Parenting

9 Ways To Survive The Last Month Of Winter

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Disclosure: Affiliate link included. With one month left until the beginning of Spring, many of you are counting down the days. In reality, many of us won’t see any sign of Spring weather in four weeks. Winter weather continues in many areas of the country far longer than the first day of Spring. What to do until the warm weather comes? I personally love living in the midwest, where we have 4 real seasons. I love cold weather and don’t want to see the humid summer come any quicker. But, for now, we still have bitter cold days and the occasional snow. What to do to survive the last few weeks of winter? Get great winter gear on sale Many stores are marking down coats, gloves, hats, and more during the Winter clearance sales. If you need or want a new coat this is a great time to save half-price! Stores want to get rid of all the heavy inventory, because they bring out spring apparel very early. You could be the winner! Do something fun outdoors If you love winter sports, this is a great time to get outdoors! You can schedule snow-skiing, ice-skating, cross-country skiing, or hiking. You may be able to find some last-minute deals, too. If you want to get outdoors in a warmer climate, plan your visit down south. Try out some new recipes If you’ve gotten in a winter cooking rut, it’s a great time to try a few new recipes. Look for some great Instant-Pot or slow-cooker recipes using seasonal vegetables. Bring out some of your least-used cooking gadgets and use them. I’m sure that your family would love a warm and hearty meal that is different from what you normally prepare. If you’re snowed in, have a family night Every night may seem like family night, but soon the days will get longer and the kids will be outside in the daylight hours. For now, bring out a fun board game or puzzle. Your family can enjoy hours of fun, along with a big bowl of popcorn. Movie nights are always fun, too. Change something When I get stir-crazy or get sick of how my home looks, I move the furniture. I love re-arranging the furniture! Even if it looks weird, and I have to move it back in a few days, it’s fun and energizing. It’s always hilarious to see the surprised looks on your kids faces when they get home. Finish your winter bucket list Go ahead and look. Did you get anything checked off your bucket list? If you’re a little behind, find something on the list to complete. You’ll have fun and feel a great sense of accomplishment. Let your kids help you plan a special Saturday activity Sounds scary, doesn’t it? No, you’ll have a great time if the kids have a say-so in planning a fun afternoon event. Go ahead and make those family memories that are worth more than you know. Dust off the china How about using your china or best dishes for family meals once in a while. Your family will feel special when you serve any basic meal on your best dishes. Light a candle or two and dim the lights. What good are those dishes if we never use them? Have an indoor picnic Now, you’ll want to do things like this when your children are young. When they get to be tweens and older they’ll think that this is lame. You can serve picnic foods on a blanket in the living room. Pretend like you’re outside (without the ants) and enjoy being a little silly. So, don’t count down the days until Spring. Just try something to help you love Winter. And, enjoy those last few weeks. @2020, copyright Lisa Ehrman

Instruction In Gratefulness

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Gratefulness doesn’t come naturally. Starting at birth, babies demand what they want. They don’t show gratitude, but demand more from their parents until they are old enough to be taught the attitude of gratefulness. The first thing to remember about instructing a child in gratefulness is that parents are the teachers. And, no matter what books you may read to a child, your example is the main thing. Children will become grateful in a natural progression if they see the behavior in their parents. Parents may well have big goals for their family and wishes for future success, but having a grateful heart is important. Children sense an attitude of gratitude and will likely follow. Don’t indulge – Children shouldn’t be given everything they want, even if you have the means to provide it. Spoiling a child will make them expect to get their way and feel entitled. They won’t be grateful for things they have if they are given too much. Live a life of service – Growing up watching your parents serve others, especially those less fortunate, will show your children that many people don’t have much. This helps children to be appreciative of what they’re given. Speak with grateful words – Be intentional when you’re talking with your children. Whether money is plenteous or scarce, speak grateful words. Show your children that you are thankful for what you have. Gratefulness remembered – Keeping a family Journal of Gratitude can be a great way to share things that you’re thankful for. Many people do this at Thanksgiving, but it’s more powerful to keep it year-round. During family-time or at dinner, you can write down things that your children mention that they’re grateful for. Share specific things with them, too. Saying Thanks – Sitting down to eat dinner as a family is a wonderful time to share the day. Saying thanks in a family prayer teaches children that they should be thankful for their food. They should also be encouraged to write Thank-you notes when they are given a gift. We should teach them to always appreciate something that is given to them. Show Contentment – Living a life of contentment will be seen by those around us. If we are content with what we have, others will recognize it. Children will learn from parents to be content and grateful. It’s not easy to be the teacher who instructs our children in the way of gratefulness. But, we are the ones given the responsibility and the ability. All good things are a gift from God and we can share the gifts with our children. Instructing them in a way that is natural is the best way, if not the easiest. @2020, copyright Lisa Ehrman

How To Share Your Love Story With Grandkids

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Valentine’s Day is the perfect time to share love with your grandchildren. And, what better way to do this than to tell them about your love story. Grandchildren typically think of their grandparents as they are now, and not thinking that they were once young. When you tell them about your own love story, you help them to see you as a young person. Instead of them seeing the lady with wrinkles or health problems, they will learn of your vibrant, youthful self. When we want to leave a legacy of life with our grandchildren, we want to teach them about all of our life. There are many fun and inexpensive ways to tell your love story. Valentine’s Day is a wonderful day to keep grandchildren at your home while the parents are out on a date. You could prepare a fun meal to serve them. It would be fun to mix up some sugar cookie dough and let them help make delicious and fun Valentine’s Day cookies. You might want to prepare the cookies beforehand, and serve them after your meal. You could decorate them with the child’s name or picture/design that demonstrates something about the child. Children love a home made treat, especially if it’s personalized. You could also create a custom card for each child. Make a card that is sentimental or just silly. You can find tons of ideas for making cards on Pinterest or just googling the word Valentines card. Creating a mini scrapbook is an easy way to share your story with them. This gives them a keepsake from you that they’ll always remember. These printable Scrapbook Pages are made for you to add pictures and words to express your love. You can make the cover any way that you like. One good idea is to make copies of some of your pictures to attach to the scrapbook. Do you have pictures of your dating or engagement? A wedding picture is always appropriate. You can write down the story of your courtship in a way that the grandkids can understand. However you decide to share your love story, I’m sure that the grandchildren will love it. Telling stories to kids and grandkids is the best way to teach them lessons that they’ll never forget. @2020, copyright Lisa Ehrman

How To Feed Your Family For Less

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Disclosure: Affiliate links may be included.  Clicking on these links could provide me with a small award, and costs you nothing. I’ve gotten away from meal planning and it has certainly cost me money.  What I’ve found with our family grocery budget is that without a meal plan in place, we make many more “short” trips to the grocery store and spend way too much money! Another reason for meal planning is the way that it can help you use what food is in your pantry or freezer before purchasing new items.  Since we moved to the midwest, we’ve found that food prices are higher in our supermarkets.  Most items cost more, especially chicken.  Because of my chemical sensitivities, I have to purchase organic meats (which are very pricey).  So shopping around is necessary. With meal planning, shopping the various store weekly ads can help me to buy what’s on special.  This helps tremendously for meeting my goal to shop for a variety of delicious foods that are temporarily marked down.  It pushes me to vary the menu plan, otherwise I tend to get in a rut with my meals. It’s also important to use every coupon and cash back service available to me.  I love to shop in stores that offer digital coupons and most stores do that now.  I can easily plan a meal based on a terrific coupon.  This is also a good way to stockpile things that you’ll need when they are marked down + have a coupon code (or paper coupon).  Some of the cash back services change their list of items often, so it’s helpful to check the list often. Here are my favorite apps to save money: Ibotta Saving Star Checkout 51 Ebates Paribus Coupon Surfer What are your favorite ways to make the grocery bill grow smaller?  Sometimes the items on the coupon or cash back apps cost more than the grocery’s generic brand.  Trying some of the generic foods is usually my preferred option, but some generics aren’t near as tasty.  Also, if you look carefully, you can often purchase the name brand cheaper with the generic using sales + coupons. Here is the weekly meal plan: Monday:  Pan-fried Cod and Green Salad Tuesday:  Potato Soup Wednesday:  Spaghetti and Green Salad Thursday:  Tuna Noodle Casserole and Green Beans Friday:  Home-Made Pizza Saturday: Fish with Baked Potato and Green Beans Sunday:  Salmon Patties with Mashed Potatoes and English Peas Our lunch menus are usually leftovers or sandwiches.  I keep deli meat, cheese, and bread in supply.  Breakfast consists of oatmeal with fruit and nuts or bagels.  This keeps it very simple and quick.  The above meals are favorites and I can practically fix them in my sleep. Here are a few posts I wrote about saving money on food: Great Ways to Save How to Make Fall Festival Foods At Home Senior Deals Do you meal plan?  How has it benefitted you?  I would love to hear! @2019, copyright Lisa Ehrman

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