A Young Boy's Dream Job

About a year ago, I asked Noah what he wanted to do when he grew up.

He said, "I want to work at Walmart and sell video games."

Always wanting the very best for my children, I excitedly suggested, "Or, maybe, you could go to college to study computers, and you could design your own video games."

Noah looked thrilled and said, "Yeah!  And then, I can work at Walmart and sell them!"




photo by Ian Muttoo

Are The Toys Still Organized?

I recently had a reader ask about the organization that we did with Molly's toys. She was curious how things were going with the bins and picture labels, three months after I originally posted about it.

I really wanted to take an opportunity to write about it because I think that often, as bloggers, we get a great idea and post about it right away. But, then we often don't post later to say, "Wow -- this totally didn't actually work for us" or "Things are still going great with this!"

I am thrilled to report that Molly (and everyone else in the family, as they were often culprits in not keeping things organized as well) has continued to enjoy this system and has been keeping her toys clean and organized. Of course, there are times that everything is sitting out. But, it's easy to get it all cleaned up.

As a matter-of-fact, I realized how well the system was working when she was putting some toys in one of the tubs, and then saw a Care Bear in the Littlest Pet Shop tub. She laughed and said, "There's a Care Bear in the Littlest Pet Shop box," as though it was the funniest thing she had seen in a while. She then promptly removed it and put it in the correct box.

I had previously tried over and over to organize toys into tubs, but it always ended up disorganized later. The labels, however, seemed to make all the difference. And what a difference that is!

Thanks for the great question!

7 Quick Takes: September 11th (Vol. 15)

~ 1 ~

I have never played Rock Band (or Guitar Hero, for that matter), but I have a strong urge to buy the Beatles Rock Band game.

Mind you, I have decided that it is definitely not something we need. And, quite frankly, not even something I actually want to spend the money on. But, I would like it, all the same.

As an alternative, I did dance around the kitchen this evening while I loudly played Beatles music on my iPod (through speakers). Not really the same, but at least they could then drown out my horrible singing.

~ 2 ~

I am so psyched. I have been collecting books to use for Winter Promise's American Story 2 for next school year. I have been primarily doing it through Paperback Swap, and have picked up tons of them already. I ordered almost all of the ones they had "in stock," and then put the rest on my wishlist (several I have already been able to order of those on my wishlist too).

Yeah for trading books instead of buying brand new!

~ 3 ~

Now, before I sound too thrifty though, I must admit that the kids and I went to an actual book store after Jack's violin lesson last week. I offered that I would buy each of the kids two books. (And, then I was thrilled when Noah wanted to use allowance money to buy extra books.) I even got a couple of books for myself.

I knew that I could have purchased all of those books cheaper on Amazon.com. But, there was just something so nice about touching the books, looking through them, and being able to instantly buy them and walk out the door. Totally not frugal, but really fun to watch the kids look through books while trying to pick their perfect purchases.

~ 4 ~

The other day, things were just crazy. (When aren't they though?) We had been working on school for several hours, and then school related things longer (lessons and such). Still, we had things left to do.

Then, as I was driving us home from some gym time to just go work on my school work (before we had another activity to go to later), I realized, "This is enough." Not everything needs to get done, even if it is on the schedule.

Granted, this didn't buy us a ton of free time, since our day had already been packed full, but it was still freeing. It gave us just a tiny bit of down time, but it was great.

(This should probably be a sign to me that I need to adjust our schedule. I am, apparently, not reading that sign.)

~ 5 ~

I cannot stop eating these pickles.

They are tasty. They are sweet. They are plentiful in my refrigerator. They make me want sandwiches at just about every meal.

I haven't eaten any since Tuesday, and quite frankly, I might be going through withdrawal. Do they have a 12 step program for pickle addiction?

~ 6 ~

I was so excited to see this week that The Homeschool Classroom (the group blog that I started last summer) has just gone over the 1000 subscribers mark. (Wouldn't you know that Feedburner would have a glitch on our site just after I said that? Several days over 1000, and then in the 800's after I said it. Thanks, Feedburner.)

It's been exciting to watch the blog grow over the past year. It is nice that most of the original writers are still writing with us. I learn so much from all of the writers. What a great group of women they are!

~ 7 ~

There are some subjects where there is so much to say, but just not enough words to ever express the emotion that exists about that subject.

Today is one of those subjects.

Nothing I try to write seems quite right, or quite enough. (Believe me, I have tried over and over.)

And so, I'll stop trying to write something. Instead, I'll just pray.

This post is linked to 7 Quick Takes.

Photo Credits: book store by MyEyeSees, beatles by Colony of Gamers, pickles and flag by Angie @ Many Little Blessings.

How to Dye Pasta for Kids Crafts

This past Mother's Day, I decided that I wanted my preschool co-op class to work on a project for their Moms. So many of the kids have never been to traditional school, so their Moms had never been the recipients of handmade projects.

I really kept wavering about what I should make with them, but then I thought of the fun, inexpensive, and educational (great fine motor practice, as well as math for patterns) craft of pasta necklaces.

Here's what you need to dye your own pasta for a variety of crafts (you can also dye rice with this same method for crafts or sensory tables):

1. Pasta -- there are lots of great shapes that can be used. Just keep in mind what you're doing, and that will help guide you.

Because I was doing necklaces with young kids, I went with only rigatoni noodles.

(After a comment on this post, I wanted to point out two quick things. It was suggested in the comments that this could be an even more frugal project if store brand pasta is used. That is definitely true, so keep that in mind! However, also be sure to check out the brand name boxes too. When I bought these, they were actually on sale and were cheaper than the store brand.)

2. Rubbing Alcohol -- You'll need around 1/4 cup of this for every cup or two of pasta, so make sure you have enough rubbing alcohol at home.

3. Large Ziploc bags -- make sure you have a brand that seals well. I actually double up my bags to even further reduce the risk of leakage.

4. Liquid Food Coloring -- Make sure you have a few different colors, if you are dyeing a variety of colors of pasta. (And, remember, you can mix colors to create new ones.)

Get your zip bag and add 1/4 cup rubbing alcohol and around 10 drops of food coloring (can do more, if you want) and swish it around. Then, add 1 - 2 cups of pasta into the bag.

Truth be told, I think I added about 1/2 cup of rubbing alcohol to these bags (plus double the amount of food coloring) and then just filled the bag with pasta.

Really move the pasta around in the bags, then lay them out flat (still in the bags). I put the bags on a foil lined cookie sheet, just in case there were spills.

Allow the pasta to sit in the ziploc bags. I flipped them over every 30 minutes for a couple of hours. I probably could have let them sit for longer and flipped them over less, but I loved looking at the colors as they got deeper and more vibrant.

The longer you let them sit in the bags, the deeper and more vibrant they will become.

When you have your desired color, drain the colored alcohol out of the bag, and then set the pasta out to dry.

I put newspaper on my foil lined cookie sheets, and then put the pasta down on them in sections. (You know, a green section, an orange section, etc.)

I let them dry like that overnight, and then packed them up to take to co-op in baggies the next day.


The kids loved making necklaces for their Moms, and every had to ask me how to dye their own pasta. (Quick Tip: When making necklaces with young kids, it is easiest for them if one side of the yarn is taped down to the table.)

Each child also decorated a paper bag for their Moms to use as "gift wrap."

Having never received these kinds of handmade kid gifts, I actually even had several Moms who told me that they wore their beautiful and bright necklaces to Mass on Mother's Day!

This is a fun, easy, and frugal craft for Moms (with the dyeing) and kids!

This post is linked to Works for Me Wednesday.