Christmas Colds

Yes that's what we have been dealing with for the past week around here... a whole lot of colds.All 6 of us with the two little guys being the sickest at the moment. I really have been wanting to get out of the house and take them for a visit to Santa but realize we just need to relax and rest. Hopefully by Christmas eve we will all be better. While I have been home I finished up the little ones tool belts I made them for Christmas and boy did they turn out so cute! I am still working on Dominique's knitted blanket that I started some months ago and am just about halfway done. Too much sleep deprevation from Domininique still waking frequently at night has really affected my motivation over the past year so everything comes together a bit slower. Now today in my post I wanted to share with you another tip to help the mom with many children or even a mom with one or two children. Here in our home we were always seeming to make a lot of dishes in a short amount of times and mainly cups/ sippy cups. I came up with a system to have both big kids pick a cup they want to use for the day, label it with their name and that is their cup for the day. With the little ones we do the same with a sippy cup. Rinse the cup throughout the day as they drink different things and at the end of the day each child removes their label and puts it in the dishwasher. This has helped us not have so many dishes accumulate so quickly.Adults can do it as well. To make it even easier and fun you can have each child pick out his or her own special cup from the store and use it all the time thus eliminating the need for labels since everyone would know whose cup is whose. Before I go today I just want to recognize all the beautiful little children and adults who so senselessly lost their lives on Friday in Newtown Ct. I have been thinking of them all everyday. May God give comfort and peace to these families in the tough times they have ahead. May all the victims RIP. Charlotte Bacon, age 6 Daniel Barden, age 7 Olivia Engel, age 6 Josephine Gay, age 7 Ana M Marquez-Greene, age 6 Dylan Hockley, age 6 Madeleine F Hsu, age 6 Catherine V Hubbard, age 6 Chase Kowalski , age 7 Jesse Lewis, age 6 James Mattioli, age 6 Grace McDonnell, age 7 Emilie Parker, age 6 Jack Pinto, age 6 Noah Pozner, age 6 Caroline Previdi, age 6 Jessica Rekos, age 6 Avielle Richman, age 6 Benjamin Wheeler, age 6 Allison N Wyatt, age 6 Rachel Davino, age 29 Dawn Hochsprung, age 47 Anne Marie Murphy, age 52 Lauren Rousseau, age 30 Mary Sherlach, age 56 Victoria Soto, age 27

Something new

Hello. Its been awhile,it usually is as you well know if you are any kind of a regular here.Lets see...Since last time Ive written, our littlest family member had his first anniversary of his birthday, our oldest became a teenager and our only princess reached double digits. We had a nice Thanksgiving and with fall being Birthday season in our family, I definetly have plenty to be thankful for, and I am, very thankful for each of these four unique people that I love so much. I am very proud to say that my little Gabriel since he has turned two just a few short months ago has potty trained,weaned from the bottle and graduated to a big boy bed! This momma sure is proud(of both of us) *chuckle* I have been thinking and have decided to try something new here and see how it goes.You see, I am one awesome organizer,not just when it comes to things but also most areas of family life and am getting better all the time now that it really counts with a big family. So my goal is to start sharing some organization tips here with you. Whether you have 1, 2 or many children, I'm sure these things will help you be better organized. So today here's my first for ya. Do you find your childrens things/ clothes at random places around the house that they don't belong? I know I do and it can be quite an annoyance. Here's a way to pick it up quick but at the same time still hold them accountable to put their things away. What I do is I purchased 4 canvas bins about two feet high, a different color for each child or you can label their name on whatever container you choose. In our house I set the bins in the foyer next to the staircase.Currently we have 3 bins, one for each of the 2 older children and 1 for our stuff and the little ones. When I find random things ie socks,books, electronics etc, I toss it in their bin and each child knows to grab their bin on their way upstairs to their room's, put the stuff in its correct place and return the bin to the foyer.(We do the little ones with our stuff but are teaching them how to do it as well, they like it!) This has worked well. Give it a try and let me know how it goes.