Summer has finally arrived bringing the 80 degree weather that I thought we were never going to see this year!  So, for the Twinkies, diapers are the main clothing choice.  Well, the other day we had a overcast morning and things were fairly cool (in comparison) so I was clothing the little ones. 

Bug was all ready and I had warned Monkey that we were going to get him dressed to face the day as well.  Apparently he had decided that wasn’t entirely necessary and came into my room a few minutes later wearing only a diaper and a fishing hat.  He thought he was very big stuff and was fully clothed in his mind.

I found myself telling him “sorry buddy, but a hat isn’t clothes”.  Sometimes I have to stop and listen to what I say as a mom because it is simply the funniest stuff.  No wonder moms can make some of the funniest comedians I have ever seen!  What better material than our children or even simply listening to what we say to them because of their craziness. 

Hope you’ve been having a funny week too!  Have a safe and wonderful 4th of July!!!

A Frog In My Soup has definitely been lacking in the Meat and Potatoes department.  Lot’s of side dishes and a few desserts here and there, but the real substance of the meal is missing these days.  Blame it on summer?  or maybe on the fact that I’m working my tail off to get the house ready to be put on the market???  I don’t really know, but my daily Bible reading has declined as well.

Ah, now it all makes sense, right?  Isn’t it amazing what a huge difference it makes when we are in the Word of God to some extent each day?  It is for me for sure!  It is the very life and essence of my thoughts and definitely creates much more focus and purpose when I make sure I’m spending time in the Word each day. 

Prayer …. yup that’s in there too, for me these days it’s the quickly-throughout-the-day type of prayer that is getting me through, not the sustained, time-on-my-knees listening to His Voice type.  So the combination has created a rather lackluster theme around here. 

For the longest time I have tried - and failed miserably - to do my daily devotions in the morning.  As a mom, we all know this should be done when the children are still sleeping.  My boys are busy bees first thing in the morning and create as much noise as possible to wake up the day (and the rest of the household)!  If only I could awaken with that much energy!

So finally, a thought struggled it’s way through my foggy mind and I realized that I have been wasting away the quietest time of the day at my house … evening!  I’m always up until 10:30pm or 11pm (or later ), so why not make the effort in those great moments before I head to bed???  The 10:00 to 11:00 hour is the BEST and QUIETEST time around here. 

This suddenly occurred to my crazy mind about 11:30 pm last night so I took a few moments to write a page in my journal while making a mental note to create a more purposeful time tonight.  I am so hungry for the Word of God right now!  Seriously!!!  I adore the devotionals I am priveleged to read and publish for our amazing contributors at Faith Lifts and I definitely get a great lift when I take them to heart.  But they, like Sunday Sermons only take me so far and I’m hungry again.

This month I’m going to focus on reading the word and journaling each evening at about 10:30 or 11:00pm.  The idea that I may actually have stumbled upon something that with only a few exceptions might actually work on a VERY consistent basis is super exciting to me!  The fact that I can potentially do this for 30 days and instill it as a “habit” is even more exciting.  But just being able to rest in His presence during the quiet time of day here simply sounds Heavenly!

One thing that I struggle with a little bit as the mom of 6 busy boys is … I LOVE QUIET.  I am an introvert, the person that is refreshed and filled up when things are quietest.  So being in the hustle and bustle of boyness day in and day out without any quiet wears me down to nothing very quickly!!!  I HATE running on empty!  I’m sure you do too!  There are people (extroverts) that are actually refreshed by being in a crowd, that idea is foreign to me as it drains everything I have! 

The point I want to make is that here I am at 36 years old, with 6 children, been married for almost 15 years (anniversary is in a couple of weeks) and a revelation of change just came to me now!  So often I think we get stuck in what we think is The way or the Right way to do things that we can’t see “outside the box”.  That’s where I was. 

If you’re struggling with getting that all-important one-on-one time with God each day, I seriously encourage you to sit down in a quiet moment (’cuz I know we don’t often get more than that little moment of quiet) and look objectively at your day.  Remove the walls that are boxing you into thinking there is a certain time or way that you need to meet with God and simply search for that time that consistently appears in your schedule that you never considered using as your devotional time.

Let me know how it goes or if you have already discovered this time in your life!

I am actually very excited to share a great website with all of you!  I was recently told about www.MommyDocs.com, a site for moms by moms.  Not just any moms either, both of the women behind Mommy Docs are MD’s (one is a pediatrician and the other is an Asthma & Allergy specialist)!! 

I was immediately thrilled to see a focus on car seat safety!  I was the type of first time parent that read everything I could put my hands on, researched anything possible online and went to all the classes.  Not all first timers are able to do this and I totally understand that now …. but back then, maybe not so much!

I was absolutely shocked speechless when I saw a couple driving out of the parking lot of a restaurant we were entering with a baby in an infant carseat FACING FORWARD.  Thankfully it was in the backseat …. in that case.  I have since seen my fair share of carseats in the front seat or otherwise improperly installed.  Needless to say, it is a big issue, so I was thrilled to see it addressed at their site.

Their podcasts are where they offer the most information.  From Car seat safety and Sunscreen to Allergy Shots and Fevers!  Right now they have been focusing on Summer Safety Tips and I highly recommend you take a peek.   Their podcast entitled “Let the Sunshine In” is only 8 minutes and 45 seconds and it focuses on keeping yourself and your kids safe in the sun!

I also enjoyed reading the blog!  It is informative, but totally in reach of a busy mom’s understanding!  In addition to all this they also offer a Health Q&A section where they answer many mom questions as well as a section that tells you all about who they are and more! 

So, hop on over there and check them out! 

Not leaving town or probably even getting out of the house, but I’m taking a little vacation from my computer.  We haven’t been getting along much lately anyway, so it is a much needed break!

Later today I am going to finish up a couple of Sweet ‘n Simple Design projects and take care of all of the Week of Giveaway winners and then I will begin my “vacation”!  I will still check email once a day to keep in touch with friends, occasionally post here, and put out any “fires” for design customers, but that’s pretty much it.

Just a heads up for anyone thinking of purchasing a design from me … prices are set to increase middle of July, so I suggest purchasing your choice during my ‘vacation’ so that you are guaranteed the lower price (and a spot on my ever expanding calendar).

Hope you’re having a little ‘vacation’ this summer too! 

There’s only one more day left to enter all of the great giveaways at Froggy Reviews!  We had such a great group of sponsors support the Week of Giveaways event, make sure you show them how much you appreciate it by entering the contests.

I have more great contests lined up for the site, so be sure to check back often!

If you read the title of this post and thought that you were going to be offered a great recipe or technique for creating a great homemade bubble machine … you were wrong .

I have always loved those little battery powered bubble machine.  They kick out tons of bubbles with little effort and it amuses the children to no end (well, almost)!  Bubbles are messy and when I’m blowing them the little ones want to have the wand … and the bottle … and it just gets messier and messier, you get the idea.

Today was a beautiful day!  I took the twins outside to play in the sand with all the older boys, and suddenly I was amazed to see a steady and heavy stream of bubbles floating by me.  Like a bubble machine!

I looked to my right and there was CJ, our 12 year old, just blowing away like a Bubble Machine!  Yup, I finally got one, a Bubble Machine all my own.  Though I think in reality he’s far more expensive than one of those little battery powered machines, after all he’s powered by food … and lots of it! 

But, I have to say it was a fun treat for the little ones and for me, since I wasn’t the one blowing them and having the littler ones hang all over me begging to do it too.  So, I’ll take the Homemade Bubble Machine I can call my oldest son over a store bought one any day! 

I was recently contacted and asked if I would review the brand new Schlage Electronic Keypad Lock. With a little information about it I was quick to reply with a resounding “yes”!

My older boys are getting to the age where it isn’t the end of the world if mom isn’t home when the bus drops them off (though I have yet to miss that event ).  But the idea of handing out all those keys isn’t one that I want to even think about. 

This lock offers me the opportunity to give the boys a code just for them to know that will allow them to open the deadbolt on the front door.  Now, I’ll be super honest, I was a little concerned about the typical boy jesting that takes place among peers and needed to come up with a plan to keep the number truly safe. 

So, in order to cut down on possible information overload, there are a couple of things I do.  First, they will not be given the code unless absolutely necessary, especially some of the younger ones.  One thing that is great about my kids is that even if they know they slip up they also know that they can have a conversation with us so that we can help them “fix it”.  This will involve a community changing of the code of course, but hopefully a little wiser child as well.

We don’t have a lot of extra people coming in and out of the house at the moment, but our kids are always first to the door waiting for myself or my hubby to unlock it after we’ve gone somewhere.  Usually they are impatiently wanting to get in so that they can be first in line for our only bathroom (but that’s another story).  How nice to have them simply be able to enter a couple of numbers and get in themselves!

The other concern may be ease of use.  This lock is super easy to install and setting up codes (or getting rid of them) is simple as well.  It is all about ease for the consumer and I think that’s great.  If I know that the kids’ code needs to be changed I can do that in a matter of seconds.  Oh, and in case you’re wondering, the kids get a code all their own so that hubby and I don’t have to worry about our code getting “leaked” to the neighborhood kids LOL!

Knowing that Schlage Locks are also tops for security offers me just one more Peace!  Three years ago … three weeks after we moved into this house … we were robbed.  The kids were on spring break, we went somewhere fun for the morning and I never in a million years could have imagined the horrible scene I would come home to.  This is NOT the kind of house that would be targeted to be robbed, except that someone knew we had just moved in.   The only thing of much value that was stolen was my computer (yup another brand new one bites the dust) and some jewelry that mainly held sentimental value (they were my grandmother’s).

We still don’t have much to steal and we have a dog now that sounds like an airhorn (no joke) and not only does she make a ton of noise … if you get her going every dog within 5 miles will be howling with her (happens daily)!  We repaired the door, replaced the computer and cut down the rhododendron that was almost as big as our house and did block the view a bit from the road to the driveway and front door.  But I have never felt like we had a very secure lock, so this adds another benefit for me! 

These locks are available at hardware stores everywhere and if you want a little more information about it, just visit Schlage’s Website!

With the arrival of summer I’m finding my time to blog has become very sporadic. I know, I know “DUH”! Seriously though, I just need to adjust to the new schedule and work it all in, haha!

Today I have a meeting and I’ll be dragging all 6 kids with me. I’m preparing to take a couple weeks off at www.SweetnSimpleDesign.com, so all the last minute orders are piling in.  It’s actually a nice problem to have. 

This weekend we’re having a double birthday party for The Salesman and Lion at the Y.  It should be fun and is definitely a change from the usual party at the local pizza place.  I’m excited to be able to do something like that for them! 

Are all of you finding it challenging to adjust to a different schedule for summer?

When Janet Nusbaum, owner of www.KidsandChores.net contacted me about her chore system for families I was intrigued.  When she offered to send me the book I was thrilled!  This isn’t your ordinary chore system!  Here’s what Janet told me about it:

With the purchase of one system, you receive the 133-page parent’s workbook and 1 ‘In My Family Everyone Works Together’ chore binder.  The system is designed for each child in the family age 5-18 to have their own ‘In My Family Everyone Works Together’ chore binder, which is a poly-construction mini-binder (that I had custom-made) containing the chore cards you have assigned to that child. 

Each binder includes a full set of 80+ chore cards, of different skill levels. Based on age-appropriate chore charts in the workbook, you the parent choose which chore cards go in each child’s binder based on their age.  As the child matures, you add or delete chore cards from their binder.

The beauty of the system is that the child takes ownership of their chore binder, which serves as their own instruction manual of how they contribute to their family.  Consistently, I see kids take pride in having their own chore binder, and thus they take pride in their contribution to their family – they feel special and needed.  This concept is a 100% improvement over a standard wall chore chart or similar.

Ok, I said before that this isn’t your ordinary chore setup. It is an entire home makeover in my opinion. I sat down and went through the workbook and was amazed at the approach. It is all about a complete restructuring of the way you view the work involved in getting and keeping the home clean and running smoothly. It also has some great overall parental helps like learning your children’s personality as well as an ENTIRE chart on what chores are apporpriate at what age!!!!

The organization and household help doesn’t stop there though!  In addition to the wonderful system Janet offers at www.KidsandChores.net, she also offers tons more for you and your family at www.SimplifiedSpaces.net where you can sign up for their free report and newsletter and the Simplified Home Store for all your organizing and simplifying needs!

Janet has offered all of you the opportunity to get a free second binder with any complete chore system purchase.  Just head over to www.KidsandChores.net to purchase a complete “Mom Can I Help Around the House?” system and be sure you mention in the comments as you check out that you heard about them at A Frog In My Soup!!  Hurry over though, this offer expires on July 23rd!

She has also offered one of you the opportunity to receive a complete “Mom Can I Help Around the House?” system!  Here’s what you need to do …

~ Visit www.KidsandChores.net and take a look around, you can also visit her other site Simplified Spaces and view the products there.

~Come back here and leave a comment telling me what your favorite product is and why you need it!

This contest is open for entries from the USA, Canada, Australia and Europe! You may enter through July 11th.

Hi everyone, I just wanted to take a second and remind all of you that the Week of Giveaways event is still going on at Froggy Reviews!!!  The event is really going well and there are still many more giveaways to come! 

So far, you can enter to win …

A Greeting Cookie from The Greeting Cookie Company.
A Korker Bow from MarieLynn Boutique.
An Organic Cotton Tote bag from The Green Path Company.
A Boutique Hair Bow from LLL Designs.
A Miss Pink Fairy Dress from Sapphire Secrets.
Two winners for an Educational CD from Regionz Kidz.

And there are still more to come!  The event ends on Monday, but there’s still time to tell all your friends about it!  All of the contests are open for entries through Friday June 29th.