Author: lifewithcuties@gmail.com

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How To Use Up Eggs!

We have 6 chickens, which is great for our family of 7! But if we don’t have a meal with eggs for a week or two…they really start to pile up. Eggs are also a thrifty source of protein with yolks full of folic acid! However, they are high in saturated fat, so I stick to one egg-based meal a day. Here is the list my cuties and I made on Sunday to eat them up!

“Green Eggs and Ham” was the first thing that burst out of Kyler’s mouth. Haha! I guess green eggs and ham don’t have to be only for St. Patrick’s Day, right?

Fried Eggs-half of our family likes a runny yolk (my kids call the runny yolk eggs “cheesy eggs”)

Scrambled Eggs with cheese

German Pancakes (one of our favorite Sunday meals-we have to make 2 pans to fill up everyone’s bellies so it takes a whole dozen eggs each time we make this meal!)

Potato Salad-Ember requested this without the pickles, please Mom!

Egg sandwiches-we use miracle whip in ours

Breakfast sandwiches-our kids like to make buttered toast and then put on bacon, an egg, and cheese

Breakfast burritos-

Hot dog and egg meal-my husband showed me this one. Slice hot dogs and heat both sides in a pan. Give them a generous dose of pepper. Add scrambled eggs. Put on plate, drip hot sauce on, rip off a piece of tortilla and use it to grab some up. Shove in mouth.

Egg muffins-we put diced bell peppers, some spinach, and other things in these healthy grab an go’s

If you waited a while to collect eggs, or you want to see if the eggs you bought are still good, do the Float Test! To do this, fill a large bowl or sink with water and put in the eggs. If they float, they are bad. If they stay on the bottom, they are good.

If there is no way you will eat all of your eggs, you can also try to sell them or give them away. If you have any other favorite egg dishes, PLEASE share below in the comments. Thanks so much and have a happy day!

Jexi

 

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8 Habits for Miserable Parenthood

***Disclaimer: This post is meant to be COMICAL as much as anything else. I was going to create a post on how to get more rest as a mother, which I still may do, BUT I thought it would be more fun to approach it this way instead. I do understand that some days and weeks, we are simply trying to survive without being able to function productively. Please do not choose to be offended or made to feel guilty by this post. Instead, laugh at me or with me on these things that have bit me in the butt throughout Motherhood…Without further ado…8 Habits for Miserable Parenthood!

Habit #1-Never make a plan, never make a list. If you want to feel unorganized, unproductive, waste time, and spend more money than you need to, don’t ever make a list and number your priorities for the day. Knowing what your priorities are and having a plan will make you simply too wise with your time!

2- Never stick to a lunch or snack schedule. This makes your kids whine at you all day long so that it feels like the only thing you are doing all day is feeding people. If you had breakfast, snacks, and lunch at specific intervals they might catch on and stop nagging you for food all day. You would also be able to say no when they ask for food at other times, and you may end up with less picky eaters. That would be no good for the goals we are after.

3-Never think about dinner until your spouse calls to say they are coming! Planning meals ahead of time is a big no-no if your goal is to be stressed out and exhausted. By planning meals for the day with leftovers and things you already have, you may even save money as well by not wasting food-we wouldn’t want that, now would we? We need to procrastinate the foodstuff as long as we can until we are going crazy with trying to come up with a meal, deal with the kids, and clean up. This will make it possible for you to give in and get unhealthy McDonald’s for everyone that will run you 40 bucks for one family meal. If your goal is to spend a lot of money on unhealthy food every month, this fulfills that goal as well! It’s a good thing you didn’t realize you could have made a meal from something healthier in the time it took you to get into the car, drive to McDonald’s, wait to give your order, get your order, and drive home.

4-Let the kids sleep in! It’s so tempting to have that extra morning time to yourself, so just let it happen! By letting the kids sleep in, it allows them more energy late into the night! This means you won’t have time to be productive or have time to yourself at the end of your day! This is the perfect scenario if your goal is to be exhausted. If you got them up at a certain time you could be consistent with a bed time as well, and that could turn into extra rest or productivity for you which is the opposite goal of this post!

5-Stay up extremely late. We all want a little time to ourselves, right? Why not extend the usual 2 hours of staying up after the kids go to bed to SIX hours? That would be amazing! Then we could try to sleep in the next day as the kids yank our hair, we could drag our feet all day as we try to care for our household, and then DO IT AGAIN! I have done this many times in my experience as a mother and would truly recommend it to anyone who wants to be utterly exhausted and unproductive every day. You could even develop an addiction to caffeine by participating in this habit.

6-Avoid physical activity. Sit on the bench every time you take your kids to the park. Stare at your phone or computer or TV all day. Try not to find active things that you enjoy doing by yourself or with other people. This way you will feel sluggish and unmotivated, and the pounds may creep on. Don’t even think of starting up something like gardening, painting, building a project from wood, dancing with your children to music, or signing up for a 5k with a friend.

7-Never ask for help. When we ask for help we may get free childcare so we can get a nap. We also might be able to take care of ourselves in other ways such as getting dental work done, getting a skin cancer screening, going to the gym, or addressing an issue with depression.

8-Never get rid of anything. It could eventually be useful for something, right? And right now, all of the clutter is very useful for making a mess and expending your energy as you keep it all in order. The best part is how much time you will waste looking for things that you need, in the piles of stuff that you never use. It’s just so pleasing when I spend more time picking up a toy than my child spent playing with it!

I hope this post gave you a laugh, friend! You are not alone in your struggles, and no one can be perfect for long. You are important, and what you do matters more than you know. Find something every day, no matter how small, that you can look forward to. Lately, I look forward to tiny walks in our yard with my children, to see what new things have bloomed in our garden.

Until next time,

Jexi

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Make Moving Awesome!

We moved 17 times in 12 years. It doesn’t matter if you are moving across the country or across the street-you still have to plan it out and move all of your stuff! Here are some things I wish I knew before our first move.

1-Keep a good attitude. It doesn’t matter if other people say things like “Aren’t you sick of moving?” or “Moving sucks!” Many people will comment this way without offering to help. You know this move needs to happen. Instead of giving in to the opportunity to complain, you can use the opportunity to ask for help. Thank them for understanding that moving is a lot of work, and ask for help. Ask for childcare while you pack, or a meal where you won’t have to return pans. Ask for help to deep clean or for them to take a load to the thrift store for you. Choose better productivity instead of a pity party. Think of your children and how your attitude of the move is affecting them. They are constantly listening and hearing what you say to others.

There are actually VERY good things about moving. For example, what better time to go through all of your stuff and GET RID OF CRAP YOU NEVER USE? I love this part. Think about it. If you knew this would be the first of 17 moves, you would probably get rid of a ton of stuff rather than haul it all around creation. Only keep the good stuff! Your favorite decorations, your clothes that actually fit, the cookware that you use every day. Be excited to explore your new location instead of the dread that comes with trying to figure out where to put a haul of stuff that you never use. If you don’t love it or don’t need it every day, don’t take it! Please don’t move it with you because you think you can sell it later! Not worth it. Sell it now or get rid of it.

Another amazing thing about moving is a fresh start. Keep the bridges open that you built where you are…and then create new ones! There are SO many amazing people out there to meet. A new best friend could be waiting around the corner. Maybe there are people just waiting for you to be a part of their life!

2-Keep costs low. See who has boxes-search the Facebook marketplace for free boxes, ask businesses if they have any you can take, or do a post about looking for boxes on your Facebook page or a local group page.

3-Pack smart. With our first few moves, I’m not gonna lie, I wasn’t that smart. I would go through everything and pack it based on whether I might use it or not. After a while, I realized that it was extremely time-consuming to approach moves this way. I made a list of clothes, meals I could cook using the same pot, the ingredients for those meals, and essentials like phone chargers and toothbrushes. I could set these items aside into luggage just like we were going on a trip for a few days(I also like to use reusable shopping bags-really anything but boxes so your essentials don’t get confused for boxes to go on the moving truck). This freed me to pack everything else without hesitation! It is also great if you have help coming so you aren’t afraid they will pack something you need. Instead of asking yourself on every item if you will use it in the next few days, MAKE A PLAN, and MAKE A LIST. If you are afraid to lose your list, take a picture or create it on your phone in the first place.

4-Set up help to unload boxes. This could be family, friends, people from church, co-workers, or hired help. On your own, it will take you a day or two to complete what can be done in 2 hours with help. It doesn’t hurt to ask. It can also be amazing to find someone willing to watch your little ones. It can be totally overwhelmed keeping track of them and keeping them out from underfoot while overseeing a move. I would say 8 yrs old and older is a good age to keep at the move to help bring smaller stuff inside.

I have a BIG money-saving tip for you if you need to hire help. We wasted a TON of money because we didn’t realize we could be specific with the movers on what we wanted help with. If we had asked them to move all of the big stuff first, we would have been able to better stick to our budget of 4 hours of help. Once all the big stuff was moved out of our apartment and into our house, we could have said we need to be done with help now and will do the rest ourselves. Instead, they loaded up with random furniture and boxed stuff and had to take 2 loads because they didn’t bring their biggest truck. We asked for 3 guys to come help instead of 2 because we wanted to finish more quickly. That was a big waste of money since the third guy was only bringing out small boxes that our 10-year-old could bring while Caleb and I were moving the couches and bookshelves. I would suggest you have them move the following first:

1-Any appliances (Washer/Dryer, chest freezers, etc.) 2-Beds 3-Dining table and chairs 4-couches and bookshelves 5-Dressers 6-Piano 7-tool carts or other large shelving/items in the garage 8-night stands and fireplace 9-planter pots you want to take that are filled with dirt 10-Largest or heaviest totes and boxes (in our case these are our Christmas tree and Christmas decor boxes as well as kids clothes).

If you don’t think two men will do the job as fast as you would like, my advice is to hire not one but two extra for a total of four movers. That way, the four can work on moving heavy things in pairs instead of 2 doing large items and one left to get boxes that we can move on our own if it comes down to money budget. This tip would probably work best if you are just moving across town and in a situation where you could go back and grab boxes and lighter stuff yourself.

5-Label boxes smart! When you start unloading, people helping won’t know where to put things. As you pack, label the top of the box which room it goes in (kitchen, bathroom, bedroom #1, etc.). They will take the effort to bring the box in anyway, so you may as well make it easier on yourself and have them put it in the room to be unpacked. Once they realize they don’t have to ask where every box goes, they will be relieved and it will seem a lot more organized. You can put the contents of the box on the side for your benefit after the truck unload is complete. Having a case of bottled water or Gatorade is always welcomed by moving help.

6-Plan a meal for the night of the move. We usually order pizza and a salad or get fried chicken/rotisserie chicken and fruit because those feed our large family for cheaper than the cost of a fast-food meal for each person. Another meal we commonly get for a road trip dinner or move night is some foot-long sandwiches from the Walmart deli.

Feel free to add any tips or tricks you have up your sleeve in the comments below. We would love the extra ideas! Have a great day friend, and best of luck with your move!

Jexi

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Why we decided to “harvest ” our rooster

To our surprise, one of the hen chicks (pullets) we purchased last year ended up being a rooster! We thought it was kind of funny at first, and I began to research the pros and cons of keeping it. Roosters are good for a LOT of things! They make sure all of the hens roost in the same spot, and that everyone gets a fair amount of the food. They can also be great defenders of their hens from animals who want a meal. They unite the flock, protect them, and make it possible for baby chicks. We decided to keep the rooster, get a collar to quiet its crow a bit, and see how it went.

We had bought one group of chicks and three weeks later got more chicks of a different breed. Because these two groups didn’t grow up together, they were constantly pecking each other and roosted in separate areas of our yard. It is actually illegal where we live to have free-range chickens, so I built an A-frame coop and all of the chickens had to be housed together. They were constantly fighting. Once the rooster matured, however, they realized he was the leader. Everyone followed where he went, shared food, and roosted in the same area. Fast-forward a couple of months and I hear a blood-curdling scream from my 5-year old. Her morning chore is to fill the buckets of food and water just inside the coop door. We finally got her to say that the rooster attacked her, rushing at her with its claws and beak.

After this incident, we decided to switch jobs so that our oldest son had the chicken food job. He was also attacked. We don’t know what triggered the rooster’s aggression…he was never super friendly I suppose. Maybe the silence collar turned him aggressive? Sometimes the chickens get out of the coop when the egg-collection wall gets left open. He attacked our daughter when she was simply playing in the yard and had her back to him. We knew at this point he had to go ASAP. That hatchet on our list needed to be bought, and the deed needed to get over with. Any good things about him uniting the flock or protecting them, etc. were not worth the fear and harm of our children.

I had no idea that our rooster would decide to attack the hand that fed it. To be fair, I have read about very friendly roosters. If you have children, make sure they are a friendly breed, and handle your chicks a lot when they are little so they aren’t afraid and get aggressive!

Make it a great day!   -Jexi

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How to Survive with 4 Young Children

When I had THREE KIDS IN THREE YEARS, I asked every mother with multiple children older than mine for advice. The response I commonly got was this: “We don’t know! This will just be a rough patch for you-it will get better as they get a little older.” Whaaaaat!? I could NOT accept that. I was determined to find a small way in my sleep-deprived, child-crammed days to make my life a tiny bit easier. I was praying for Heavenly Father’s help and decided to do what anyone should do in this situation-call my grandma! She raised 7 kids and gave a small piece of advice-teach them something new. Although toddlers can’t go around doing chores, there was something they could take away from my energy-spendings by learning to do it themself. One example was teaching Ember to climb into her highchair herself. I taught Tavon to put the clean utensils away using the step stool. I taught Ali to throw her own dirty diapers away. These may not seem like much, but it was a huge help to me when I was hugely pregnant with our 4th! My grandma was comforting to me, addressing the fact that it would take even more of my patience and time, but that I HAD to take the teaching time to hand some of my effort to my kids.

I was also inspired to ask this in quieter moments-What can I do to make my life easier later? Eventually, I came up with a short list of things I had to do before I went to bed. I knew that if I didn’t do the dishes before bed, the food on them would get dry and harder to clean. My house could also stink, and I wouldn’t have dishes to eat breakfast or cook with the next day, until I washed them! It was easy to see that making sure the dishes were done before sleep would save me a lot of time the next day. Other items on my short list included taking out the garbage, spot wiping the table and counters, and making sure the laundry was switched to the dryer so I didn’t have a sour load in the morning. If you notice, most of these things centered around the idea that although my home might be cluttered, I didn’t want it to stink! When I was able to ask the question “What can I do now for later,” I could do anything from deciding on what’s for dinner, to put my clothes out for the next day.

I want to address something really quickly. Try not to get bitter or blame when you feel overwhelmed like someone should be helping you. It does more harm to you than anyone else. You can always ask for someone to help you, but if they say no or are unreliable, that bitterness is not a help to you. The time you could spend blaming other people could be spent on your knees asking for additional guidance or researching new ideas/routines that could be more effective. I soon came up with my dry erase board method. This is a small magnetic dry erase board on my fridge where I write things I need to do, and things we need from the store. This way I can take a picture with my camera before heading to the store and I never lose my list! My calendar is for appointments at specific times in the day and my to-do list is what I turn to the other times. It is a HUGE mental relief to get my brain out on that board and know I don’t have to keep remembering things or re-think what I should be doing. I need to remember to thank my past self more haha!!!

One of my favorite things to adopt into my language when I had my 4th baby was the “turn” talk. Multiple children needing attention at the same time gets SO overwhelming and it can be easy to yell. However, when someone came up to ask or tell me something, I would say, “right now it’s Ember’s turn, you’re are next!” and then if someone else needed me I would say “I am helping Ember right now and then Tavon is next so you are 3rd. I will ask you what you need in a minute, so try to remember what you need!” At some points, everyone is in line for their turn, which is fine! BUT the great thing about it is that you can insert your own turn haha! when I did workouts at home I would tell the kids, it’s mommy’s turn for 15 min, and then you can have a turn.” It worked okay, and I would try to do it before they usually got up.

I believe in you. I believe you can find a way! You ARE capable of finding ways to be more efficient in your hours, your days, your years. What worked a month ago may not work next week. Don’t be afraid to try new things and to give yourself a break, too. That to-do list will never go away. But you know what will? Your babies. Your babies will grow up. Now is not the time to have a perfect house or to care what relatives think so much when they come over. What is important to you? As you can see above, having a house that didn’t stink was important to me. Reading with my kids, listening to music, and being physically active is also important to me. There are things that just have to get done (like dishes and laundry and dinner…every. single. day. LOL) so be effective in your efforts to do those things so you have more time to enjoy what matters the most to you. Have faith that you can do it and ARE doing it, not fear that you will never measure up.

I hope this helps inspire you to have confidence (and I hope you get some sleep soon)!

Your friend, Jexi

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What I changed during my first 6 months of homeschooling

One of the BEST THINGS about homeschool is that I can do whatever. I. want. It is also the hardest thing, because I am responsible and accountable for whatever my kids learn. At first I wanted to stay in line with public school schedule so if and when they return to public school it won’t be such a shock. However, we kept falling farther and farther behind because of…I didn’t know what!

The immediate thing I knew would be unbearable was math. One lesson of math each day for each of my 3 kids. Their curriculum had one lesson as anywhere from 3-6 pages each! I didn’t see how we could do it long term, but I was determined to homeschool and not get behind where they should be so we kept pushing through until everyone hated math bleh! Haha! That only lasted 2 weeks. I knew we couldn’t keep up that pace because we were barely getting math done while ending the day alive, with no time for Language Arts lessons. I put my foot down and decided for the good of the family we would have to just do less math. I would homeschool through the summer if need be because it wasn’t doable. Before I settled on this, though, I went through each of their math mammoth workbooks, counting the pages and dividing it by the days left in the school year (solving math with math! heehee). It came out that they would only need to do 2-3 pages a day to finish by the end of the school year. What a relief that was to my heart! I think I was even happier than my kids when I told them the good news. We stuck to 2 pages a day of math each, and I was over the moon, thinking I had homeschool DOWN.

I didn’t think it should be so hard to do 7 pages of schoolwork each day with each child between math, LA, science, history. How long could it take? Turns out, it takes a lot of time for 3 kids to switch topics 3 times and get out their other book, and mommy has to take care of the baby now so take a recess, and where did Ali’s sight word chart go, etc.! This lasted until Thanksgiving Break, so I did this for 3 months before admitting that something more needed to change.

Talking to other people is like an idea stimulator for me. I talked to my mother and my sister in law about not enough time for everything every day. I remembered that one style of homeschool is tackling one topic in 6 weeks and moving on to the next. Because I have to report on 4 topics and an elective every 2 weeks with the homeschooling program we are in (tech trep), this wasn’t a possibility. However, I wanted to try something similar in the timeline I had. I thought about one week of history/math and the second week of science/LA with electives whenever. This idea seemed okay, except I have a cutie named Ali that struggles to read the word “the” if she hasn’t been doing language arts for a couple days. She just really thrives on review!

I determined that I would alternate one day of doing LA and the next day Math. This means we do 2 Language Arts lessons on Monday, 4 pages of Math on Tuesday, 2 Language Arts lessons on Wednesday, and 4 Math pages on Thursday (we only homeschool these Mon-Thus) . Friday is spent doing electives and field trips. As far as science and history, I stuck with the weekly swap idea. So one week after we finish our LA or math we do science. The next week we focus on history. That way my kids aren’t forgetting their Language Arts or Math skills and it is much more manageable for me.

I am constantly re-falling in love with homeschool. It provides my cuties with a personal tutor (little me) who caters to their strengths and weaknesses. We can dive into whatever their interests are when it comes to science and history and electives! Even with Language Arts, I can pick and choose the literature and art my chilren are exposed to. We pick really fun books to read like the Elephant and Piggie series, or adventerous reads like Little House on the Prairie.

One tool I have really come to love that changed homeschool for the better again is Epic. It is website my kids can go to during school hours to read books online or they can choose to be read to by the website if it’s a little hard for them. Many books to choose from and a much better option that letting my kids watch TV when I am busy helping their sibling. I also took the time to set up Prodigy for my kids which is a math game that my kids think of as a reward. They will gladly do their afternoon chores to qualify for math games haha!

Have you found any tools or strategies to make your homeschool life more managable? We would all love to hear your tried and true ideas!

Warmly,

Jexi Burke

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How I chose to homeschool with 5 kids

I did not decide to homeschool because of the Covid-19 virus. In fact I seriously considered homeschooling when we lived in Utah a few years ago. Our applications had been accepted at a homeschooling program there…but it just didn’t feel like the right time. Back then my husband and I both thought other benefits of public school outweighed our limited concerns. Then Covid-19 came to Idaho and public school changed dramatically. Everything that was worth keeping our kids in school for came to a screeching halt. The social interactions, the loving professional teachers, the open spaces to play, learning how to be a good friend, etc.

When the school decided to do home packets and online work, it was a disaster. It was hours every day just dealing with technological difficulties, and zoom meeting hiccups. I couldn’t stand it because honestly, I became my kids’ teacher, but was told what to teach. My kids were given the same packets that every other kid in that grade had been sent home with.

As I looked over my 4th grader’s writing assignment attempts that first week, I came to the shocking realization that he didn’t know how to write a complete sentence. He also wasn’t sure when to capitalize or not capitalize a word. Every writing assignment was a big run-on sentence. I never missed a parent teacher conference and my son is in 4th grade. How did I miss this??… I was shocked.

Now you might be asking yourself why I never noticed this issue in the work that was sent home. His teachers all had him do online writing-I saw 1 writing assignment in the past year. The school policy was no homework besides reading ‘since research hasn’t shown that extra work at home helps’.

This was all in my mind as summer went on. I waited to see what the district would do amid the Covid crisis. If I knew they were going to resume full time school for sure, I wouldn’t be writing this post because my kids would be in public school. I would just be doing extra writing practice with my son at home. I LOVE my kids’ teachers and everything they do to teach my children and communicate with me. However, the district did not reveal their plan for the school year. I had to make a decision if I was going to have a chance at acceptance into a homeschooling program by the deadlines.

The whole time I agonized about what to do, I kept having the same thought. If I’m going to end up teaching my kids at home either way, why not teach a curriculum that I choose, based on their individual needs? The main concern I had was social aspects. I wanted them to have those social experiences with different personalities at school and in different situations. Learning to cope and deal with other people as practice for real life when they have roommates and coworkers is one of the great things about public school.

While glancing through facebook, I noticed a post about homeschooling programs that provide state funds to help with educational materials. The program we were accepted to in Utah had provided funds as well but I didn’t remember how much. I was relieved to see a comment that Idaho did have two options for homeschool funding programs. I brought up the topic to my husband about homeschooling vs public school. He told me I could do whichever I prefer but I could tell his preference would be public school. This deflated my persistence in finding out more information about homeschool for a bit.

One night he sent me a screenshot of a facebook post saying that registrations for Tech Trep Academy were due by midnight the next day. Because of his willingness to send me this info, I knew that he would be supportive enough. I didn’t want to homeschool with the extra stress of his disapproval. It took a lot of divine help for me to register my 3 school age kids in that amount of time. Birth certificates, immunization records, proof of address, etc. had to be downloaded onto the enrollment and all of the questions answered. Everything seemed to fall into place much easier than anything I usually can do computer-wise(haha)!

We have been overly blessed to be enrolled into Tech Trep as homeschoolers. Every day is a testament to me that for at least this year, it is definitely the correct choice for our family. I pass no judgements on the education choices of other parents…how can I? I chose to homeschool because I disliked the lack of agency that I had as a parent teaching my children at home what other people wanted me to. All parents should have the agency to do whatever suits their family best.

 

Good luck with your school planning!

Jexi

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Get rid of a fly infestation ASAP

STEP 1-ADMIT YOU HAVE A PROBLEM!

I’m grossed out to say we had two different kinds of flies breeding in our home and I finally got rid of them! It started out innocently enough. We had some bananas and apples in a fruit bowl on the counter late summer. A couple fruit flies turned into a little annoying so we got rid of the fruit in the bowl, made 2 homemade fruit fly traps and put them on different parts in the kitchen. I also kicked our potato basket and watched it for a second to see if any flies flew but nope. The traps caught a good amount of them and I got rid of them. I figured the few flies left would be starved out since I got rid of the fruit bowl. I was wrong! After a week the number was back to annoying, but this time there were some in the bathroom, too. So, we made more traps and put them in the bathroom and kitchen. Only this time, we caught ZERO flies. They were buzzing around everywhere but none had gone in the trap!

2-INVEST IN STICKY TRAPS

Fly swatters were useless because the baby flies were so small. Every day I spent a half hour swinging sticky paper around because I didn’t want the baby flies to grow up and lay more eggs! I realized the flies in our home that evaded my sticky traps were growing slightly bigger and had stripes on their wings. EEW! I identified them as cluster flies once I caught them on my sticky paper, and there was also regular small fruit flies being caught in the goo.

3-SEARCH EVERYWHERE AND CLEAR OUT EVERYTHING!

We hadn’t had fruit on our counter for almost 2 weeks. I always make a point to take the garbage out every day so our house doesn’t stink, and I checked outside to make sure they weren’t breeding in our flower pots or something. It was getting cold outside and no way were those flies coming from anywhere buy inside my house BLEH. I went through every item of our food storage, everything under the kids beds, inside the toy boxes, in the closets, hoping to find the rotting apple I had pictured in my mind that they were all flying out from. Nothing. I checked the window sills for small pools of water, our vents, and threw away our humidifier because I found a dead fly in it. I was hoping maybe that was the source? But I was kidding myself because I hadn’t seen any maggots. I decided to pour bleach down our bathroom and kitchen sinks and then plug them at night in case that’s where the magic was happening. At this point I was also awaiting the arrival of a bug zapper light to zap those babies dead and not have to waste time swatting at them with sticky paper every day and having to buy the sticky trap paper again. That stupid light didn’t do a THING. The flies didn’t even CARE that it was there, even though I put it right in the thick of where they hung out, elevated the light like the instructions said and everything.

4-GET THE PRODUCT RIGHT!

The bleach down the drains wasn’t making a difference so I got on Amazon and purchased Natural Armor’s Fruit Fly and Drain Fly Killer. I went to pick up my kids from my lovely sister-in-laws house after an appointment and told her I was going MAD with the 20 new flies that would just show up in our house every day. She said it happened to her too, and she went crazy until she figured out they were coming from two different potato sources in her home. I thought well, that can’t be it because our potatoes are dry. I already nudged the basket and watched for flies to come up, which there were none. A couple days of her words ringing in my ears later, I decided to go through our basket of potatoes. We had gone as a family to glean potatoes from a field nearby and filled a small laundry basket with them. I started taking potatoes out and looking for damp spots or maggots. After several potatoes, I saw flies flying out. That was enough for me! My husband picked up the whole basket and took them right out the door. Between the specialty gel we poured down the sink to kill any breeding going on there, and taking the infested potatoes outside, the fruit flies were done. It took me a day or two to catch 100% of the ones left in our house but they didn’t come back. To my complete RELIEF.

Best of luck with your unwanted fly guests!

Jexid

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Things to do with small kids in Pocatello (frugal)!

If you are new to Pocatello, Welcome!!! Pocatello is my home town, and I’m proud of that! It’s a great place to raise a family. The cost of living is also much lower than any place we have lived. Moving 13 times in the last 10 years made me realize how much I love Idaho and Pocatello specifically.

Scout mountain is only 30 min away with very affordable camping options. I missed this a TON when we lived other places. It took us at least an hour drive with our littles to get to a camping spot like this everywhere else we lived. They have tent and RV sites with lots of vegetation for shade. I think last time we went it was 10 bucks per night and it is first come first serve.

Kiwi Loco has kid cups your child can cram full for only 2 bucks each! Super awesome deal. Make sure to ask at the counter for them-they are kept behind the counter a lot because the stack of small cups is always falling over. This offer is good for children ages 12 and under.

The Soda Barn is fairly new on Chubbuck road and has really fun options for kids like their “shark attack” which is cherry 7up with shark gummies in it, and “life guard” which is blue soda with peach ring gummies in it. Most people go to the drive through but we always sit inside at one of the tables together. Our kids adore this place and for less than 2 bucks a drink, we have gone there a few times. A different place we lived had a similar business, but they charged a lot more and we never went back.

The Pine Ridge Mall has an indoor play area free to kids. Kids over 5 years old aren’t supposed to play there because of the safety issue it poses for little crawlers and toddlers, but as long as my kids are playing safely and aren’t being crazy I still let them play. Otherwise they sit on the bench by me. Next to the play area is a clump of those rides that cost quarters. To me it’s horrendous to charge 1.00 per ride so I just let my kids sit on them for a bit if they want and then we go pick a gumball for everyone down the mall a bit for a quarter each. There is one game I let my kids play on a special occassion and it’s the claw game for rubber ducks because you can play it until you win something. They let you try over and over again until the motion sensor sees something drop down the chute from the claw so it’s worth the dollar to me as a special treat. The mall also has an arcade area where kids can stomp on reactive lights for free or play arcade games for money.

Mckees pet store is another great addition to our town! There are two locations where you can go gawk at the animals but the Chubbuck location is fantastic. It has a small petting zoo outside where you can walk on the path and see all sorts of animals like goats, llamas, chickens, pigs, rams, emus, and ponies. There is a donation box to keep the petting zoo open and you can also pay a quarter to get some food from the food dispenser to feed the baby goats. We put a couple dollars in once in a while. We go at least 6 times a year because they constantly have different animals having babies and they get their chicks, ducklings, and baby bunnies in the spring time that are super fun to see. The giant turtle is cool but my son is super scared of it so I have to show him where it is right when we go in or he’ll think it’s wandering around the store (the workers let it walk around sometimes). They even had a camel for a few years. In the winter time we will look mostly at the new puppies they have, the birds, and any new kittens or guinea pigs.

Tastee treat has ice cream that can’t be beat by any other fast food store I’ve been to, but whenever we have gone to it since moving back the service is about 3 times longer than expected so we don’t go as often. Their most popular use for our family is their waffle cone wednesday when the ice cream in a waffle cone are only 1.00 each.

There are a lot of fast food places with play structures in them around town. Two of them are Carl’s junior on Yellowstone in front of Winco and McDonald’s on yellowstone. We like to go get a milkshake to share or maybe some fries just so we can play on the toys and have a good time.

There are two libraries, one in Pocatello called Marshall Public Library and one in Chubbuck called the Portneuf Public Library. We go get the monthly schedule and attend the music and movement at the Chubbuck library with our preschool aged kids. It’s the best one in my opinion, and if he participates in the class I let him play with the train tracks, magnets, and other toys in the kids area for a bit. You will need your ID and proof of address (power bill) to get a library card.

To find out about events in general, facebook is our key! We make sure to like the Pocatello District 25 facebook page so we can follow the events posted there. Make sure to like your children’s school facebook page as well to stay in the loop as much as you can with that.

There is an amazing parade the day after Thanksgiving in downtown Pocatello that happens at NIGHT! It’s called the Light’s Parade because each float is decorated in Christmas lights and they have Santa at the very end. VERY fun, worth the wait, worth the cold! There really isn’t anywhere to go to the bathroom though so I highly suggest bringing a child’s potty in your car. Make sure everyone tries to go before you leave. Yes, they do throw candy and sometimes glow sticks. We bring hand warmers, a couple chairs, wear coats, hats, and gloves. Pocatello is COLD in November, people! Hot cocoa in a thermos wouldn’t hurt either haha!

The downtown shops offer family events for holidays. Examples include a candy cane hunt, egg hunt, or trick or treating in a safe environment. In these events you will go from shop to shop hunting or participating. They like having events to promote you spending money at the local businesses instead of all the shopping online. These events are always free though! It’s a great chance to see what downtown has to offer, as well as a super fun time for the kids!

Home Depot is right next to the AMC theatre and the mall. They have a free workshop for kids on the first Saturday of every month from 9-noon. One of our faves! It’s on the left side of the building walking in. Each child gets a wooden kit. They provide child height tables, hammers, garbages, and paint so you are provided with everything you need. It’s free and they get to bring something they made home! My younger kids like the painting a ton so we have to make sure we set aside enough time to let them paint their birdhouse or whatever it is! They offer kid aprons so you don’t get paint on clothes, as well as project completion pin. Sometimes they have popcorn on Saturdays at Home Depot as well.

There is a Reel Theatre in Pocatello! Tuesdays and Wednesdays are 2.00 movie tickets, 2.00 drinks, and 2.00 popcorn. It plays movies that have just come out on DVD. A very affordable and fun experience! Our kids ages 5 and up seem to make it through a movie well.

Deleta Skating is a very fun place to take you family. I remember going to birthday parties and field trips there. My daughter just went to a party there and I saw they now have balance helps made from PVC pipe for little kids-kind of like a walker on wheels! Haha! Very cool and makes it possible with small-children-families to participate.

Outer limits has been a great addition to Pocatello! It’s an arcade game place that also has lazer tag and a mini blue-light golf course inside. The arcade games spit out tickets depending on how well you play the game. You can redeem your tickets for prizes when you’re all done! When we go as a family we spend 20 bucks on the token coins and split the coins between 4 cups for our kids. There are games for all age levels! Our 3 year old son likes to sit on the race car game and motorcycle without any tokens. His next favorite game that is popular with all of our kids is the game where you spear fish. The average game takes 3 tokens but they range from 1-4 tokens per game. Each child comes out with over 150 tickets to spend on little toys or candy at the end. Outer limits has food like pizza and things but we don’t ever eat there so I can’t give any insight on that part of it! I know they do offer party packages and that outside food is not allowed unless you purchase a party package. Once our kids are older I’m sure the 20 dollars won’t seem like enough becasue then our toddlers will want to participate in the games more.

I have to mention the new splash pad in Chubbuck at Stuart Park. I didn’t think we would ever get one! It’s a super fun activity and you don’t have to worry about the kids drowning because the fountains on the pad just shoot out and go down the drains in the cement pad. There aren’t many places to sit or have shade so I would suggest to bring a chair, hats, sunscreen, and towels! There is a bathroom pretty close to the splash pad which is a plus! One tip I have for tiny walkers or  crawlers  is to have them wear something like these leg protector warmers . If your child is not potty trained they ask you put swim diapers on them while they play.

If you are up to going to a good outdoor pool, Ross Park Swimming Pool is the place to be. It has a little kid area with water that gets about a foot deep and for older kids it has a water slide, lilly pads, a tide pool, etc. You can get a family pass there if swimming is your family’s thing! My kids still don’t know how to swim so the free splash pad at Stuart Park is our safest option unless Daddy can come with us!

Zoo Idaho is right across the street from Ross Park Swimming Pool and is pretty fun to stroll around but it’s definitely not the best zoo I’ve been to and has a ton of hills so keep that in mind in your preparations to go! My favorite part is when the peacocks spread their tails to show off, or when the trumpeter swan is around-it really does sound like a trumpet! My kids say they like the bear the best.

About a week after school gets out, the district starts summer lunch at parks around town. Free summer sack lunches at the park are served to kids ages 1-18. They must be eaten at the park and adults are not allowed to eat any part of a child’s meal but can be purchased for 3-4.00. My cuties love to eat at the park and play with other kids on the toys (and I love not having to make them lunch haha)! It does have its drawbacks with having to find shoes for everyone and if the park is more than a block or two away we are using the gas money to drive there, so we don’t go 100 percent of the time. BUT the option is SUPER nice and I really missed the program when we moved out of state.

I’m not sure if it’s because I grew up here, but my husband and I always felt a huge pull every year to come back for the Southeastern Idaho State Fair in Blackfoot. I’ve never been to one that I liked better, and we’ve lived a lot of places. You may have to pay for parking and pay to get in but just being able to look at all the animals undergoing competition, the activities, and booths they have is so memorable! Always a great time! Our kids look forward to riding the ponies every year as well as the other rides, and my husband and I look forward to the food! Try to look at the schedule and see what days and times they are having the best free activities so you can get the best bang for your entrance ticket!

Pocatello has a Costco. Their carts hold two cuties instead of one (BONUS)! I have specific things I buy there which saves us a lot of money. They have free samples of an assortment of things starting at noon every day and their gas is always the cheapest in town, along with the best return policy of 2 years satisfaction guaranteed. I haven’t even mentioned the food court yet! You can get a mouth watering 18” pizza for just 10 bucks and it’s really good, you guys! They also sell hot dogs and frozen yogurt for super cheap so it makes a great date or family pizza night. Yes, you can call ahead to order the pizza or order it there and walk around the store while you wait the 15 min. They discontinued their photo center-it’s only online now, but the best rates and our only choice for prints.

Arctic Circle is a great place for kiddie dipped ice cream cones that are only 20 cents each. Our oldest could eat a regular cone, but the others waste half of theirs. I can get five mini dipped cones for just a dollar! That is less than the price of one regular-size non-dipped cone so I LOVE this deal.  Another option is to get a regular ice cream cone with their kiddie ones so I can give them “refills” from the big one as long as they save their little waffle cone.

This is a college community which means there are a ton of options on campus! The student union building (everyone calls it the sub) is the source of awesome cheap bowling and pool! Awesome family night or date night. They also have a bingo night every month when school is in session which is free to students but only 5.00 for anyone else to get in! The prizes are awesome and the atmosphere is super fun! It’s better to go as a couple or with kids who are able to shout out there own bingo with gusto since it’s a rule you have to yell out your own bingo. My 8 year old could totally do it.

One silly thing we love about Pocatello is that a siren goes off in the distance at 12:30. I’ve heard it’s the lunch siren for simplot but I never confirmed that. Our kids and I call it the “ghost of 12:30”. We hear it a lot in the summer at the free park lunches. I find it hilarious when my kids hear it and start dancing around squealing about “the ghost of 12:30!” (yes, they know it’s just pretend haha)

The newest thing around here is the Portneuf Wellness complex. It’s got a small sandy beach with a large pond you can fish at. It has bike/walking trails and play structures! There are soccer fields, tennis courts, and basketball shooting areas. We see people flying kites there, etc.

There is a small hike you can do that starts on ISU campus and goes up to the pillars at the top of the hill. Our kids call it “The hike to the ruins”, and it ends with a great view. It is an awesome little hike in the middle of town!

I’ll post these for now and add to it and add to it as more awesome thrifty things come along. I hope this post makes you feel excited to be in Pocatello. Make it a great day!

 

Jexi

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Surviving Church with Toddlers

I know every family is different but these are things that work AWESOME with our littles at church.

One of the best things EVER is pipe cleaners and cheerios. It is so simple, cheap, keeps them busy, and involves a healthy snack instead of sugary stuff. If they are too little to put the cheerios onto the pipe cleaner, you can help or put them on yourself, and they can enjoy taking them off and eating them! Pipe cleaners are the better option over string or wire because the fibers keep cheerios in place so they can’t just slide off! Soo genius I can hardly stand it haha! Our daughter likes to bend it into a bracelet when she’s done and wear it.

I keep bottled water in our bag so we aren’t feeling pressure to leave for the drinking fountain if our kids get thirsty. I’m a huge water-drinking advocate so it doesn’t feel right telling my child no when they are thirsty.

The coolest product offered out there that my kids never get sick of are the “Water WOW” activity pads by Melissa and Doug. There are several thick pages on a ring that color when water is applied, and they each come with a refillable water pen! Literally you just untwist the bottom, fill it up with water, and then do it again once the pages dry. The kids love uncovering hidden things on the page in the trees, in the buildings, everywhere! It’s the answer to a lot of problems I’ve had with dry erase boards, kids eating crayons, you know what I’m talking about, Momma! Totally mess free unless you spill the water upon refill, but hey water dries! Oh yeah, and a cool money saving tip is this: The water pen tip will get frayed after a bit which makes it difficult to use, so instead of buying more water pens I just use wipes! I’ll pour a tiny bit of water onto a wipe and let them dab at the board. I also do this if we just plain lose the water pen!

Another thing I love to keep on hand are these sticker sheets. Their price fluctuates so I like to buy them in bulk when they lower in price. There are a variety to choose from and the options are awesome for the kids to create something different each time, even if they need a little help getting the stickers off. I just have them use the back of the sticker sheet to put them on! Sometimes my kids will want to color a scene behind their creation as well. They are limited to one each at church so they learn to be creative with all the options each sheet gives and there aren’t too many stickers everywhere.

Gummies are a great asset in the church bag, when used with temperance! That’s one item we get at Costco. I only bring one gummie package per child. We usually hand them out when there is 15- 20 minutes left of the meeting. That way it’s like the best for last and we can use it as an incentive to “be good”. Gummies are fun to take a small bite of and stick on your toddlers face! It may not be the most reverent thing, but it extends the life of the gummies into a sort of game where they feel for it and pull it off and in turn, extends your ability to stay in the meeting and catch a few words of the speakers! We also prolong the life of a pack of gummies by holding out our fists and having our child tap one to guess which hand holds the gummy. If you’ve never done this you won’t believe how much they enjoy it! You can even do the game with a small toy, or switch so they hold out their fists for you!

We make books part of daily life, so I bring 4 books in our bag since we have 4 kids, and they can trade with each other. I try to make them more church-oriented, but sometimes I’m in a hurry and am happy to just grab 4 books on whatever, as long as there are lots of pictures. 

I try to bring a small toy for each child. We don’t allow toys that make noise, but since I pack the bag it’s not usually a problem unless someone sneaks one in! Toys I will choose will be things like a sandwich bag half-filled with legos, a matchbox car in a tiny box, a baby doll with a bottle, or a hair brush and a pretty bow clip.

WIPES! Every church bag needs wipes. You just never know when your cutie (or you!) will need one. It’s amazing how fast their hands get sticky or you get to church and realize breakfast is still smudged on your child’s face. Their use doesn’t just include diaper changes! I also like to pull one out and stick it on my baby’s head just to see them smile and take it off over and over. Unfortunately, this behavior usually results in them wanting to put in on YOUR head haha! So try having them put it on a doll’s head or maybe hide a toy by covering it with the wipe in a game sort of like peekaboo.

The most expensive thing I ever got for church as one of these fabric quiet books. There are a few to choose from but at 40 bucks retail, I couldn’t buy one for a while and they rarely go on sale. I used a 25% off coupon on the day after Thanksgiving sale at Deseret Book and made it a family Christmas present. I’m very proud of the book choice I made because I thought it through and got one that zippers shut (the exact one in the link above). It ended up being very well loved by our kids and a great educational tool. I would NOT recommend any of the books that don’t zip shut…I bought one on a great deal a few years later but the pieces were scattered within weeks.

One game we like to play is to stick a small toy, cheerio, or piece of paper in their sock or somewhere. They think it’s hilarious to find it and pull it out but they may need help to get it out if they are getting frustrated.

When my oldest turned one, we noticed that he loved putting money in money banks SOO, I turned it into an activity for church. I washed a little prescription bottle, cut a slit in the top, and filled it with washed quarters or big buttons that I could find. I would hold the pile of coins in my hand and he would stick the quarters into the slot one by one. He absolutely loved this, guys! Very easy thing to put together.

The last thing worth mentioning to me is this buckle whale. I couldn’t believe how much they were when I looked them up online but it’s quality made to last so it’s been through a few kids, washable, has a zipper pouch to hold things, and its fun for the kids to learn to match the colored buckles to the correct side! I had a friend mention she would worry about kids pinching fingers and I had that thought too, but it didn’t end up being a problem for us! The buckles arent terribly tight or snappy so it’s perfect. I ended up getting this for Easter for our daughter and it gets passed down to the next cutie when one of them grows older and loses interest.

We try to have out kids sit on the bench as much as possible but if they are toddlers we are pretty lenient about them standing on the bench to gawk at the people sitting behind us (with us hanging onto them so they don’t fall of course). They can also stand on the floor to play with their toy on the seat, etc. Once they are preschool age we pretty much make them sit on the bench the majority or the time but will occassionally hold them on our laps for a few minutes. When our littles cry or scream they get taken out if we can’t calm them down in a minute. The key to taking them out is not let them feel like it’s a reward. I don’t give any toys, treats, or attention until they can calm down. I usually hold the child without interaction or keep them seated on a couch by me. We don’t let them walk around, so it makes them want to go back in where they can get toys and a snack and move around a bit. The exception to this is if they are crying because they hit their head or got hurt somehow. Then of course lots of loves and hugs until they aren’t owie anymore, but I still don’t let them get down and run around. I WANT them to want to go back in or they will act up just to go out.

Church only happens once a week so I feel it’s really important to show our kids that we want to be there and how important it is to us. We don’t want it to be a miserable experience for them but we also want to provide activities that are church oriented and quiet so we can pay attention to the speakers and partake of the sacrament which is the reason we are there. If they see how important church is to us and that we are trying to pay attention, our example will hopefully rub off onto them (even though it will take a few years)! I would really love to hear things in the comments below that you have found helpful at church with toddlers, so feel free to share!

Happy church-going!

Jexi