Filtering the Dust...

My house is constantly dusty, and I know it comes from the central air conditioning / heating system. But I learned of a way of "filtering" the air as it comes from the vents and keeping your house a bit more dust-free (and allergen-free). You should always purchase a good-quality filter for your system and replace it regularly, as your unit recommends. The dirtier it gets, the more dust it will blow around your house (yuck). Then, use a piece of cheesecloth under the vents to filter the air before it blows into your house. Pull the register out, stretch a piece of cheesecloth over the bottom of it and put it back in its slot (checking it to make sure it covers the whole vent but doesn't stick out). Nifty, huh?

Kid-Friendly Movie Reviews

I don't know why I neglected to mention this site when I did my "Top Ten Web Links" a month or so ago... I use this site all the time!

I'm never sure what a PG rating on a movie means anymore. Some PG movies have been shockingly "nearly-PG-13" in my book. And many PG-13 movies should have been rated R by my standards! I don't take the kids to see anything that isn't rated G before checking it out first anymore...

Before I go see just about any movie (with or without kids) I look it up on this site:

http://www.kidsinmind.com/

The site has a rating system (on a scale of 1 to 10) to give you an idea of how much sex & nudity, violence & gore, and profanity there is in the movie. It even breaks it down and tells you the details of why the reviewers came to that particular rating. As a parent and an individual, you can make an educated decision whether you want to view a particular film or not.

For instance, there is one movie in the theaters right now (I won't mention names) that looked absolutely hilarious on the previews and has some of my favorite actors in it. It was rated PG-13 so I thought it might be okay. After looking it up, however, and realizing that it had a rating on Kids-in -Mind of 7.3.4 (and after reading the detailed review of the sex & nudity rating of 7), I decided I'd rather not see it. We decided to see something else instead.

Another site with family-friendly movie reviews is Parent Previews. While the information on Parent Previews is not as detailed as Kids-in-Mind, it still offers reviews that can help you determine whether a movie is one you want to see or not.

"A Stanford University psychologist, Albert Bandura and a number of associates have amassed a great deal of evidence that has repeatedly and powerfully shown how models on TV and on the theater screen can teach new behavior patterns and influence or even change opinions, attitudes, and values." source

I choose not to give that kind of power and influence on my children and family to Hollywood. No, thanks!

Chemical-Free Weed Killer

This really works... It's great on those weeds in between the cracks in your sidewalk or driveway.

It's as simple as this: pour boiling water on weeds.

Yup. Crazy, isn't it? But I've tried it and it really does the job. No yucky, stinky, dangerous chemicals necessary. :)

Honey-Butter

Another "recipe" for the perfect proportions...

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 honey

Whip until well blended. Store in refrigerator in a tightly covered container.

Excellent on cornbread or any kind of warm fresh-out-of-the-oven bread. Yum!

Cinnamon-Sugar

The perfect proportions for your homemade concoction of cinnamon and sugar:

1 T. cinnamon to every 1/2 cup of sugar.

Mix well and store in an airtight container. Sprinkle on warm, buttered toast or use it to roll snickerdoodle dough in before baking. Yum!

Summer Enrichment

Around here we subject our children to something we call "Summer School." We started doing it the summer before our oldest (who is going into 6th grade this year) started kindergarten and we've done it ever since. We just felt it was really important that our kids not loose what they learned during the year over summer break.

In the beginning, we used homemade flashcards and workbook pages. Now, we have combined the benefits of multiple sources, such as:

• Summer Bridge Books (daily worksheets that last the entire summer) Published by Rainbow Bridge Publishing ~ check half.com, Amazon.com, or your local Barnes & Noble
  
• Flashcards (store-bought and homemade)
• Workbooks (for the grade they've just completed, purchased just about anywhere)
• The internet: worksheets and websites for learning as well as ideas for activities (see below)
  
• Field Trips to local museums, art exhibits, etc.

Some of our favorite websites for kids' learning:

• Starfall.com
• Utah Education Network
• Read.Write.Think.
• Rainforest Maths
• Handwriting for Kids
• Summerbrains.com (coordinates w/Summer Bridge books)
• PBS Kids ZOOM
• Kids Science Experiments
• Family Fun's Summer Ideas
  

[Have I missed any good ones??]

We spend about 30 minutes a day on "schoolwork." I start them each with Summer Bridge Activities worksheets. When they're done, the younger ones do flashcards, games, and/or reading with me while their older sister reads a book on her own from the suggested books her teacher gave her or from the library's list of recommended titles for her age group.

Summer reading is something I want to be fun. We aim for about 30 minutes of reading each day in addition to our school work. We usually stick to something that is fairly easy to read and is a topic of the child's own choosing. My middle child (who just graduated from Kindergarten) chose a few books at the library that are good ones for me to read to him, and we are continuing to make our way through the McOmber Readers that he reads to me. My youngest (3) and I read picture books together. Sometimes my daughter reads to her brothers, which gets all three kids to do their reading at the same time. :) It just depends on the day.

We are also planning a once-a-week outing to somewhere fun but with a purpose. For instance, my kids love the Bean Museum on BYU campus. It has lots of "stuffed animals" on display. We talk about where the animal lived, what it ate, what kind of noise it made (if applicable), and anything else interesting about it. We are also planning on visiting the Paleontology Museum at BYU and the BYU Art Museum's Walter Wick exhibit.

Here's to a fun summer of learning!!




p.s. And just so you don't think I'm all work and no play, we'll be spending plenty of time at the local playgrounds, running through the backyard sprinklers, and catching a matinee show at the movie house every once in a while. :)

Marinated Chicken

This recipe for chicken marinade has become a staple in our household. It is scrumptious, especially on the grill! :)

And... a tip to go along with the recipe...

**If you need the marinade for a meat to work faster, use less oil. It will taste like it was marinated longer than you really did. :)

Italian Chicken Marinade

1 (0.7 oz) packet Italian Salad Dressing Mix (Good Seasons)
1/3 C. oil (olive, canola - whatever you have on hand)
1/3 C. lemon juice

Mix the marinade ingredients together. Pound out 4-6 chicken breasts to thin them out. Put the chicken and the marinade together in a large plastic bag and seal it shut. Work the marinade around in the bag so it gets to all the pieces, then lay it flat on a plate or pan in the fridge (in case of any leaks). Halfway through your marinating time, flip the bag over. Before grilling, shake the marinade off of each piece of chicken. Yummy!

Pinatas

I got this great idea from a friend of mine. It's GENIUS!

You know when you have a pinata at a kids' birthday party and the scramble after leaves some kids with a stash and others in tears?

Before stuffing the pinata with candy, put the candy in little baggies. You could even put kids' names on them to make the scramble interesting. :) Every child gets the same amount of candy and all is fair. No tears!

Cleaning Stainless Steel

Don't bother with the expensive bottles of stainless steel cleaner at the store.

Clean stainless steel with a soft cloth and vinegar. It will remove fingerprints and smudges, and will leave it shiny and clean. Plus, it's super cheap. :)

My Favorite Things: Top Ten Web Links

I thought it might be fun to share my "top ten" favorite sites on the web with you. You may already be familiar with many of these, but - then again - some of you may not be.

Please leave me comments with a few of your favorite websites!

Shopping Sites:

• Craigslist.org is an online classified ads listing service. Find your local Craigslist on the main homepage (linked).
• Freecycle.org is a Yahoo group that is similar to an online classified ads listing service, except that everything is FREE. Yup, FREE. You can post an OFFER for things you want to give away, and/or a WANTED for things you're looking for. Again, search for your local Freecycle group on the main homepage (again, linked).
• Half.com is a subsidiary of Ebay. It sells mainly used items and is a great resource if you don't care about an item being in mint condition. The shipping is standard bookrate at $3.49 per item, so it's really reasonable (especially when you find items that are listed for only a few bucks!). You can also sometimes upgrade on shipping and get the item faster if you prefer. I just bought three workbooks for my kids that were $15-20 each at the big-chain bookstore. I got all three, including shipping, for $25!!

LDS sites:

• Sugardoodle.net has helps for folks in all kinds positions from leadership to teaching in areas from Relief Society to Primary.
  
• LDS Clipart on About.LDS.com has an awesome collection of clipart from church magazines and art available for free download. I use this site all the time for my Primary lesson handouts & coloring pages.
  

Miscellaneous "Reference" Sites

• Microsoft Office Online Clipart is where I get most of my clipart images for this blog. It's free clipart with tens of thousands of clipart images at your disposal including sounds, photos, and moving clipart. Take a few minutes to explore the rest of the site as well as the clipart section. There's a lot of useful stuff on there!
  
• Internet Movie Database is a fun site if you're a movie buff like me. You can look up movies and see bios on your favorite actors/actresses. So, for instance, when you're watching a movie and you can't quite place where else you've seen a particular actor, you can look the movie up on IMDb, click on the actor's name, and see what other movies they've been in.
  
• AllRecipes.com is a fabulous resource for recipes. If you haven't heard of this site, you HAVE to check it out!

Kids' Websites

• Starfall.com is a great site for kids and teaches pre-reading and reading skills. My kindergartener thinks it's great fun to "play" on this site.
• ColoringBookFun.com has a great collection of black and white coloring book images. [For best results, save the image, paste it onto a word document, and stretch it out to fill the page before you print it.] They have holiday, character, learning, and themed coloring pages.

What are your favorite websites that I haven't included in my "top ten?"