

makes 50 pieces – great for gifts

  • 1 1/4 cups butter, divided
  • 35-40 saltine-style crackers
  • 1 cup dark brown sugar
  • 1 can sweetened condensed milk
  • 1 1/2 cup chocolate chips
  • 3/4 cups finely chopped walnuts

Pay attention.  This happens quickly:

  1. Melt 1/4 cup butter; pour into foil-lined jelly roll pan.
  2. Arrange crackers over butter, evenly spaced.
  3. Melt remaining butter; add sugar and boil 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  4. Remove from heat and add condensed milk. Spread over crackers.
  5. Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes, until bubbly and slightly darkened.
  6. Remove from oven, cool 1 minute, and sprinkle with chocolate chips. Let stand 5 minutes (until chocolate is soft and melty) and spread.
  7. Sprinkle with nuts; press lightly into chocolate.
  8. Cool; refrigerate until chocolate is set.
  9. Remove foil and cut candy.

Yum! Rich, delicious and very impressive, and much faster and easier than it sounds. No one can ever guess the saltine cracker base – it tastes a lot like Almond Roca.

************************************************

Cheater’s Fudge

So easy you’ll never go back.

  • 12 oz. bag of chocolate chips
  • 1 can sweetened condensed milk
  • 1 tsp. vanilla
  • optional additions: walnuts, marshmallows, etc.

Just combine ingredients in a medium saucepan and stir over medium-low heat until melted and combined.  Pour into buttered or wax-paper lined 8×8 pan, chill, and cut into small squares.

************************************************

Effortless Eggnog

I love eggnog and have no qualms about the raw eggs in traditional recipes, especially since most of our eggs come from our own hens.  However, this recipe is super easy, delicious, and satisfies those who are concerned about raw eggs.

  • 1/2 gallon milk, divided
  • 1 package instant French vanilla pudding mix
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 2 tsp. vanilla
  • 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp. nutmeg

In a large bowl, whisk 3/4 cup milk and pudding mix until smooth. Whisk in the sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir in remaining milk. Refrigerate until serving.

************************************************

Chai Tea Mix

A nice variation on cocoa for cold winter mornings.

  • 1 cup powdered milk
  • 1 cup dry creamer
  • 1 cup vanilla flavored dry creamer
  • 2 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups unsweetened tea mix
  • 2 tsp. ginger
  • 2 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1 tsp. cloves
  • 1 tsp. cardamom (or allspice)
  • opt. 1 Tbs. vanilla pudding mix

Stir to combine all ingredients. Use 3 Tbs. in 8 oz. of boiling water.

Options:

  • For a prettier mix, you can run it through the blender a cup at a time.
  • Allspice is easier to find and can be substituted for cardamom to make a very nice spiced tea, but it’s *not* the same. Cardamom has a very distinctive taste and aroma, even to our uncultured tongues. We found cardamom in bulk for a great price in the local health food store.
  • The vanilla pudding mix is optional but does help the mix to dissolve better.

What are your favorite holiday recipes?  Answer in the comments or link up with your own post.

Please remember the linky rules:

  1. You must link to a specific relevant post on your blog.
  2. Your post must include a link to at least one of the 4 Moms.
  3. The post to which you link must be completely family friendly.

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Here’s what the rest of the 4 Moms are cooking up:

Upcoming topics for 4 Moms:

  • December 8 – Favorite holiday recipes {linky}
  • December 15 - Gift shopping for a crowd
  • December 22 – Q&A
  • December 29 - How to handle all those incoming gifts and gift givers

Recent topics:

About 4 Moms, including a complete list of all past topics

 

Filed Under: 4 moms 35 kids, birthdays/holidays, food

Elves on the move

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December 5, 2011 by 6 Comments

wpid IMAG0181 Elves on the move

Digging through a bag of ancient hand-me-downs today, we found some items that brought smiles and laughter to our crew.
On a whim, I agreed to take them to town IF Kaitlyn would wear the outfit.
It was an easy sell.
I think we added to the net joy in San Antonio today. What have you done for your town?

Filed Under: Huh? Category?

Online games that won’t make your kids dumber

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December 3, 2011 by 4 Comments

Our kids spend very little time online.  Usually I’m the one hogging the computer, and they swoop in to use Facebook and iTunes when I turn away.  But we used to have a list in our sidebar of semi-educational games that didn’t make me cringe the way I do when somebody sees my kids eating Pop Tarts or drinking Monster.  Since I deleted that list of games from the sidebar some time ago in a misguided fit of decluttering, more than one person has asked about it, including but not limited to my own offspring.  [Hi, Ashley!]

So here, to the best of my memory, is that list.  I’m sure some items will be missing and others will be new.

When I say semi-educational, I don’t mean that they will teach your children to read while you watch reality TV.  I just mean that these games might actually exercise their brains in ways that watching cartoons won’t.  There are no engrossing role-playing quest games with convoluted story lines in this list.  Graphics are simple, the challenge is straightforward, and creative thinking is generally required.  Your kids won’t be learning to factor algebraic equations, but they also won’t be getting dumber before your very eyes.

Physics games

  • Fantastic Contraption – Connect water, wheels and other simple tools to build a fantastic contraption that will move your ball to the goal.
  • Magic Pen – Like Fanatastic Contraption, this game allows you to draw tools to help you gather flags.  You won’t get far without a good dose of creativity!
  • Line Rider – Deceptively simple graphics with an addictive goal: draw a course for the little guy on his motorcycle, and try not to get him killed.  Physics at its finest.
  • Roller Coaster – Another very simple game that lets you test the results when you tweak your roller coaster’s mass, speed, and friction, the track’s physical features, or the power of gravity itself.
  • Soup Toys – A toybox packed with old-fashioned fun: balls, dolls, etc.  Your kids won’t believe all the things they can do, if you’ll just quit playing and give them a chance.  Check out the long list of prebuilt playsets for ideas.   This one is a free download so your kids can play offline.

Logic & Strategy

  • Shift – Get your little silhouetted dude to the doorway in each screen.  Shift perspective as necessary so that the floor becomes the ceiling using – what else? – the shift key.  Deceptively simple game will twist your brain in knots.
  • Family at the Bridge - A simple logic puzzle.  Can you do it?
  • Missionaries & Cannibals – Another simple logic puzzle, with an added element for those with a darker sense of humor.
  • Lemonade Stand – Set your price, keep the right amount of inventory, watch how outside factors affect business, and watch your profit grow day by day.  A fun lesson in business management.

Reactions & Reflex

  • Sheep Dart – Just a quick and amusing test of reaction times.  Shoot a tranquilizer dart into straying sheep before they escape.  Your results are measured in milliseconds.
  • Jezzball – A game of strategy and hand-eye coordination.  How many balls can you manage at once?
  • Japanese Memory Game – Test and exercise your memory, and be rewarded by learning your “mental age.”
  • Escapa – Move the red block around, and don’t let the blue ones touch it.  Easy, right?  How long can you last?  I’m just going to try once more…

Geography

  • Place the States – Drag puzzle pieces shaped like states onto the blank US map.  5 different levels make it appropriate for nearly any age level, from 4yo up to you.
  • World Geography – Learn the world region by region.  Practice countries, capitals, rivers, and more.

Dumb fun

  • Dude Falling – Why is it so fun to see people fall down?  Also, why does this remind me of our current economic recovery?

What would you add to this list?

 

 

Filed Under: blogging & technology, education, fun

Giveaway: The Family Daughter (book)

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December 2, 2011 by 81 Comments

cover tfd1 191x300 Giveaway: The Family Daughter (book)In her new book The Family Daughter: Becoming Pillars of Strength in Our Father’s House, homeschooler Sarah Bryant shares from her own struggles and triumphs, encouraging young ladies to become vital cornerstones in their father’s home, while preparing for godly womanhood. Sarah addresses topics ranging from honoring parents, to serving others, to investing in our walk with Christ, to being a light to the world.  Each chapter includes encouragement and real-life examples of how girls can apply Biblical principles in their daily life.

Filled with encouragement and practical ideas, The Family Daughter will help Christian girls begin the journey of being their family’s pillar of strength and virtue. If you have a daughter at home, this book is sure to be a blessing to her – leave a comment to enter in our giveaway.

“In this utterly transparent book, Sarah Bryant speaks from her heart about the daily walk of the daughter at home… If you are a daughter at home, this book will encourage you to pursue the Lord’s work with new vision. Including testimonies from many other young women, The Family Daughter doesn’t paint an unrealistic picture of perfection but deals with the reality of our sin nature in the light of Christ’s promises to His people.” – Mrs. Jennie Chancey

Filled with encouragement and practical ideas, The Family Daughter will help Christian girls begin the journey of being their family’s pillar of strength and virtue.  Read an excerpt from The Family Daughter.

ENTER THE GIVEAWAY!

One winner will receive a free paperback copy of The Family Daughter!

To enter the giveaway, do any or all of the following.  Please leave a separate comment here for each entry.

  • Subscribe to The King’s Blooming Rose Magazine
  • Follow KBR Ministries on Twitter
  • Like KBR Ministries on Facebook
  • Like Life  in a Shoe on Facebook
  • Share this giveaway on Facebook.  There’s a button below to make it easy.
  • Subscribe to Life in a Shoe.  You can use the box at the top of the sidebar to subscribe by email if you prefer.  If you’re already a subscriber, that counts too!
  • Join the Life in a Shoe newsletter to be automatically entered in every giveaway.  No need to leave a comment for this one! Note: this is not the same as subscribing to our blog posts.
  • For 3 bonus entries, blog about this giveaway. Remember to leave 3 comments for this so you’ll be entered 3 times.

We will take entries until Friday, December 16, then choose a random winner!

This giveaway has ended.  The winner, chosen by random.org, was Jessica C.  She was automatically entered in the drawing because she is a subscriber to our mailing list.

Filed Under: books and poetry, giveaways & deals

4 Moms: preparing children to share holidays with unbelieving family

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December 1, 2011 by 5 Comments

4moms35kids 4 Moms: preparing children to share holidays with unbelieving family
Today is Thursday?  Are you sure about that?  I am so confused, but I’ll take your word for it because the rest of the world is backing you up.  Either you’re right and I’m wrong, or this conspiracy is too big for me to take on.

If today is Thursday, then obviously I have a 4 Moms post ready for you.  Once a week is not too much of a commitment for a seasoned blogger, so of course I planned ahead and had my post ready to go days ago. I would never sit down to check email one last time before bed and be reminded by an email from another of the 4 Moms who is panicking over the same post.

Not me.  I was completely ready to talk about…what was today’s topic?

Preparing children to share the holidays with unbelieving family

Honestly, my lack of preparation comes in part from my lack of experience with this particular issue.  It’s very nearly a non-issue in our family for at least 2 reasons:

1. The unbelievers in our extended family are enormously outnumbered by the believers, and even the unbelievers were raised as believers.  They are the ones making waves in this pond, not us.

2. The holidays that come to mind – the ones that have the potential to be problematic – are Christian holidays in nature even though unbelievers often choose to celebrate them with us.  Again, we have the high ground here.  We are not on the defensive.

This doesn’t mean that all of us attend the same church and see eye to eye on every issue, but 98% of us call Christ our Lord and Master.  Our children have learned from our discussions at home and by listening in on broader discussions that with those few family members who disagree, we stand our ground politely but firmly when religion comes up.   They also understand that we will not throw our pearls before swine.  Those who were raised as Christians and have rejected the gospel don’t need to hear the gospel again; they need to repent.  We pray for God to soften their hearts, and encourage them when they will hear us.  We pray that having been raised in the faith, they will return to it in the years to come.

I am thankful that while we grieve for those who have turned away from the faith, it is rarely a source of family drama.  We enjoy family gatherings and the Christian fellowship that flows out of them.  This is one of the blessings of being a 2nd or 3rd generation Christian!

If you are in a different situation, how do you prepare your children?  I know it may be difficult now, but just think how much better it will be for your children in the years to come, when they can gather with their believing brothers and sister, nieces and nephews, in-laws and outlaws.  Wait, maybe that last part is just my own family.

Here’s what the rest of the 4 Moms have to say on the subject:

Upcoming topics for 4 Moms:

  • December 8 – Favorite holiday recipes {linky}

Recent topics:

About 4 Moms, including a complete list of all past topics

 

Filed Under: 4 moms 35 kids, birthdays/holidays

Holiday snackage

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November 29, 2011 by 7 Comments

A few weeks ago, I decided to make our Sundays more special by adding some flair to our evening snacks.  Maybe I was influenced by the upcoming holidays.  Who doesn’t spend November and December thinking about food?

When the kids were little, we used to have Sunday sundaes.  Ice cream was our dinner every Sunday night during warm weather.  It was a fun tradition, and I stayed free of ovarian guilt by offering bananas, nuts, and other nutritious toppings.

Now we’re all a bit older and we recognize that foods don’t have to be sweet to be delicious.  We always have a big fellowship meal at church, so the evening meal doesn’t need to be heavy or formal.  Snacks are what we do.  We love sausage balls and I think we could happily eat them every week, but we want to experiment with new and different foods, and more interesting ways to present the usual snacks.  My goal is to use presentation and novelty to make our snacks more exciting without breaking the budget.  I think a modest splurge here and there with a side of creativity and a willingness to work can make a fancy feast that is still relatively frugal.

Old fashioned popcorn made on the stove top and drizzled with butter was fun and yummy, but I wanted to step it up a little.

Three Sundays ago I tried my hand at bruschetta, and it was a big hit.  It’s cheap, easy, and delicious, and it looks very pretty on a big white platter.  I made some of Smockity’s artisan style bread because I already had the dough in my fridge.  I shaped it like baguettes, then topped it with a combination of fresh tomatoes and pesto.  I don’t know just how authentic it is, but we topped some with sliced green olives (ugh!) and various cheeses.  We also tried broiling some after adding the toppings.

The following week, we tried some baked brie in a homemade sourdough bread bowl with pear filling, but that was not a big hit.  Nearly everyone decided they just didn’t care for the yeasty flavor of the brie.  I bought it at Costco and used it very promptly, but I’m slightly suspicious that our Brie was past its prime.  So many cheeses are stinky to begin with, it’s hard to tell a good stink from a bad stink when you’re not familiar with a particular variety of cheese.  The fact that the remainder of the Brie wheel had pink and purple areas after just 7 days made me even more suspicious.

Last Sunday our church didn’t have the usual fellowship meal so our snacks at home were heartier than usual.  We all worked together on a huge platter with 3 different types of sausage slices, smoked gouda, swiss (my favorite), pepper jack and sharp cheddar cheese, and 4 types of crackers.  On the side we had baby dills, black olives, and bruschetta.  There was wine and hot spiced apple cider to drink.  It was glorious!

I think I’d like to try some sort of savory mini tarts – maybe little quiches since the big ones always go over well with the kids.  Homemade, of course.  And maybe we’ll serve up some shrimp cocktail.  A $5 ring of shrimp will feed a big family when you point out to the children just how much shrimp resemble huge bugs.  Just to reinforce the point, try to get into the habit of calling them Sea Cockroaches.

What fancy snacks have you tried?  What’s on your list to try someday?

Filed Under: birthdays/holidays, food

Christmas tree decisions

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November 28, 2011 by 40 Comments

It’s official, at least in our house.  Thanksgiving has passed, and the Christmas music marathon has begun.

Among other things, we’re debating what sort of Christmas tree to have this year.  Yes, we usually have a tree.

When we lived in Ohio, we nearly always did the traditional pilgrimage through the bitter cold and snow at the local Christmas tree farm, with a borrowed bowsaw in hand and all the little ones frolicking around.  We would cut down the biggest, fattest, heaviest tree in the farthest corner of the tree farm, then drag it 1/2 mile back to the car while the cold wet whimpering kids lagged behind.  Then we would dig the car out of the snow, drive home at 15 mph, and try in vain to cram the tree through the front door without breaking or cutting off half the branches.

Ah, memories.

While there is some sort of Christmas tree farm near us now, I’m not sure what we would find there besides much nicer weather.  I’ve seen the trees that grow around here, and it’s not pretty – although we’d probably have absolutely NO trouble fitting them through the door.  We could fit most of the trees here through the door in the little plastic playhouse on the front deck.

A part of us cries out for the real tree.  That part is mostly the part under the age of 18, but I have to admit that I love the smell of a real tree, and anything else feels just a little bit like a cop-out.  There’s something nostalgic about real trees – even more so when you cut your own.  I don’t think less of others who opt for artificial trees, but I do think less of the phony trees themselves.  I have spent so many years loudly proclaiming my disdain for artificial trees that it’s humbling to even admit I’m tempted.

But tempted, I am.  We are.  Artificial trees have come a long way, and they don’t look nearly as bad as the ones I always made faces about.  I could almost tolerate a nice one with lights built in.  Just think how easy it would be.  Just a trip to the shed, and a quick easy setup.  No staring at 500 trees trying to figure out which bare spots will work with our furnishings and ornaments.  No long, slow drive home, hoping it’s still on top of the van when we get there.  No struggle up the steps, no searching for a saw to cut an inch off the bottom, no search for the tree stand that always ends up being too small or missing a piece anyway.  No worries about watering, and dropped needles, and fire hazards, and disposal.  Instead of an all day affair, The Tree would be 30 minutes of happy family time followed by snacks.

See how happy we would be?

The initial investment for a nicer artificial tree is much higher than the price of a nice big cut tree, but it would pay off over time – if we didn’t change our minds and decide we hated it after the first year.  We could buy a cheaper one as a trial the first year, then upgrade next year, but what if the cheap one convinces us that we hate artificial trees when we might have actually liked a more expensive one?

See how difficult this decision is?

More than one year, we have skipped the tree altogether.  This made me very happy, but it also made me feel like Scrooge every time I chuckled with glee at the absence of pine needles on my floor.  My joy came at the expense of others.  Never mind.

I’ve always wanted a live, potted tree that would spend most of December out on the deck.  Then it would join us indoors for a few days right around Christmas, and we would plant it somewhere in the yard where it could spend years growing into a real tree with deep meaning for our family.  Its brothers would join it year by year, and someday we would have an entire row of majestic trees in varying sizes from Christmases past, each reminding us of the joys of being a family.

Isn’t it beautiful?

The only problem with this scenario is that we would never remember to water the newly planted trees, and they would each die a long, slow death before being joined by a brother.  Our row of memories would be death row.

Not such a pretty thought after all.

When we were first building our house and the walls were just bare drywall, we used floor enamel to paint a big shiny green tree on the wall.  We used pushpins to hang all of our regular ornaments right on the wall.  Even garland was strung from side to side.  It was fun and quirky, and we thought it was very pretty, though the old cellphone snapshot didn’t do it justice.

ATT00101 Christmas tree decisions

This year, in addition to the options already mentioned, we’re considering another fun and quirky alternative.  Let’s keep it a surprise until we decide whether to use the idea.

If you do Christmas trees, what sort do you usually do?  Why?

Did you enter our huge Vision Forum giveaway yet?  Just think how much Christmas shopping you could do with those gift certificates!  Please consider blogging about the giveaway – I would love to have as many entries as possible to encourage them to do more giveaways in the future!

Filed Under: birthdays/holidays

Giveaway: Cansolidator cabinet organizer from Shelf Reliance

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November 25, 2011 by 124 Comments

This giveaway has ended.  The winner was Emmy W.

I’ve posted in the past about my system for organizing the canned goods in my cabinets, but I have to admit that the more I try to store the less my system works.  Did you hear the squeal all the way over at your house when my Cansolidator arrived by FedEx yesterday?  I was so excited to get my cabinets organized in a way that will actually stay organized!  No more digging to the back of the cabinet to see if we can find a lost and forgotten can of green chiles, tuna or sweetened condensed milk.

prd 79 m1 Giveaway: Cansolidator cabinet organizer from Shelf Reliance

After pulling out one can each of our most commonly used canned goods – this showed us the sizes of the spaces we needed to create – we assembled the unit.  It sounds hard when I say it that way, but I love this bit of a customer review from the website:

…If you can put legos together you can build this rack. If not give it to your 6 year old and have him build it for you…

I did make one or two mistakes along the way, but those were because I was having too much fun deciding what will go in each slot rather than reading the instructions.  [Instructions?  Who needs instructions?]  Anyway, mistakes were easily fixed.  The whole operation took about 4 minutes and no tools at all.

Emptying the cabinet and getting everything put back the way I wanted took a little longer.  While we worked, we kept up our strength with yummy freeze-dried strawberries, bananas, and pineapples.  I’ve never had such willing workers in all my life!

strawberries Giveaway: Cansolidator cabinet organizer from Shelf Reliance

I wish I had taken before and after pics, but we were too excited to wait for the camera!  As soon as I said the word, 3 kids dove headfirst into the cabinet scooping out all the canned goods they found in the depths.  Do you know I had pumpkin pie filling, pickled beets, Wolf brand chili, and canned mackerel in my cabinet?  Well, now you do.  I just told you.

The Cansolidator Pantry Plus (and a ton of other items) are on sale this weekend in the Shelf Reliance Black Friday sale.

As you might have noticed from the flyer, Shelf Reliance sells a lot more than cabinet organizers.  They specialize in reasonably priced storage foods to help your family be prepared for emergencies.  They also offer a lot of other products related to the subject to help you plan for all your family’s needs should things change dramatically.

ENTER THE GIVEAWAY!

One winner will receive a free Cansolidator Pantry Plus organizer!

To enter the giveaway, do any or all of the following.  Please leave a separate comment here for each entry.

  1. Look around the Thrive site and leave a comment on this post telling which product is your favorite.  You must do this to enter the giveaway. If you place an order, let us know what you chose!  To give credit to the consultant who is sponsoring this giveaway, please make sure Heather Horton’s name shows in the upper right.  If not, click the X to reset the site, then enter again through Heather’s link.  Thank you!
  2. If you already own any Thrive products or have made other emergency preparations, leave another comment and tell us about it.
  3. Like Life  in a Shoe on Facebook.
  4. Share this giveaway on Facebook.  There’s a button below to make it easy.
  5. Join the Life in a Shoe newsletter to be automatically entered in every giveaway.  No need to leave a comment for this one!  Note: this is not the same as subscribing to our blog posts.
  6. For 3 bonus entries, blog about this giveaway. Remember to leave 3 comments for this so you’ll be entered 3 times.

We will take entries until Friday, December 9, then choose a random winner!

Don’t forget to enter Life in a Shoe’s other giveaways today!

 

Filed Under: giveaways & deals

Giveaway: Flexi Clips from Lilla Rose

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November 25, 2011 by 179 Comments

This giveaway has ended.  The winners are Vikki and Melissa.

Our next giveaway in the Life in a Shoe Black Friday event (see? I didn’t plan it, but I recognize what is happening) is for some lovely, beautiful, cute & comfy, super durable, can’t get enough – can you tell how much we love these? – Flexi Clips!

We have acquired a fair collection of Flexi’s so far but always look forward to adding more.  They work in literally anyone’s hair, from baby fine to mega-thick, stick-straight to crazy-curly.  They are so pretty, so unique, and so easy to use, and we’ve never yet managed to damage one.  That’s saying a lot.

There’s also an unbelievable variety to choose from.  I haven’t counted, but I think they must number in the hundreds!

1 0136 Giveaway: Flexi Clips from Lilla Rose

1 0386 Giveaway: Flexi Clips from Lilla Rose

1 0737 Giveaway: Flexi Clips from Lilla Rose

1 0115 Giveaway: Flexi Clips from Lilla Rose

We also had the opportunity to try out You-Pins by Lilla Rose, and they are a fresh, pretty alternative.  They work particularly well in Lydia’s super-thick hip length hair, giving her a bun that stays put even when she is being…well, her crazy hyper self.  There’s a reason that girl stays so slim, and the word sedentary is not part of it.

UP1 1926 Giveaway: Flexi Clips from Lilla Rose

Guess what?  Lilla Rose is celebrating the holidays with a Cyber Black Friday with Saturday thrown in! EVERYTHING on the website will be 15% off starting midnight on Thursday, November 24th running until midnight Saturday, November 26th. It doesn’t end there… A few select items will 25% off!

ENTER THE GIVEAWAY – 2 winners!

Two winners will each receive a free Flexi Clip (value up to $15), plus a gift certificate for another, either to keep or to put in a loved one’s Christmas stocking.  Tough choice, I know.

To enter the giveaway, do any or all of the following.  Please leave a separate comment here for each entry.

  1. Look around the Lilla Rose site and leave a comment on this post telling which clip is your favorite.  If you place an order, let us know what you chose!
  2. If you already own a Flexi Clip, leave another comment telling how much you love it and why.
  3. Like Life  in a Shoe on Facebook.
  4. Share this giveaway on Facebook.  There’s a button below to make it easy.
  5. Join the Life in a Shoe newsletter to be automatically entered in every giveaway.  No need to leave a comment for this one!  Note: this is not the same as subscribing to our blog posts.
  6. For 3 bonus entries, blog about this giveaway. Remember to leave 3 comments for this so you’ll be entered 3 times.

We will take entries until Friday, December 9, then choose a random winner!

Don’t forget to enter Life in a Shoe’s other giveaways today!

 

Filed Under: giveaways & deals

HUGE Vision Forum giveaway: $600 in gift certificates! (plus $3,000 more)

Free nursing cover, carseat cover, sling, and more!: Just pay shipping

November 25, 2011 by 660 Comments

This giveaway has ended.  The winners in ascending order were ~in Not of~, LisaAnn, and Mary Minship, who won a $300 gift certificate for blogging about the giveaway.

I don’t get into the whole Black Friday thing, and maybe you don’t either.  Maybe you’re at home instead of out fighting the crazy crowds.  Maybe you’re here reading my blog.  Here’s your reward:

Vision Forum is offering a $100, $200 and $300 gift certificates to 3 Life in a Shoe readers!  Want to pump up your chance of winning?  Enter giveaways for the same amazing gifts at 5 other blogs:

For those who aren’t familiar with Vision Forum, they offer a wide array of books, CDs, DVDs and toys for the Christian family.  They just sent out their new 2012 catalog, so there’s a whole new spectrum of possibilities for your wish list.  What has caught your eye so far?  Here are some of our older favorites from Vision Forum, but I need to add some new recommendations.

I said that aloud and the suggestions came in from people reading over my shoulder.

First, they said this:

57851 s HUGE Vision Forum giveaway: $600 in gift certificates! (plus $3,000 more)

High-Impact Roman Short Sword

$32.00 (Save $3.00)

But I think they really meant this, because what fun is a single sword?

Does anyone thinks it’s strange that in a house full of girls, swords are at the top of the list?  You might also be surprised to learn that we have some huge fans of airsoft guns too.  I’m even considering joining their ranks, just so I won’t be the odd one out.
63694 s HUGE Vision Forum giveaway: $600 in gift certificates! (plus $3,000 more)

Taurus Airsoft Handgun

$40.00 (Save 20%)

17673 s HUGE Vision Forum giveaway: $600 in gift certificates! (plus $3,000 more)

Rubber Ammo Eight-Shooter

$13.00 (Save $2.00)

17671 s HUGE Vision Forum giveaway: $600 in gift certificates! (plus $3,000 more)

Rubber Ammo Sportsman Shotgun

$30.00 (Save $5.00)

Don’t worry.  Weapons are not the only toys in our house.  Some of the girls still like dolls.  Exciting news: In browsing the site, I just noticed that dolls are back!

OK, unlike the impression you might have so far, VF is not only about toys.  Christian books and media is where they really shine: family-friendly DVDs, audio messages about history, audiobooks, materials for homeschooling from a Christian perspective, and more!

Vision Forum also has some fun sales running right now!  Hurry because they end soon!

Free shipping code: NOSHIPPING good on $25 or more
exp. 11/2

50 HUGE Vision Forum giveaway: $600 in gift certificates! (plus $3,000 more)

boys HUGE Vision Forum giveaway: $600 in gift certificates! (plus $3,000 more)girls HUGE Vision Forum giveaway: $600 in gift certificates! (plus $3,000 more)

30family HUGE Vision Forum giveaway: $600 in gift certificates! (plus $3,000 more)

THE GIVEAWAY

Vision Forum has agreed to give away a $100 and $200 gift certificate to 2 happy winners, plus a $300 gift certificate exclusively to one random reader who blogs about this giveaway!

To enter the giveaway, do any or all of the following.  Please leave a separate comment here for each entry.  If you are already subscribed to our newsletter, you are automatically entered once! Remember you must blog about this giveaway to qualify for the $300 gift certificate.

  1. Leave a comment on this post telling what’s on your Vision Forum wishlist.  You must do this.
  2. Like Vision Forum on Facebook
  3. Like Life in a Shoe on Facebook
  4. Share this giveaway on Facebook.  There is a button below the post to make it easy for you.
  5. Join the Life in a Shoe newsletter to be automatically entered in every giveaway.  No need to leave a comment for this one!  Note: this is not the same as subscribing to our blog posts.
  6. For 3 bonus entries plus an entry to win the $300 gift certificate, blog about this giveaway.  You must include a link to this post and the phrase, Christian books (must be linked to Vision Forum). Remember to leave 3 comments for this so you’ll be entered 3 times.

We will take entries until Friday, December 9, then choose a random winner!

Don’t forget to enter Life in a Shoe’s other giveaways today!

 

Filed Under: giveaways & deals

Giveaway: Nursing Cover from Modest Mom

Free nursing cover, carseat cover, sling, and more!: Just pay shipping

November 25, 2011 by 98 Comments

This giveaway has ended.  The winner was Karen E, a subscriber to our newsletter.

This week, we have several giveaways.  I’ve always said I don’t care about Black Friday, but maybe that’s not entirely true.  It seems I have a sort of Black Friday going on right here on my blog.

Our first giveaway this week is for a free nursing cover from The Modest Mom Shop.

IMG 8152 Giveaway: Nursing Cover from Modest Mom

Features:

Our wide selection of prints and colors means there is a perfect Modest Mom Nursing Cover for every you!

  • All nursing covers have adjustable Velcro neck straps.
  • All nursing covers feature our open-neck design, which allows you to maintain eye contact with your little one, keep an eye on baby during latch-on and throughout breastfeeding, and keep baby cool at the same time.
  • All nursing covers are made with 100% cotton fabric.
  • Cotton nursing covers make great blankets and lightweight covers for strollers and baby car seats.
  • The size of the Modest Mom Nursing Cover is approximately 25″ wide by 35″ long.

 

Customer review:

This is the most awesome nursing cover. I’ve been looking for something
like this since I had my first baby 14 years ago. Now baby #5 is nursing
in style and privacy. Can’t say enough good things about this cover. It
washes well – no shrinking, no wrinkles, bone maintains its shape, no
fading or pilling. Folds up nicely.  LOVE this cover. Give “The Modest Mom”
some of your business if you need a cover or will be attending a baby
shower anytime soon! -Kristy

Scroll down for details on entering the giveaway but first, The Modest Mom is having her first ever Cyber Monday sale!

MMCyberMondayBanner 448x150 Giveaway: Nursing Cover from Modest Mom

Every item in the store will be 10-30% off, plus you’ll earn free gifts when you order!  Click the banner above for details.

Wondering what to buy?  Here’s one idea for you…

Nantucket Denim Skirt review by 15yo Lydia

I choose this skirt because the only other dark-wash denim skirt I have is ankle length. Don’t get me wrong: I love long skirts, but sometimes they aren’t very convenient. I like sitting cross-legged a lot, but I can’t in very many of my skirts because they are either too narrow or too short.

nantucket1 200x300 Giveaway: Nursing Cover from Modest Mom

This one is nice and wide.  It’s wide enough to let me spin in circles and long enough that it comes down below my knees while I sit.

nantucket2 200x300 Giveaway: Nursing Cover from Modest Mom

It’s also a good length to wear with my cowboy boots, which I wear all the time, and the brass buttons and pointed yoke are super cute!

nantucket3 200x300 Giveaway: Nursing Cover from Modest Mom

It’s also very easy to dress up, it will look great with one of my favorite polka dot shirts and black heels next sunday!

nantucket0011 300x240 Giveaway: Nursing Cover from Modest Mom

This is one of my new favorite skirts, I have worn it 4 times since I got it on the 17th and I would have worn it more but I spilled something on it and it had to go through the washer… :/

 

THE GIVEAWAY

The Modest Mom has agreed to give a free nursing cover to one random winner!  Not currently nursing?  This would make a beautiful gift for a mother you know!

To enter the giveaway, do any or all of the following.  Please leave a separate comment here for each entry.  If you are already subscribed to our newsletter, you are automatically entered once!

  1. Leave a comment on this post telling your favorite item from The Modest Mom shop or your favorite fabric choice for the  nursing cover.
  2. Like The Modest Mom on Facebook
  3. Subscribe to The Modest Mom blog
  4. Like Life in a Shoe on Facebook
  5. Share this giveaway on Facebook.  There is a button below the post to make it easy for you.
  6. Join the Life in a Shoe newsletter to be automatically entered in every giveaway.  No need to leave a comment for this one!  Note: this is not the same as subscribing to our blog posts.
  7. For 3 bonus entries, blog about this giveaway.  You must include a link to both this post and to The Modest Mom. Remember to leave 3 comments for this so you’ll be entered 3 times.

We will take entries until Friday, December 9, then choose a random winner!

Don’t forget to enter Life in a Shoe’s other giveaways today!

Filed Under: giveaways & deals

4 Moms: A roundup of thankful posts from the past

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November 24, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Thanksgiving 4 Moms 300x151 4 Moms: A roundup of thankful posts from the past

I know I said this week’s 4 Moms post was going to be a Q&A, but didn’t you suspect we had better things to do than blog this Thursday?  We have changed up the scheduled topics for the next month to more closely align with what is going on in our households (and probably in your household too).  We hope you’ll appreciate the changes; we sure do.

For today, if you really want to sit there at the computer instead of eating more spending quality time with your family, let me just point you toward a few of my past Thankful posts.  Many of these are about crises in one form or another.  Isn’t it funny how the difficult times often teach us more about thankfulness than the easy ones?  But maybe it’s not so odd after all when you think about the first Thanksgiving here in America.

pumpkin trifle 179x300 4 Moms: A roundup of thankful posts from the past

  • I am thankful for… – A photo of the big whiteboard in our dining room, where last week the kids jotted down a myriad of things for which they are thankful.
  • Thanksgiving preparations – A preview of our Thanksgiving plans and prep for 2011, including photos of my Pumpkin Gingerbread Trifle.  The girls think the little trifles I put in wide-mouth pint jars would be sweet gifts for a couple.
  • Big family photos; and family comes to my rescue once again – Huge family photos and memories from January 2010, when Dad’s cancer was newly discovered and he still looked hale and hearty.  Dad came to our rescue that night when the van broke down late at night 80 miles from home and Perry was out of the state.  This will be our first Thanksgiving without him.
  • Rejoice with us! – The biggest loss we ever took on a sale, and we were happy about it.
  • Lessons learned the hard way, in which we experience an automobile/financial crisis and God provides.
  • Our crisis, in which we experience another automobile/financial crisis and God provides in an entirely different way.
  • Did I say these posts were about being thankful?  Then it goes without saying that I should include the story of how Perry and I met way back when we were 12, and my children’s birth stories.

See what the other 3 Thankful Ladies have to say for themselves this week:

  • Smockity Frocks,
  • Raising Olives, and
  • Common Room

    • Upcoming topics for 4 Moms:

    • revised, and I’m too lazy busy tired to update this list

    Recent topics:

    About 4 Moms, including a complete list of all past topics

     

     

    Filed Under: 4 moms 35 kids, birthdays/holidays, thankful thoughts

    HUGE Vision Forum giveaways!

    Free nursing cover, carseat cover, sling, and more!: Just pay shipping

    November 23, 2011 by 2 Comments

    Shame on me.  I’ve been holding out on you.  I didn’t tell you yet about the HUGE Vision Forum giveaways currently running.

    Would you believe there are currently a total of $2,400 in gift certificates being given away on 4 different blogs?  HURRY!

    Giveaway hosts are:

    Tip #1: In addition to other gift certificates, each blog is giving away a $300 gift certificate exclusively for bloggers who blog about the giveaway, so be ready to post about one or more of the giveaways!

    Tip #2: Watch for 2 more of these huge giveaways to pop up on the web very soon.  I’ll bet you can guess where you’ll find one of them.

    Filed Under: giveaways & deals, Vision Forum

    Thanksgiving preparations

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    November 23, 2011 by 4 Comments

    Tomorrow we join the extended family at my mom’s house – 13 of my 14 siblings will be there with their spouses and 16 children, plus 11 people from our own household (Deanna is in Tennessee with her other grandparents).  Cooking will be simple since there are so many hands and households to share the labor.

    There is so much to be thankful for, but right now my mind is mostly on the food for tomorrow.  Part of me feels a twinge of guilt as though I were falling prey to our culture’s penchant for materialism, but another part of me is eager to disagree.  Food is a wonderful and fitting sign of God’s provision, and it seems right that a day of thanks should have a heavy emphasis on food.  Food is also a big part of how we commune with God during worship every Sunday, so why shouldn’t it be a holy part of this Thursday celebration as well?

    And so we plan the day largely around what we’ll eat, thinking thankful thoughts with each bite and voicing those thoughts between bites.

    Our group has decided to plan for leftovers, so there will be 2 large turkeys and 2 hams.  Our family will be bringing one of the turkeys.  We want to spend most of the day together, so I’ll brown my turkey at home in a very hot oven then transfer to my electric roaster so it can finish cooking in an out-of-the-way corner at Mom’s house while we visit tomorrow.

    We’re also bringing homemade whole-berry cranberry sauce, which we discovered a few years ago.  So easy and yummy, we’ll never go back to the gel-in-a-can.  I love that the youngest cooks in our house can make it by themselves and know that they contributed to Thanksgiving dinner!

    cranberry 300x199 Thanksgiving preparations

    I would love to try The Pioneer Woman’s mashed potatoes, but my sister beat me to the potatoes this year.  Maybe next year.

    Mom is making plenty of pies, so I’m trying two desserts that are new to us this year: Tres Leches Cake, a traditional Mexican cake which I hear about all the time and finally tasted for the first time last month, and Pumpkin Gingerbread Trifle, made with the pumpkin we canned last year.  The photos of the trifle in the linked post are so beautiful I seriously contemplated stealing one (with a link and credit, of course), but my conscience won out.  If mine turns out half as beautiful, I’ll be updating this post with a photo. (Scroll down to see photo added later)

    Both cakes are cooling on my stovetop now, waiting for final assembly.

    2 cakes 300x199 Thanksgiving preparations

    I guess they call it Tres Leches (3 milks) because it has a nicer assonance, but does anyone think quatro leches would be more accurate?

    tres leches 300x199 Thanksgiving preparations

    A little later today, we’ll head out for our church’s Thanksgiving Eve service.  Not sure how we’ll end the evening, but it’s sure to be fun.  Maybe you have a suggestion?

    Do you have any Thanksgiving Eve traditions?

    Update: my pumpkin gingerbread trifle is done.  It was so fun and easy!  My big dish couldn’t hold 3 complete layers so I put the extra in pint jars.  This is perfect because now I can garnish the big one with candied pecans without risking the life of my nut-allergic sister.  We’ll just hand her a jar.

    Call me partial, but there’s something about my trifle that I think is far more beautiful than the photos in the original recipe.  :)

    pumpkin trifle 179x300 Thanksgiving preparations

    Filed Under: birthdays/holidays, food

    I can drive!

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    November 21, 2011 by 19 Comments

    Posted by: Kittykait

    Last week I got my Learners Permit!  I was a little nervous about the test but it was all multiple choice questions, easy!

    As it turns out the part I should have been nervous about was the picture. I think they need to change the order of things and do the vision test *after* they take your picture to make sure your not permanently blind.  If you watch everyone in the room jumps and blinks when the flash goes off.  I thought I was struck by lighting for Pete’s sake!

    Anyhoo since then my eyesight has recovered and I’ve driven Dad (most of the way) to work 3 times and on Sunday we had an extra car in town so I drove Mom all the way home from church all in our Kia, which is a manual. Manual is generally thought of as really hard but I had a good teacher (my dad) so I think it’s fun.  I’m not perfect at it but I was feeling really proud of myself Sunday because I had to start and stop on a few hills (for the first time) and I didn’t even come close to killing anyone! icon smile I can drive!

    Right now we have 3 working vehicles, the great white whale, the Mustang and our little Kia. I haven’t driven the van yet which, for now, is fine with me.  I drove the Mustang half way home one time and even though it’s automatic (and super cool) for now I prefer the Kia because the nose is shorter and the windows are bigger so I don’t have to be too nervous about what I can’t see.

    I think the dumbest thing I’ve done while driving was right after a light turned green, I shifted into first, to start, then I gave the car some gas. But the car didn’t move so I gave it more gas… still nothing, I was getting kind of frantic then I realized I must be in third. Nope. I was pumping on the the brake not the gas. That made me feel really intelligent. I didn’t even mind when Natalie and Becca waived and pointed to the “Student Driver” sign from the back seat.

    Mom and I were wondering together how many people know how to drive manual.  Mom thought probably less know than don’t.  So shouldn’t automatics be called standards?

    Let’s see:

    Can you drive manual?

    View Results

    loading I can drive! Loading ...

    Remember months ago when I said I would do a weekly poll? I did warn you that I would forget!

    Filed Under: Huh? Category?

    100 Free Christmas postcards and 9 other free personalized photo gifts

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    November 21, 2011 by Leave a Comment

    vp103050 100 Free Christmas postcards and 9 other free personalized photo giftsOK, so they’re not totally free.  Vistaprint would go broke if they covered the shipping on all the freebies they’re offering now, but even when you have to pay shipping these are GREAT deals!

    Here’s what you can get:

    • FREE Holiday Postcards (Qty. 100)
      Get your message across this holiday season with customizable postcards! Use them as holiday cards, invitations or announcements for home and business use. Mailing services available. Matching envelopes available at checkout. Create today and receive in as few as 3 days. Printing is free, shipping starts at $7.
    • FREE Business Cards (Qty. 250)
      Choose from 45 templates printed in full color on premium 80 lb card stock. Select a design template and personalize it to best suit your needs. Easily add your own logo or photo. Business cards can be used mommy contact cards, personal contact cards, networking cards, appointment reminder cards, loyalty cards, tiny greeting cards, referral cards, raffle tickets, place cards & much more. Upgrade to premium business cards and save 50%. Printing is free, shipping starts at $5.67.
    • FREE Photo Holiday Cards (Qty. 10)
      Choose from flat or folded holiday cards with Free Envelopes. Order today, and save 50% off higher quantities. Products are free, shipping starts at $4.60.
    • FREE Photo Calendars (Qty. 1)
      Impress family, friends or customers with customizable photo wall calendars this Holiday Season. Select from Wall or Desk calendar and hundreds of templates to suit your style. Choose icons, add captions and highlight important dates. Upload your photos from Facebook, Flickr or Picasa. Calendars make perfect holiday gifts! Create today and receive in as few as 3 days. Bonus: Order today and save 50% off higher quantities. Printing is free, shipping starts at $5.67.
    • FREE Holiday Labels (Qty. 140)
      Spread the cheer with every letter you send! Stick your labels on festive holiday letters, cards and packages. Choose from thousands of designs, upload photos or create caricature return address labels. Create up to 7 caricatures of your family, friends and pets! Use labels as To-From stickers, gift tags & more! Printing is free, shipping & processing starts at $3.07.
    • FREE Mug (Qty. 1)
      Serve up some fun with a 11-oz full color ceramic mug. Choose from a variety of designs and personalize with your text. Have fun creating a gift to warm hearts this holiday season! Printing is free, shipping & processing starts at $6.06.
    • FREE Holiday Stamp (Qty. 1)
      Choose from over a dozen designs and make holiday labeling a tad easier this year. Choose from red, black or blue ink. Printing is free, shipping & processing starts at $5.67.
    • FREE Tote Bag (Qty. 1)
      Perfect for everyday use, these 100% canvas tote bags can be customized with your name and message. Choose from 24 designs. Printing is free, shipping & processing starts at $4.41.


    Filed Under: birthdays/holidays, giveaways & deals

    Monday Movies: Perry Boy loses his first tooth

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    November 21, 2011 by 10 Comments

    Last week Kaitlyn noticed that Perry’s first adult tooth was coming in behind his baby tooth.  This happened to me and a lot of my siblings, so I feel blessed that most of our children so far have their father’s perfect teeth instead of my very crowded, cavity-prone teeth.

    Nonetheless, we had to do something about Perry’s tooth.

    I explained to him what was happening and that he would need to give his baby tooth a lot of help, wiggling it until it fell out.

    His sister Megan presented an alternative plan that would take less time and less work. She told him to use a string to tie his tooth to the door, then slam the door. Megan did this 3 times and assured him it wouldn’t hurt. In fact the first time she did it, she didn’t even realize it had worked!

    Perry was a little reluctant, but he also wasn’t excited about all the work involved in loosening his tooth manually or about having the dentist pull it, so he resolved to give the door method a try.

    This morning, he used a piece of upholstery thread and tied his tooth to the front door.  Then he stood there with the door wide opening, gathering his courage.

    He pushed the door, and in slow motion it swung closed.  No go.

    He stood there with the string on his tooth, stalling and chatting, negotiating for rewards, and finally karate kicked the door.

    NOOOOOOOO!  Parker was standing right in the open doorway!

    Parker went flying out, unlike the tooth.  He was fine – only slightly shaken, but the string had slipped off the door, leaving Perry standing there fully intact.  Strike two.

    But the third time was a charm, and that’s the one we caught on video.  Take a look and congratulate our brave young man.

    Filed Under: madness, videos

    Giveaway: New Creation skirt

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    November 18, 2011 by 333 Comments

    Were you wondering if there would be a giveaway this Friday?  Don’t hold your breath, but there might be two giveaways this week!

    The first is here, now.  A free skirt of your choice from New Creation Apparel, home of the modest long skirt.  In my recent plea for skirt-choosing advice, I chose French Country Blues.

    88111040524 front thumb Giveaway: New Creation skirt

    There are tons of new fall choices now, and lots of clearance as well.  The Liberty Stretch has a soft look and graceful lines.

    88110730290 front thumb Giveaway: New Creation skirt

    Patched and Fringed is cute, pretty, and on sale – and available in my size.

    88110740629 front thumb Giveaway: New Creation skirt

    See?  This is fun.  What will you choose if you win?

    THE GIVEAWAY

    New Creation Apparel has agreed to give a $50 gift certificate  to one random winner!

    To enter the giveaway, do any or all of the following.  Please leave a separate comment here for each entry.  If you are already subscribed to our newsletter, you are automatically entered once!

    1. Look around New Creation Apparel and leave a comment on this post telling which skirt you might choose if you win.
    2. Like New Creation Apparel on Facebook
    3. Share this giveaway on Facebook.
    4. Subscribe to Life in a Shoe.
    5. Join the Life in a Shoe newsletter mailing list.  No spam, we promise.  We’ve only ever sent one newsletter (how was it?)  Note: this is not the same as subscribing to our blog posts.
    6. For 3 bonus entries, blog about this giveaway. Remember to leave 3 comments for this so you’ll be entered 3 times.

    We will take entries until Friday, November 28, then choose a random winner!

    This giveaway is closed.  The winner, chosen by random.org, is subscriber #196 of our newsletter.

    Filed Under: giveaways & deals

    4 Moms: Vehicles for the large family

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    November 17, 2011 by 17 Comments

    4moms35kids 4 Moms: Vehicles for the large family

    Vehicles for the large or growing family can be tricky.  Seats are not the only consideration; you need room for carseats, groceries, diaper bags, the occasional stroller, etc.  As needs change, the vehicle that served well last year may be entirely unsuitable next year.

    Long ago, we drove a compact hatchback car.  It was perfect for us.  It had room for 3 children (2 of them in carseats), 2 parents, and lot of groceries.  It got 40 miles/gallon, and it was cheap.  We could drive the whole family from Ohio to Texas for $40 in gas.  Life was beautiful.

    blue colt 300x154 4 Moms: Vehicles for the large family

    Nothing could ever take the place of our beloved Colt. Well, nothing except the nearly identical Colt we bought to replace it.

    Then we learned we were expecting a 4th child, and I panicked.  We needed something bigger!  We bought our first mini-van.  It’s a long and sordid tale, and I have written it all up in 4 drafts.  It ranks right up there with The Great Poop Flood.  How bad do you want to know the story?  We owned that van for about 5 painful months, and never had 3 consecutive starts.

    wreck 4 Moms: Vehicles for the large family

    Maybe it didn't look exactly like this, but that's how it made us feel every single day we owned it.

    We owned another 7-seater for a few years until I was expecting our 6th child and again we were forced to upsize.  This time we chose an older Suburban with a bench seat in the front, giving us a total of 9 seats.  We were good for a few more years.  We didn’t like going down to 17 miles/gallon, but gas was still cheap back then so it wasn’t as painful as it could have been.

    I loved driving a Suburban.  I felt cool in a country sort of way, not like a stereotypical soccer mom.  With a family our size, I was in no danger of fitting that particular stereotype, but I liked looking different as much as I like being different.  I was on top of the world in my big Texas-style truck.  It was comfortable and even though it was old and rusty, it handled like a dream.  It was like driving around on my sofa with a couple of kids sitting next to me.  It’s no longer roadworthy, but that old beast still sits in the circle down the hill, watching us come and go.  Every now and then we air up the tires, jump start it and rumble over the hill to my parents’ old house.  The kids even camp in it once in a while.

    suburban 300x199 4 Moms: Vehicles for the large family

    My faithful old beast, retired now.

     

    But years ago, we had to upgrade again.  We were expecting #8 and again we outgrew our big-family vehicle.  What would we drive next?  The 2 obvious options were the 12 passenger van or the 15 passenger van.  We went with the bigger van for several reasons:

    1. Marginal differences in cost. We never buy brand new.  15 passenger vans probably cost a little more new but seem more plentiful on the used market, so prices were very comparable  for us.
    2. Marginal difference in gas mileage. Gas efficiency does vary from year to year and model to model, but depends more on the engine than the body of the van and a 15 passenger van does not typically have a bigger engine than a 12 passenger van.
    3. No cargo space in 12 passenger vans. How would I haul groceries or even a stroller?  If I pulled a bench out of a 12 passenger van to make room for cargo, we would be back down to 8 or 9 seats – not enough for our family.  The 15 doesn’t have cargo space either but we could keep one bench out, giving us lots of cargo space and still plenty of seating.
    4. More room to grow. With a 12 passenger van, we would probably need to upgrade again within a few years.  With a 15, we are good for many years.

    Our decision was made, and Perry found a great deal on a 15 passenger van on Ebay.  Some might think that Ebay is a dangerous way to make a major purchase like this, but we felt it was safer than going to a dealer.  Unless an issue goes all the way to the BBB, it can be hard to gauge customer satisfaction with a local dealer.  However, with a bit of research, it’s easy to find an Ebay dealer with a sparkling reputation, and he’s going to be eager to keep that sparkle.

    4 Moms: Vehicles for the large family

    The Big One, retired from service in the YMCA to an even harder life hauling our wild crew.

    Next?  If our family continues to grow faster than it shrinks – not something we can freely assume at this stage in life, though it certainly could happen – we might someday want or need something even bigger.  Hubby thinks an airport shuttle would be cool.  With multiple drivers coming of age, we could also plan to go everywhere in more than one vehicle.  Personally, I think nothing will ever fill the void left by my old Suburban.

    The other moms:

    Upcoming topics for 4 Moms:

    • November 24 – Q&A
    • December 1 - Teaching writing (composition)
    • December 8 – Favorite holiday recipes {linky}
    • December 15 - Tithing and saving for retirement/college on one income
    • December 22 – Q&A

    Recent topics:

    About 4 Moms, including a complete list of all past topics

     

    Filed Under: 4 moms 35 kids

    Mystery Box prayers

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    November 16, 2011 by 13 Comments

    This isn’t exactly a sales post, though it might sound like one.  I wanted to share 75843 m Mystery Box prayerstoday’s Deal Of The Day because it has special meaning to me.

    Today’s deal is…

    …the Vision Forum Mystery Box, a fantastic opportunity to obtain at least $100 worth of great family-building books, toys, movies, audio albums, or any combination of those items, all for one incredibly low price!

    When you open your Mystery Box, you will discover an assortment of Vision Forum products that are sure to surprise and encourage your family. However, we can’t tell you what will be inside your specific box. We don’t know ourselves! The only thing we know about your particular order is that you will receive a combination of products worth at least $100 retail, all for just $30 — a massive 70% discount.

    Here’s why the Mystery Box is special to me: the girls and I assembled most or all of these boxes.  Knowing that a random selection of products won’t always be exactly what a customer is hoping for, I prayed while I worked that God would make the contents of each box particularly appropriate to the recipient.

    If you decide to order one, I would love to hear how He answered this prayer.

    Filed Under: giveaways & deals, Vision Forum

    I am thankful for…

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    November 15, 2011 by 8 Comments

    Those are the words I wrote at the top of the whiteboard in our dining room a couple of days ago.

    Here’s how it looks this evening:

    wpid IMAG0159 I am thankful for...

    Filed Under: thankful thoughts

    Saturday Snapshots (and a Vision Forum promo code)

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    November 14, 2011 by 3 Comments

    What’s that you say?  Today isn’t Saturday?  Well, we were busy Saturday watching Perry and the other guys from VF practice for next week’s annual football game with College Plus.  5 days and counting!

    57852 m Saturday Snapshots (and a Vision Forum promo code)

    Since we’re on the topic of wargames – you do agree that football is a wargame, don’t you? – I’ll mention that today’s Deal Of The Day is a pair of High Impact Roman Short Swords for $42.  These are perfect for sparring by big boys, who don’t mind a few bruises but prefer not to actually lose a limb.  Another bonus: like boys but unlike wooden swords, they are nearly indestructible.  Click through the link to see a video of the swords in action in the VF warehouse.  :)

    Speaking of Deal Of The Day, I spent Friday at VF helping to assemble a very fun upcoming Deal Of The Day.  Keep an eye out, and subscribe to the DOTD  daily email in the right sidebar so you never miss a great deal!

    THE SALE

    And – oh!  It’s just launched!  The 20% off Everything plus $5 flat shipping sale!  Use the code ALLEXTRA20 to get your discount. [exp 11/19] Go, go, go!  It even applies to already discounted items, which means you can get an extra $8.40 off those Roman swords, bringing today’s price down to $33.60.

    This would be a good time to take a peek at the clearance outlet.  Just a quick glance shows that with an extra 20% off, you could get Passionate Housewives for $6.40, Raising Maidens of Virtue for $9.60, Expelled DVD for $10, Praying Mantis Kit for $9.60, and Carson zPix 200 Digital Microscope for $76.

    Sorry.  This wasn’t supposed to be a Vision Forum post, but I’m excited about that sale and I knew about it ahead of time but was sworn to secrecy until the email went out.  You are on the email list, right?

     

    Silly Searches with Larry:

    • What to do when basement floods feces – Sadly, you probably found what you were looking for.  We’ve been there, done that, and lived to tell the story.  This is only funny if it’s 1) Not your own house, or 2) At least 10 years ago.
    • What should guys wear to labor and delivery – I don’t know but he’d better look good, because if a guy is having a baby the media is sure to be there.
    • How to get baby to walk early - This is obviously your first child, and you haven’t yet realized that when they start to walk, they have 2 free hands.  This is when the true destruction begins and your house will never again look the same.
    • butterless biscuits – You’ll never find those words together on my blog!  Well, except just now…
    • why children should sit in church - We prefer for children to SIT in church because it’s disruptive to others when they do jumping jacks, play tag, get corrected by the preacher in the middle of a sermon, or run shrieking up the middle aisle and across the front of the church during the benediction because they think the pastor’s son is going to tickle them when the service is over. Not that any of our kids have ever done that, of course, because I already would have told you, right?  Even if it was 16 years ago…
    • if its dirty clean it – really?  You needed google for this?  Here’s a bonus tip:  If somebody tells you it’s dirty even though it looks fine, go ahead and clean it.  There’s probably poop, vomit or a dog involved.

    What I’ve been reading:

    [recreading]

    What’s on your plate? Answer figuratively or literally.  I had our first-ever homemade bruschetta on my plate last night.  It was a big hit!  It was our first attempt at fancy-schmancy Sunday snacks, and we’re inspired.  What should we try next?

    Filed Under: blogging & technology

    4 Moms: Large Family Food Storage

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    November 10, 2011 by 24 Comments

    4moms35kids 4 Moms: Large Family Food StorageHappy Thursday, friends!  This week the 4 Moms are talking about food storage for the large family.  You may think a mom of so many girls wouldn’t know much about food storage, but let me tell you something: my girls eat like Scarlett O’Hara.  Remember when her mammy made her fill up on a huge slab of ham and assorted sides so that the boys at the dance would think she had a dainty, ladylike appetite?  Hah.  My dainty girls leave the mothers of teenaged boys gaping in awe.  We like to eat around here, and we’re not ashamed.

    Not surprisingly, we go through a lot of food.  We laugh at the wee little 5 lb. bags of flour sold at the grocery store.  Really.  There’s a kid reading over my shoulder right now, and she’s giggling.  ”They’re so cute!”  Those are a single use when you’re whipping up 4 or 5 large pizzas, especially if you make breadsticks to stretch the pizza.

    One reason I love to shop at Costco is because the things I buy come in convenient sizes for a big family: 25 lbs. of flour or sugar, industrial sized spice containers, gallon cans of veggies and tomato paste, 10 lbs. of carrots…you get the idea.  A bonus: with bigger packaging, we generate less trash.  Many small families generate more trash than we do because of their propensity for individual servings of prepackaged foods.

    The big question is how to store these truly family-sized packages.  You don’t really want a flour canister that holds 25# sitting on your countertop, do you?

    Here’s how we solve that little issue:

    buckets 199x300 4 Moms: Large Family Food Storage

    Since we cook so much from scratch, we don’t store mass quantities of a lot of different foods – we stick mainly to the staples, and fill in the gaps weekly or as needed.  We have buckets for flour, sugar, brown sugar, beans, rice, and wheat.  We used to have one for oats but found that they went bad too quickly.  We had a bucket of coconut oil, but transferred it to quart jars.  We also have one for cat litter, but we don’t cook with that.  Did I have you worried?

    I don’t use a canister at all for flour, since it would be emptied in a single use.  That’s not my idea of convenience.  Instead, I replaced the standard bucket lids with these babies.  This is my idea of convenience!

    gamma seal lids 4 Moms: Large Family Food Storage

    They spin on and off with one hand.  I love them!  No fumbling for the bucket opener, or breaking nails trying to open the lid with brute strength.  Everything is color coded, too: Blue for Beans, oRange for Rice, Red for bRown sugar…hey, work with me here.  My bucket system is a work in progress.

    I also try to keep my canned goods sensibly organized.

    labels3 200x300 4 Moms: Large Family Food Storage

    Sometimes.  But sometimes a steal of a deal on 24 jars of organic marinara sauce messes up your system.

    sauce 300x199 4 Moms: Large Family Food Storage

    Sometimes there’s no good excuse at all.

    pantry 144x300 4 Moms: Large Family Food Storage

    I’m hoping to upgrade to this very soon:

    prd 79 m1 4 Moms: Large Family Food Storage

    And maybe you can, too.  Watch for a giveaway!

    What’s your food storage problem or solution?  Link up with us! Remember, when you link up on one of our sites, your link will automatically be added to all 4 Moms posts this week!

    Please remember the linky rules:

    1. You must link to a specific relevant post on your blog.
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    Upcoming topics for 4 Moms:

    • November 17 - Transporting the large family. What do you drive? Any tips?
    • November 24 – Q&A
    • December 1 - Teaching writing (composition)

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    Filed Under: 4 moms 35 kids, big family, food