Works For Me Wednesday #18 - Windows Live Writer

A month or two ago, I discovered Windows Live Writer, and I now use it to write my blog posts, almost exclusively. In fact, I'm writing in it right now. :)

You may ask, why use an offline editor for writing blog posts? What's the big deal?

There are several benefits for me, and many of these may make it of help to other bloggers as well. First, I love that you can write your posts in a view which looks exactly like your blog's design (see below). WLW will mimic your blog's colors, fonts, and layout so that you can see what your post will actually look like on your blog. And, you can even preview it in a close to 'live' setting as well, complete with your sidebar elements.

You can save drafts easily, and it also shows you a list of 'Recently Posted' items so that you can retrieve and edit them if necessary. Unlike Blogger's default editor, you can view and edit your hyperlink without having to create a new link. And you can set options for your links, like having the new page open in a separate window, so that your readers aren't navigated away from your site in order to view a link. You can easily choose categories for your posts, and if your blogging platform allows (which Blogger doesn't - grrr), you can set publish dates in advance as well.

I use a lot of photos in my posts. I downloaded a neat little plug-in for WLW, that lets me insert an image from Flickr (mine or someone else's - just be careful that you have permission to post someone else's photo) quickly and easily. I can even search through photos by sets or tags and set options for them (such as size) right when I bring the photo in. There are many other plug-ins available as well - including a decent template editor.

One other little feature that I like a lot, is a formatting button on the toolbar that lets you 'strikethru' your text without having to add html tags. This comes in very handy!

This isn't a sponsored or affiliate post - I just wanted to share something that's been working very well for me lately! :)

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Works For Me Wednesday #17 - Crockpot recipes

One of my biggest struggles is always dealing with what to feed my family for dinner. This is complicated by a few things - kids who don't all like the same things, an extremely picky husband, and the fact that said husband is rarely home for dinner, and I never know from one day to the next if he'll be eating with us or not. Add in the fact that I often have only a half hour or 45 minutes to make dinner, get everyone fed and get everything cleaned up, and you can see why my kids end up eating sandwiches, hot dogs or frozen waffles way more than I like. I do try to pair those with healthy side dishes like yogurt, applesauce or fruit, but I know that it's not the best solution.

One of my goals for 2008 is to try and get my family eating healthier. And I'd also like to try and get my kids to eat something other than the same 6 things every week for dinner. Last week I unearthed my crock pot and attempted a recipe that I have made in the past, slightly modified this time to decrease the time taken to prepare a side dish. Basically, we had chicken breasts and I added chopped potatoes to the crock pot instead of having to make mashed potatoes separately like we've done before. You see, my kids will eat mashed potatoes, but they do not like them chopped and cooked in the crock pot along with the chicken. But they will at least eat the chicken (usually), so they'll just have to (eventually) get used to the potatoes. But what I realized when I made this dish last week is that the crock pot idea worked wonderfully. It took just a little bit of preparation in the morning, then we had a hot dinner ready to go onto the table the moment we walked into the house that night. Plus, I could keep dinner warm until Ron got home so that he had a hot meal ready for him as well. I loved it!

So, I'm on the lookout for more recipes that we can use since I know that chicken and potatoes will get old real fast (especially if Ron and I are the only ones eating the potatoes). Keep in mind that I probably have one of the pickiest families around, and you'll understand why I have yet to find any other crock pot recipes out there that anyone other than I will actually eat. We're talking very basic here, people - no fancy ingredients or spices. Just keep it simple, quick and easy. Here's a few things to consider as well.

• The only vegetable that Hannah will put into her mouth is corn, and even then under great (and vocal) protest.
  
  
• Abby likes raw carrots but turns her nose up at anything resembling a cooked one.
  
  
• Ron will not eat anything with onions in it, or that has one spice in it that overshadows the others - yes, I know, he's weird. And he won't eat pot roast or any other 'stringy' meat.
  
  
• I've tried beef stew before but nobody except for me will eat any of it.
  
  
• Ron is a pretty strict 'meat and potatoes' kind of a guy - he won't eat much of anything else. He can't even stand rice.
  
  
• Abby likes rice, but Hannah will not eat more than a grain or two. Yes, that's a grain or two, not a bite or two... Sigh.
  
  
• We recently tried a new (non crock pot) recipe that I got from Karen's blog - a Parmesan chicken and noodle recipe that was great in theory, but which (no surprise here) nobody ate. I do think I may have screwed something up when I made it though, so I might have to try that one again. I definitely know that I made way too many noodles for the amount of chicken that I had.
  

So, does anyone have any quick and simple crock pot recipes that I can try to use to feed my strange, picky family? I would be extremely grateful! :)

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Works for me Wednesday #16 - Photo calendar

I'm running a bit late with this today, but I've been trying to finish up this year's calendars tonight so I can get them printed tomorrow - read on to find out exactly what I'm talking about!

About 10 years ago, I got my first scanner and discovered the wonder of putting my photographs on my computer. This opened up a whole new realm of ways to display and share them, even before the days of affordable digital cameras. That year, for Christmas, I made a calendar for myself and my friends, using photographs of us.

Since then, the photo quality has improved, photos are now taken digitally instead of scanned, online photo sharing sites are popular and personalized gifts are everywhere. But, I still sit down at my computer and put together a calendar every year - now with photos of my children. And all of the grandparents get one as their Christmas gift.


I know that there are sites where you can do this much more easily, but there's something about designing and personalizing a calendar - I take the time to really make it special and unique. Most pages include anywhere from 4 to 10 photos, arranged in a collage fashion. I use fun, funky borders on the photos and tasteful clip art - basically like a digital scrapbook. Many of the pages have a theme - I use photos from the 4th of July for July, Halloween ones in October - and for each girl's birthday month, I include photos of their last birthday and cake. Even though the pictures are up to a year out-of-date when the calendars are actually used, it's fun to see how the girls used to look. My mom especially loves her calendar and looks forward to changing every month.

Ok, this is where having a hubby who's a graphic designer comes in handy, and why it's worth it to me to do it my way and not use one of the many websites out there. Ron's (former) employer prints them out and binds them - for free. Obviously doing a calendar from scratch like this won't work for everyone, but I know there are sites where you can do something similar and I think the costs are pretty reasonable. I love this especially since it takes the stress out of holiday shopping for my parents and in-laws - it definitely works for me!


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Works For Me Wednesday #15 - Holiday card address list

Back when I was young(er) and single, sending out Christmas cards was an easy task. I don't have a huge family, and have never had a ton of friends. No problem.

Things became more difficult when I got married. My husband's family is much larger than mine and includes a lot of extended family who are still close and exchange cards. Suddenly this easy once-a-year job started getting a lot more complicated. Then we had kids, and I started an annual family update letter that only goes out to people we don't see or talk to often. And add in the fact that my dad's family is Jewish, but I still want to include them, so they all get Hanukah cards instead of Christmas ones - and you can see why sending 70+ holiday cards each year became pretty much a nightmare for me.

This is one area of my life where I felt capable of coming up with a workable solution. After all, I am pretty good with keeping information (if not toys, books, clothes, etc.) organized. So I sat down a few years ago and created a simple database in Microsoft Access. I have fields for everyone's name and address - and also their spouse's name and kids' names if applicable. And I have a couple of true/false fields for whether or not I send them an update letter with their card, and whether they get a Hanukah or Christmas card. Last year I also added a field to keep track of whether or not we received a card from them - I'm not sure why I want to know that, but it'll be interesting to look at in a few years.

Yes, I am a geek. But my database has made keeping track of my holiday card sending much easier and I can mail merge it with Word to create fun address labels as well.

It works for me!

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Works For Me Wednesday #14 - What do I fix?

This week's WFMW is on a theme - imagining you are in a rush at dinnertime, too much to do and too little time or in the fridge to really whip up a gourmet meal for your family. So what do you fix?

Well, honestly? This sounds like my life almost every night. I don't plan meals ahead - mainly because I never know if Ron's going to be home or not, and even when I try to plan ahead, I somehow never end up feeling like eating what I had planned so end up doing something else anyway. And lately, we've got so much going on in the evenings that I have to make dinner as quickly as possible on top of all that. And while not all of my kids are picky, they do tend to not all like the same thing - as you'll see by my example below.

So what do I fix?

I've been trying to branch out from the standard staples of peanut butter and jelly, bologna, hot dogs and frozen waffles. Unfortunately those do end up on our dinner table still more often than I like. Two nights ago I surprised myself though by thinking creatively (for me anyway) and noticing that we had eggs and bread in the fridge. Ouila - scrambled eggs and toast! Which backfired a bit since I was the only one who actually ate both the eggs and toast.

Abby ate a couple of bites of eggs and then 1-1/2 slices of toast with grape jelly. Becca threw her eggs on the floor and ate the other 1-1/2 slices of toast with grape jelly. Hannah ate no toast (thus, the slice split between the other two), but did eat her eggs as well as the rest of Abby's. And I wished we had a dog to eat the ones off of the floor because stepping on scrambled egg is just plain yucky, as I found out before I had the chance to get it cleaned up.

Oh yes, and by the time I got everyone sorted out with what they would actually consume, the floor cleaned and my socks changed - my dinner was cold. Sigh.

Oh well, back to the drawing board! I'm going to be checking out all of the other great tips since I really need some help with this one (thanks, Shannon, for such a great topic this week!).

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Works For Me Wednesday #13 - Greeting card display

For years, whenever a holiday came around that involved anyone in our family getting cards of some sort, I would stand them all up on the top of our entertainment center for a week or two so that we could view and enjoy them.  This worked fairly well in several of the places that we lived and although the cards would sometimes fall over or get knocked down, I never thought much about it.

Until we moved into our current house. And the entertainment center was placed right next to our front door. In the winter, this wasn't a problem, but in the spring, summer and fall when we had the door open to let a nice breeze through the house, there were some unintended consequences as far as greeting card displaying went.

They blew over. They blew off the entertainment center onto the floor. I was constantly picking cards up and attempting to stand them back up - which was an interesting feat, especially once they got warped or bent (especially by little fingers when they oh so conveniently landed within reach). And then of course there were times when a card we received was odd-shaped or just wouldn't stand up on its own at all.  The silly things were driving me nuts! I thought about taping them to the wall (tacky! And not to mention sticky tape residue on my walls - yuck) or getting a bulletin board to tack them up on (but what to put on it during the weeks and months with no greeting cards to display?), but just couldn't find an option that I really liked.

Until I noticed the bulletin boards in some friends' houses. Ones that had ribbons criss-crossing them that would hold the items in place with no sharp tacks or pins involved. And that were themselves decorated with fabric so they looked nice even when empty. So I went hunting for one of my own. And last year, while Black Friday shopping, I found this:

It displays our greeting cards perfectly and matches our living room decor (such as it is anyway) when we have no cards to fill it with. I don't have to worry about the cards being knocked over or pushpins falling onto the floor.  And I can use it to display other things as well - the kids' artwork or photos. It's so easy to slide items in between the ribbons or pull them out when I want to change things up.  This bulletin board really works for me! :)

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Works For Me Wednesday #12 - Christmas lists

My kids are finally getting old enough that I can't just go to the store and pick out what I 'think' they'll want to get for birthdays and Christmas anymore. Oh no - they have their own opinions, wants and desires now.

If I had a nickel for every time I utter the words, "we'll put it on your birthday/Christmas list" when we're in a store, I would be able to afford the darn gifts! But generally once we leave the store, it goes right out of my mind and when shopping time comes, I am struggling to remember exactly what that toy was that she just. had. to. have.

This year, we came up with a solution. A few weeks ago, we took the girls to Toys-R-Us. We made sure they understood that this mission was for research only - no purchases would be made. Now it wasn't the most fun 'shopping' trip we've ever had and yes there were a few short-lived "I want to have this right now!" types of meltdowns, but in just over an hour, we went through most of the store and I now have a record of everything that they picked out.

A visual record, that is.

Yes, I took our camera with us and snapped a picture of every item that one of them decided 'had' to go on her list. I also wrote it down so I could keep track of who wanted what. But now I don't have to guess when I go back to the store or try to figure out who wanted which set of what. We sat down at the computer last night and created this:

Abby and Hannah will still write their own lists to send to Santa, but they can use the photos as a reminder and a reference. And I can take the photo pages with me when I'm Christmas shopping so I can easily find what they picked out. We made sure to stress to them (many times!) that this is a 'wish list' only and that they will not be getting everything (or even most things) on their lists. But at least now when I'm shopping I will know that the things I'm buying are things that they actually want and (hopefully) will play with.

It works for me! :)

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Works For Me Wednesday #11 - Now what was I going to do? :)

I tried something new last night and this morning. And it worked!

You see, I have a horrible time remembering things lately. If it doesn't get written down, blogged about or put in my Outlook calendar, it generally doesn't happen. Here's an example. I know I scheduled the next appointment to get my hair trimmed when I was standing there paying for my last haircut. I believe that the appointment was for sometime in October. I usually get a nice reminder call from my haircut place to help me remember when to drag the kids down there and find ways to keep them amused while my hair gets washed and trimmed. Not so this time. Here it is November and as my bangs fall into my eyes, I realize that I probably should call my hair stylist, profusely apologize for standing her up and figure out exactly when I was supposed to be there. However, I'm too embarrassed to call her and admit that I forgot, so I supposed I'll be peering at the computer screen through a haze of bangs for a while yet.

This morning at 8:00 am I had a dentist appointment. I had entered this appointment on my Outlook calendar and a friendly reminder popped up on my screen yesterday letting me know. However, this was no guarantee that I would remember the appointment come 7:30 am. My morning routine is somewhat flexible, but in the half-awake state that is typical of me before oh 8:00 or 9:00 am, anything that is out of the ordinary generally doesn't get remembered. One option was to paste notes all over the house in the hopes that I would actually be functioning well enough to read at that hour. When I thought about it last night, I was too tired to go in search of a pad and pen so needed to find a quick and sure way to remind myself in the morning that something was different.

It really was a simple solution actually. All I did was move a pair of shoes. You see, I tend to keep things in the same places whenever possible so that I can find them when I need to (my hubby and kids don't always go with this plan, but I try hard - at least for the stuff I know we'll need to grab quickly). Especially in the mornings when we're in a rush and everyone's tired and grumpy. So I simply picked up Becca's shoes from where they normally sit next to the diaper bag, and put them on the kitchen counter (yes, on top of a paper towel!). Still in plain sight so I wouldn't be searching all over the house, but the act of having to look someplace other than where I was used to blindly grabbing them from would (I hoped) jar me into some form of mental wakefulness to remind me that there was something I had to do.

Yes, it was that easy. And it actually worked too! This morning I saw the shoes on the counter and remembered that I had to head to the dentist after dropping Becca off at daycare instead of straight to work. I think I may have to change up what I use as a reminder or where I put it so I don't just end up changing my routine, but I'm liking this way to let myself know that there's something out of the ordinary and I'd better think about what it could be.

Yes, I'm playing mind games with myself. But hey, if that's what it takes... It works for me! :)

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Works for me Wednesday #10 - Bad Kitty!

This week is 'backwards' week again, where I get to ask for help from all of you! And I'm really excited about it this week because I'm in desperate need of your help.

We have 2 cats. And as you can see here, they aren't shy about taking over parts of the house where they're comfortable! Which seems to include my kitchen and bathroom counters, unfortunately.

I am constantly chasing cats off of my counters. And out of my sinks. I have instituted a 'zero tolerance' for kitty climbing, but so far it hasn't worked. It reminds me of a book that Abby got at school, called 'Bad Kitty' where the cat does a lot of naughty (and creative) things when her family runs out of cat food... But ours are well taken care of.

I don't know if it's because they're alone in the house all day, able to snooze on my countertops to their little hearts' content in peace. I don't know if it's a cry for attention, like with a small child who thinks that even negative attention is better than none... Both of the kitties are guilty of this, so it may be a case of the older teaching the younger bad habits as well.

We've tried swatting their noses, tossing them off the counters (gently and um, well not so gently), squirting them with a water bottle (which does get them off the counter, but they're right back up there immediately afterward...), sternly telling them 'NO', but we've had no luck in curbing this. It's not uncommon for me to walk into the bathroom to find a kitty curled up in the sink, who just stares at me as I turn on the water and let it splash all over her. Oh she'll eventually get up and exit the sink before she gets completely drenched, but when I turn the water off, she's right back up there.

Do any of you have some tried-and-true tips to help keep your cats out of places where they're not allowed? I swear they're worse than the kids - at least even Becca is starting to understand what 'no' means and she'll listen to it - sometimes anyway! I hate having the cats up on the same counters where we prepare food and eat - and am constantly sanitizing as well as chasing kitties down off of them.

Help! :)

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Works for me Wednesday #9 - Halloween candy

This week I'm going to share a tip that I'm hoping will work for us this year.

As our kids have started to get older and are out trick-or-treating longer and longer, they are starting to bring home way more candy every year. Not to mention the candy they get from Halloween parties at school, their bus drivers, daycare... The list goes on and the candy just keeps piling up! Last year we were literally still eating Halloween candy at Christmas and beyond and I think there's even still some that I need to dump out of their buckets that hasn't been touched in months. I know they've forgotten it's even in there.

Abby is definitely my 'Can I have a treat?' girl. She is constantly asking for a piece of candy whenever she knows she has some available. Every day, after every meal - she wants candy. The other two aren't as bad, but they definitely like their sweets as well. Up until now, we've shelled out the candy on a very limited basis - a piece here or there, never before meals or too close to bedtime. And going through the pile of treats (even with Ron and I 'helping') still takes forever.

So this year we're going to do it differently. I heard about this idea somewhere (can't remember where specifically) but I know it's going to help. We're going to pick a day soon after Halloween - probably this weekend since we'll be home. For that one day only, they can eat as much of their candy as they want. I know they'll be bouncing off the walls and going nuts from the sugar, but I think I can handle it for a day. Then, after that day is over, the candy is gone. I don't know what we'll do with what's left - probably take it into work to share or find someplace to donate it... I really don't care as long as it's out of my house!

I've heard (again, can't remember where - sorry!) that it's better for kids' teeth and in general to eat a lot of candy once or twice than to eat one or two pieces every day, and I agree with that. Besides the constant begging - it gets them into a bad habit of being used to and expecting treats every day. This way, they'll get the enjoyment of the candy, it'll be a big deal for them and then it'll be done - until next year.

It works for me! At least I'm hoping so! :)

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Works For Me Wednesday #8 - Halloween tips

With Halloween only a week away, I thought I'd share a couple of the things that help us to manage getting through the holiday relatively safely and sanely. At least so far... :)

This first one is something I'm doing for the first time after learning the hard way last year. Although we dress the girls warmly underneath their costumes so that (so far anyway) we haven't had to cover them up with heavy coats while trick-or-treating, last year I completely forgot about their hands. We went to a community pumpkin path outing last year and it was cold - very, very cold. And my poor little girls' hands were frozen and chapped. So this year I invested a total of $6.00 and bought some of those stretchy knit gloves (mittens for Becca) - with a Halloween theme. Even though they don't exactly match their costumes, they're still festive and will help keep their hands warm. And then they can keep wearing them during the fall and winter if they want to as well, or I'll pack them away for next year so they don't get lost and we can use them with their costumes again. Either way, I think it'll be worth it since fall has apparently decided to finally show its face - I was worried there for a little while about heatstroke rather than frostbite! :)

Another quick tip has to do with lighting the jack-o-lanterns. I know there are a lot of flame-free options out there now and here's what we've done for the past couple of years. I'd gotten some tiny flashlights free (with packages of batteries, I think) and used those one year. They worked pretty well and kept the pumpkins lit all evening. Then last year, I quite accidentally happened on an even better idea. You know those glow-in-the-dark bracelets that are being sold all over the place this time of year to help keep your kids safe while trick-or-treating in the dark? The ones that come in all different colors... Well last year we had an extra one so I stuck it in one of the jack-o-lanterns. And it worked great! It made the pumpkin glow, but without being too bright - just the perfect amount of light to make it appear mysterious... And those are cheap, waterproof (if necessary) and disposable so I don't have to worry about keeping track of them from year to year. I know we'll be using those again this year! If we ever get around to actually buying pumpkins to carve, that is. LOL

It works for me!

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Works for me Wednesday #7 - Shopping secondhand and outlet stores

When my first baby girl was born, I was thrilled to be able to buy cute dresses and outfits for her. Then I realized how expensive all of those little matching outfits and hats are. Especially for a child who will outgrow it a week later!

I also found that buying matching sets of shirts and pants or skirts wasn't a good idea since she (and her younger sister later on) wore a size smaller in pants than in shirts. So we ended up with cute little clothing sets where the shirt was either too small or the pants falling off. Buying separate pieces isn't always as much fun and can also be more expensive.

Are you sensing a theme here yet? LOL

Now that my oldest has grown out of the baby, toddler and little girl sizes, I'm finding other problems with buying clothes for her. Most of the clothes in the Girls 7-16 departments are trendy - and I'm not too thrilled with some of the current trends. They tend to show more skin than I'm comfortable with for a child of mine or aren't practical at all for a child who could care less about fashion and needs clothes that can take a beating. The clothes that I can find are generally - can you guess? Yes, the more expensive ones usually. I just can't justify spending $20 (or more!) on jeans when I know she'll just wear through the knees by spring anyway.

With a limited budget and a difficult time finding quality, practical, appropriate clothing, I have turned to two solutions. The first one is to shop as much as possible at secondhand stores. The clothes there are somewhat more worn - but then again so are most of the 'new' ones too since that's the style these days. They're already pre-shrunk so I know that if it fits her to begin with, it should until she grows out of it. And even if she does wear holes in the knees, I feel much better about replacing a pair of pants that I paid $5 for and can replace again, spending a total of less than I'd probably pay for a new pair to begin with. And older jeans with holey knees make great play pants or can be cut off into play shorts later on too.

I also find that the styles at secondhand stores are more in line with what I think is cute, yet still appropriate for a girl Abby's age. Sometimes you have to spend a little more time digging through the racks, but some of my favorite clothes of hers have been bought secondhand. And at her age, she doesn't care where her clothes come from (yet?) - new to her is still new. In fact, she gets all excited over being given clothes or shoes secondhand from friends or family and often insists on wearing them instead of the ones bought new for her.

The other way I shop for Abby, as well as my other girls when necessary, is to make 2 yearly trips to an outlet mall when I visit my friend Mary in March and October. In fact, we'll be heading there when the girls and I spend this coming weekend with her family. The outlet mall we go to has a Carter's Outlet as well as a Children's Place Outlet and I can generally find clothes for all of my kids there at incredible prices. Children's Place is especially awesome since they carry sizes for all 3 of my girls and I can find coordinating or matching clothing there for photo opportunities or special occasions. The last group photo we had taken of the girls shows them in matching shorts (and a matching skort on Becca) that I got at the Children's Place Outlet store for $1.99 each. It's hard to beat that - especially for cute, new, durable clothing.


It works for me!

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Works for me Wednesday #6 - Backing up photos

Last night I was excitedly moving files around onto my new external hard drive and that reminded me of something. Backing up files is really such an important job and there are so many different options. Especially for photos.

We got our first digital camera when Abby was 3 months old. That was when we realized that it was either go digital or spend our paychecks on film and processing because we were obsessed a bit carried away with taking photos of our first new baby girl. Once we had the camera and could click away without feeling guilty for spending our last pennies in the name of posterity, I began to worry about what would happen to our photos if our computer crashed or our hard drive were ever corrupted. It was hard going from having hard copies of every photo that you could hold in your hands and tenderly place away in a photo album to knowing that every precious photo was only a few bits (or bytes, kilobytes, megabytes, etc.) on a spinning disk.

That's when I discovered Shutterfly. Now there are a lot of different photo sharing sites (Kodak, Photobucket, Picasa, Flickr - just to name a few) and there are things to love and things to hate about each of them. I'm not trying to endorse any one in particular. And backing up photos online is only one option anyway. But I feel safer knowing that all of the photos of my little ones are stored in at least two completely separate geographic locations. Not to mention that it makes it easy to share photos online with friends and family or on my blog. My photos are password protected so only those people who I share them with can see them.

Whatever way that you decide to back up your digital photos and files, please just remember to back them up so you're not taking the risk of losing them forever. It works for me!

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Works for me Wednesday #5 - Sleep and potty issues

This week is "Backwards Day"! Which means that instead of offering my own tips today, I get to ask for advice on things I need help and tips with.

Oh my - I'm liking this idea already! :)

So, here's what I'm looking for your assistance with... My two older girls (Abby-6 1/2, Hannah-4 1/2) share a bedroom and have for the past couple of years. Hannah generally has always gone to sleep right away once she goes to bed but Abby has always taken a lot longer to get to sleep. That was fine when they each had their own rooms, but now I'm noticing that Hannah's been really tired lately and I think that Abby's been keeping her awake. They go to bed at the same time - I thought about putting Hannah to bed before Abby so that Hannah has a chance to fall asleep before Abby comes to bed, but I can't think of a way to do it that won't make it seem like Hannah's getting punished. And I can't let Abby just stay up a bit later because she really needs the sleep, especially since she doesn't fall asleep immediately anyway. Does anyone have any ideas that might help?

I don't know if we're supposed to ask more than one question, but I'm going to anyway, because I really need some major help with this next one.

I'm also looking for any ideas that might help Hannah to stay dry. She had another accident today... She's never been consistently dry for more than a week or two since she potty trained two years ago. We've tried incentives, charts, punishments, and everything else I can think of. We had tests done last week to see if it's a physical problem, but haven't gotten the results back yet. I'm worried that there will be nothing physically wrong and if so, I'm absolutely stumped on what to try next. It's probably at least partly a control issue on her part and also maybe tied to her being tired, but there's nothing consistent about when or where she wets her pants. She does go to the bathroom often during the day and some days she stays dry just fine. But on other days she'll have one, or even two or three accidents. Sometimes even within a half hour after she's gone to the bathroom. Does anyone have anything that worked for their stubborn potty-trainers?

Thank you in advance for all of your help and hopefully I can return the favor!

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Works for me Wednesday #4 - Coloring like the 'big girls'

My 20-month-old thinks that she is 6. And she is convinced that she should be doing anything that her big sisters are doing. This causes some issues when faced with things that are perfectly reasonable activities for a 6-year-old and 4 1/2-year-old, but not something I want their little sister attempting.

Like coloring. I think it's great that Becca wants to sit and color at the table whenever Abby and Hannah are. As soon as I mention the word 'homework' to Abby, Becca chimes in with "I cowa!" and heads right for her chair.

Unfortunately though, the 'chubby' crayons that I bought for her didn't appease her for long. She didn't want those 'baby' crayons - nope, she wanted markers. Like the big girls use. And washable or not, I am not about to let this stubborn little girl color with markers since she has a habit of climbing down from her chair and attempting to take her coloring on the road.

Luckily, I found a great solution - and it's something I already had from when Abby and Hannah were younger. Color Wonder markers and paper may be more expensive, but they give me peace of mind and allow Becca to 'cowa' just like her sisters do. I sit her at the table with a Color Wonder book and pull two markers out, take off the tops and give them to her. I switch the colors out for others so she can have a variety, but she can't keep track of more than 2 at a time very well yet, I've found. I put the tops back with the other markers until she's done - they don't dry up easily and the tops have a tendency to disappear in my house once they fall on the floor and become cat toys. When she's finished 'cowa-ing', I fish out the tops, put them on and put the markers and book away. Becca is happy because she feels like a 'big girl' and I'm happy because nothing turns any colors that aren't supposed to be there!

Abby and Hannah still like the Color Wonder markers also, but I try to limit how much they use them right now since they can use the regular (washable) markers just fine and tend to use up the Color Wonder books way too fast. I also try to stock up on the CW books when I see them on sale, which helps to keep the cost down as well. Once Becca is older, she can start coloring more with regular markers, but for right now, this works for her - and me!

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Works for me Wednesday #3 - Morning schedule

With kids who aren't able to tell time yet, I fell by accident on the way that we (try to) keep everyone on schedule on the mornings when we're all rushing around to get ready for school, work and daycare.

In general, our kids don't watch a ton of tv. Especially not on the weekdays since we're busy with other things in the evenings and I know they don't watch a whole lot at daycare. The one time that we do generally turn the television on however, is in the mad, crazy rush of the mornings. It keeps the girls occupied and they usually spend a few minutes snuggling with Ron in the recliner - also nice since they usually don't see him for the rest of the day.

The Disney Channel shows The Wiggles from 7:00 am until 7:25 am (or thereabouts) - here in Michigan, anyway. The girls aren't into the Wiggles much anymore, but they do enjoy sitting and watching every morning after they're done with getting dressed and eating breakfast. I'm usually rushing around, trying to get myself and Becca ready, and do everything that I couldn't prepare (or forgot) the evening before. I can't always keep an eye on the clock and the girls don't tell time much yet anyway. But I realized that there's another way to let them know when it's time to leave.

When the Wiggles ends, the Disney Channel puts on This is Daniel Cook - a little 5-minute or so sketch. The rule is that if the girls want to watch that, they have to run and get their shoes (and coats if needed) and bring them back into the living room to put on, or the tv goes off. And once Daniel Cook is over, it's time to start getting backpacks and lunchbox and getting everyone outside to leave. If Higglytown Heroes comes on then we know we're running late. Of course, we tend to run late a lot - but at least we know we're late and the girls know they're supposed to be hurrying. Whether they actually do hurry or not - that's for another post!

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Works For Me Wednesday #2 - Calendar fun

A couple of years ago when Abby started preschool, she also started driving us crazy with the questions. "Do I go to school today?", "What about tomorrow, do I have school?". Instead of the same routine of heading to daycare every morning, she now was going straight to preschool on some mornings (Monday/Wednesday/Friday) and to daycare on others. I could see how that would be confusing for a kid!

I decided to do something to help her keep track of what was happening in her life from day to day and realized that this could be for more than just keeping track of preschool/daycare days. By using a calendar, we could keep track of important events coming up - birthdays, holidays, special occasions or trips. We could even 'count down' to special events as well.

I went through a few different ideas of how to make a monthly calendar for her before I settled on the one that we eventually began using - and still use now. I thought about dry-erase boards, but decided that it would be too easy for writing to accidentally wipe off or smear. I wanted something that Abby (and Hannah) could be involved with in putting together every month, which ruled out doing something over the computer. Plus I wanted it to be large enough to read from a distance, which ruled out the standard calendars you can buy every year.

To get some more ideas, I visited a local teacher's store and hit pay dirt. Oh those stores are incredible - even if you're not a teacher! I almost wish I was, so I'd have an excuse to buy all of the cool things they have there that I can't justify the cost of otherwise. LOL

Here's what we do at the beginning of every month. We start out with a piece of posterboard with a pre-printed calendar grid on it. It's slightly more expensive than just buying blank posterboard, but I think it's worth not having to deal with trying to draw straight lines and square boxes every time. I also have a package of colored permanent markers. So far only I am allowed to use the markers - the girls aren't good enough with not getting it on themselves for me to trust them with these. As they get older though, the intention is to have them do all of the writing themselves. We all sit together at the table (it's a bit more difficult with Becca wanting to be involved now though - she's not quite old enough to really 'help', but boy does she want to) and the girls help me count out the days as I write the numbers in the correct boxes.

Then we pull out the stickers and the girls go to town. I've been able to find a lot of stickers that are appropriate for certain activities - crosses for church days, soccer balls for soccer days, etc. We get a bit creative though as well - this month we're using gold stars for soccer days since I ran out of soccer ball stickers and can't seem to find ones with just soccer balls and not the footballs and baseballs as well (anyone want a bunch of football and baseball stickers?). We use 'book' stickers for school days - last year we had to do two separate colors every month for Abby and Hannah since they went on different days, but this year we are able to do just one 'book' sticker for both since they both go every weekday now. We put on 'car' stickers for road trips, special holiday stickers for birthdays, parties and other holidays and events. I add a 'B' for our daycare provider's name on every day that they go to daycare. When it's done, we have a little ceremony where we take off the previous month's calendar and tape the new one to their closet door.

The girls love the calendar. We 'cross off today' every night at bedtime and look at what they'll be doing the following day and see if there's anything special coming up. We count down the days to special events, like school starting or birthdays. We add interesting things we've done that day so the calendar's always up to date. It's really helped the girls start to understand the concept of time - days, weeks, months ('calendars' as they call it). And helped with their counting - up to 31, anyway! They really feel ownership of it since they help make it every month. And it keeps them from asking over and over again - when are we going to do such-and-such? I just tell them go look at your calendar.

I know we'll have to make some changes as Becca gets older and more involved. Having the calendar in a more central location instead of on Abby and Hannah's closet door will be important once Becca starts understanding the idea. But we'll adapt it as we need to. Ron wants to make some kind of a chart for them now that includes countdowns to things that happen more than one month away - like Christmas - and I think that will help them start to put the concept of 'months' into a 'year' as well.

Do you do anything to help your kids keep track of special days and events in their lives? I'd love any more ideas that we can incorporate. And check out other tips for Works for Me Wednesday at Rocks in My Dryer!

Works For Me Wednesday #1 - Brand Loyal Edition

This is my first time participating in Works for Me Wednesday - I've seen a lot of great tips around in past weeks and thought I'd join in!

This week is all about brands that you can't live without and pay extra for instead of buying generic. I tend to buy brands. I didn't start out that way - I had very good intentions of saving as much money as possible, but I've found many things where the brand either is better or works better for us. Not to mention that Ron's gotten pickier about brands as well and my kids are very particular and will only eat one certain kind of macaroni and cheese, for example.

Here are some of the brands that we buy...

Huggies diapers - All 3 of our kids have been Huggies babies. They control the leaks well, fit comfortably and we've never had any problems with allergic reactions. They aren't as cheap as some of the generics out there, but we collect coupons when we can, buy in bulk usually, and I think that it generally ends up working out evenly since the generics I'm familiar with don't hold as much and you tend to go through many more diapers in a day. (as I noticed with the baby I watched the summer after Becca was born, who only wore generic diapers - two different kinds. I'm not saying all generics hold less, but this has been my experience with them so far)

Unfortunately there seem to be manufacturing delays right now and Huggies diapers are hard to find (at least in West Michigan). We may have to try something else if I can't find them soon.

Crest toothpaste - I've used Crest all my life and my mom swears that it's why my brother and I never had many cavities (never mind all of the fluoride treatments we got at school growing up). I don't know if it's due to the toothpaste or what, but I can't argue with success.

JIF peanut butter - This is one of Ron's must-haves since I don't generally eat much peanut butter. When I do though, I like how creamy this one is and less greasy-feeling than others I've had in the past.

Cheer laundry detergent - Another one that I've always had good luck with so I'm afraid to try anything else. We use the 'Free & Gentle' since I tend to have sensitive skin and past issues with allergic reactions to some of the more perfumed detergents out there. We are currently trying the Tide free version though since they were out of Cheer when we last went to the store and I had to pick something else due to the mountain of dirty laundry in my house and empty Cheer bottle... We'll see how it works!

Gerber baby food - I started buying Gerber at first because it was the name I knew, and they're located in Michigan so I know I'm supporting local farmers by buying it. My friend Cheryl worked at Gerber up until last year, so I wanted to support them for her as well. I also should mention that the only onesies I kept after Becca outgrew them were my Gerber ones - that I got at a garage sale before Abby was born - they've lasted through my 3 babies where the cheaper, generic ones I'd bought new all fell apart by the time we had Becca. I bought new Gerber ones to replace them. :)

Cereal - I don't eat much cereal, but Ron and the kids do and unfortunately none of them will eat generic cereals (believe me, I've tried various methods to get them to!). So we pay the mega bucks for the 'real thing'. Sigh...

Those are the ones I can think of for now! For more Works for Me Wednesday tips, check out Rocks In My Dryer!