Miss Messy Learns to be Tidy: Room Bucks and the Family Thrift Store Explained

It has been my experience that girls generally will mature into wanting a tidy room.  When they are little we try to help them by establishing a clean-up routine, be it daily or weekly, but eventually they start taking the initiative to keep thing tidy without mom having to tell them. Appreciation for beauty and discipline creeps in with age, and watching it happen is wonderful time, indeed!  In our house this has usually started to happen around age twelve and until then, well, I just wait and train as best I can :)....and sometimes I am better at it than others!

 This being said, our youngest daughter spent the summer having huge issues with clothing all over the bedroom floor. ( You may remember that she is my child who is forever dressing up like historical figures!). I tried limiting her clothing options, but then we ended up with too few clothes for our laundry routine, and good clothes that were stained because she didn't have a good supply of play clothes. One day, after reading a wonderful post by Kelly at Generation Cedar, I came up with the idea of Room Bucks. Kelly had the great idea of limiting her children's clothing, but putting the extra clothing in a "Family Thrift Store" where the children could buy extra items as they needed them. ( It turned out she was having the exact same issues we were having with limiting clothing...I love that about blogs! Somewhere out there is another mom with your problem! Anyway...) Our youngest children really don't regularly have money of their own, so I decided to give her the chance to earn one "room buck" ( play money) during random, daily room inspections. If clothing was put away properly, she would earn one buck. I also reserved the right to charge her a room buck if "the maid" had to come in and take care of a mess before guests arrived ( or for some other reason). I limited her to just a  few outfits, but gave her the chance to "buy" her items back from the Family Thrift Store for 5 room bucks each.  Dress up clothes could be rented for 1 room buck each, which would be returned to her once I saw that they clothes were put back properly.

The results have been amazing. She has enough motivation to put things away properly and is gradually getting back some of her clothes as her self-discipline increases. I no longer need to nag or feel exasperated over the mess. Love that! I see that she is beginning to grasp the concepts of both simplicity and stewardship, as Kelly talked abut in her post. I really love that! How do you help your children learn to clean up after themselves? Do you have ideas to share on teaching simplicity and stewardship? How has another mom inspired you recently?

Plan-It, Don't Panic, Pleasantburg Style ~ Allergy Free!

 This week I am participating in the Plan it- Don't Panic Menu Planning Challenge....join us for great menu planning resources, ideas, and tips!

I was 40 years old before I began to enjoy cooking.  The shift occurred when  I realized that it was not the cooking I disliked, it was the obligation I felt to follow a recipe. Once I embraced the fact that I could ( and must, in the case of our food allergies/sensitivities) use a recipe as a mere guideline, I felt am amazing sense of  FREEDOM and joy in cooking!!!!

This week's menu items  are all loosely based  on recipes from Sue Gregg's Meals in Minutes cookbook. I invested in this cookbook when we had two babies and were living on a very small salary. This cookbook was a great help to me. If you are  looking to reduce food costs while still providing your family with healthy  whole food, I think this is one of the best resources you can own.  I have easily modified are all of this week's recipes to be gluten free. ( Feel free to email me or leave a comment if you want the details on how I did that.)

*Monday:  Enchilada Casserole and salad  ( separate dish without corn tortillas for those with corn sensitivity)

*Tuesday: Spaghetti and Meatballs and green beans ( separate gluten free pasta, but GF meatballs for everyone!)

*Wednesday: Sausage-Egg Strata, grits, and toast ( skip the grits for the corn sensitive, GF toast as needed )

*Thursday:  Crock Pot Beef Soup ( this one is not in Sue Gregg's cookbook...I just made it up one cold winter day !) and salad

*Friday:  Tuna casserole, asparagus, and rice

*Saturday: French Bread Pizza ( Udi GF hot dog bun pizza for the GF folks, without cheese for the GFCF among us...I highly recommend Hormel All-Natural pepperoni in the brown box, especially if you are concerned with preservatives.)

Pleasant dining to you and yours! Order your own Sue Gregg cookbooks here! The Breakfast Cookbook also has Allergy Free Alternatives.

Pleasant Blog Reading

My sick days last week gave me a little extra time to catch up on blog reading.  Since I am now doing the "catch-up" thing with the house work, I really should not take the time for a proper post today. Instead,  I thought I'd share a few links with you.  Happy Reading!

*The Nester has a great post on decorating your home with book pages! I love this kind of stuff!

*Simple Mom has a super cute and economical idea that lets your children create art work for your  home.

*Cultivating Home reminded me of one of my favorite children's books and has a lovely post on Homemaking in Hard Times .

*From Chatting at the Sky....love this post on why it is hard to call yourself a writer! I always just call myself a letter writer :). ...thanks to my wonderful grandfather who taught me the joy of writing letters!

* I have also been enjoying a relatively new blog called Deep Roots at Home.  Deep Roots at Home has a variety of information on herbs, gardening, gluten free cooking, and the like. She recently started a new Link-up each Wednesday, so that might be of interest to you as well!

What have you read recently that inspired you?

Why I Read About Farming

...another photo from our trip in May....

"And like poetry, farming is an ancient choice but a fluid line, granting each new generation both heritage and a unique person challenge."  ~Lynda Hopkins


This week a sneezy-achy-fevery bug hit me.  Unpleasant. Especially since I had to spend an entire sunny, beautiful day in bed!! I hate to complain because it was short-lived and could have been much worse, but  it is just torturous to stay in bed when the sun is shining! On the up side, I was able to do some reading during my illness. The quote above is from the library book that I happened to have on hand this week. I wish I could recommend it to you, but it is sitting unfinished in the library bag to be returned. The writing was wonderful, the story was compelling, and, frankly, I wish I knew how things turned out in the end for the young woman writing the work. The thing that turned me off ( in a big way) was the foul language. It is a shame that such language was included because,otherwise, it would have been a great read.

I am almost always reading a book about farming. I have never been quite sure why.  However, this quote captures one aspect that draws me to the topic...a blend of heritage with  personal and unique challenges.  It is true in tiny gardens, as well as big farms.  Furthermore, it is true in motherhood, homemaking, and in matters of faith/application of Biblical principles. In an extremely tangible way, this applies to living in an old house.  All ancient choices, all with strong connections to the past, but each bringing  new challenges to each generation and each individual. Yes, this is the stuff I love to live and read about.

I appreciate the insight the insight, Ms. Hopkins, and I hope that in your next work you will consider editing out the foul language so your writing will appeal to a wider audience!

Beautiful Mornings

a lovely breakfast while on vacation....

I have a million fond memories of the "summer adventure" I took with my older girls this summer.  Some of the most pleasurable times were spent eating breakfast outdoors in our hostess' back yard. There is something "exceedingly fitting and right" about starting a new day out in God's creation, watching little birds and squirrels and seeing the dew on the grass.  Our hostess had a wonderful little table set each morning  with a variety of simple foods....fruit salad, homemade jams, toast, bacon, muffins. Nothing fancy, but what a lovely way to ease into the day.

This summer I made a conscious effort to bring a little more beauty into our breakfast at home, at least a few times a week.  In my eyes, a bagel on a pretty glass plate is a bit more satisfying than a bagel on an ordinary plate. Waffles eaten the porch table with a dainty bouquet of garden herbs as a centerpiece are just a bit more memorable that  waffles eaten at the regular dining table. There is just something about beauty first thing in the morning. And then...enter the school year. We have to be up and going at an early hour, starting  the laundry and the school work, and I need to be up even earlier to have my cherished moments of Bible reading and prayer alone.  There is just not a lot of time for fussing with pretty table settings and the like. The day must be begun so we can get it all done! This is real life with several children. Don't get me wrong, having a house full of people to nurture and care for is my dream life and I wouldn't change it for anything...even for another hour of sleep in the morning!  It is lovely and invigorating in its own right, but not leisurely :).

In spite of the complications, I am still finding that some occasional extra effort in the department of loveliness goes a long way in starting the school/work day with a mindset of  "beauty in the midst of business". It really takes no more time to pull out a pretty tea cup than it takes to pull out a coffee mug. (And taking a moment or two to hand wash a tea cup later in the morning  provides a relaxing, yet productive, "slow moment" while a student is completing a math drill!) The little extra additions of beauty to our morning reminds us and our loved ones that it is possible move beyond mere survival, even in busy circumstances.

Take a little extra time to think about what causes you to gracefully begin your day. Maybe it is not breakfast, or pretty dishes and flowers for you.  Perhaps it is as easy as a walk out to feed and pet the dogs, or taking the time to write a poem or watch the birds. And there is certainly no more beautiful way to start the day than joyfully feeding and snuggling the precious babies God places in your care. Bible reading/prayer time is a given and by far the most important thing. Nothing can replace or mimic time with the Lord.  A mom with a quiet spirit and a heart set on the Lord will adorn the breakfast table like nothing else!  Whatever it is for you in your season of life, delight in those morning moments and allow them to set a tone of beauty for your day ahead.

40% off on "Photos to Art" at Art.com !

Did you know that you can transform your best photographs into art prints? Click on the "Photos to Art" ad in the sidebar and use coupon TRAVEL40 to save 40% through 9/19. What a wonderful way to preserve your travel and family photos!  Pleasantburg Blog is pleased to be in the art.com affiliate program ( meaning that we recieve a small percentage of sales from our blog), but even if we weren't I would want to share this wonderful coupon with you! There is nothing quite like decorating your home with your own photographs, and this is a great deal!

Fall Savings at the Thrift Store

Fall can be an expensive time of year if you have children. This, of course, sends me flying to the thrift stores.  Clothes for a new season, back to school supplies, and holiday decorations are all wonderful items to be searching for as you visit your thrift store this fall, especially early in the season while the selection is at its best.  

Back to School Supplies...We use lots of three ring binders in our homeschooling and in the older children's classes outside of the home.  Each of my four school age children require 6 binders each, plus a huge binder ( read pricey) for their own yearly portfolio. If purchased new, we are talking about spending around a hundred dollars in binders alone. EEK.  Thankfully, businesses often will donate their unwanted binders to charity thrift stores. I can almost always find them for a dollar or two, in good working order, and in nearly-new condition.  I try to find the binders that have a clear pocket front so the girls an decorate them to their liking....just slide in some cute scrapbook paper and a label, and a plain-Jane folder is suddenly cute as a button. And all this personalized cuteness for less than half the price of the new "generic" binders. Thrift stores are also a great place to find general office supplies like staplers, desk sets, and filing supplies. If I need something for school or home office I always check the thrift store first. 

Holiday Decorations...I am not all that into decorating for holidays and seasons.  I like to keep things simple, simple, simple.  However, I do have a fireplace mantle that begs for adornment. Every year when I take the Christmas decorations down from the mantle the whole living room looks bare. Anyway, this is the season when thrift stores are putting out all those fall and Christmas decorations that have been collecting in their back room for the past year. This weekend  I  found a lovely round felt table cloth for three dollars.  It features the 12 days of Christmas in beautiful hand-sewn bead work.  I don't need a round table cloth, but do you know that in my 18 years of marriage we have never had a tree skirt for our Christmas tree?  With a few cuts and a few stitches I can easily re-purpose this table cloth into a most beautiful tree skirt.  I also found a fall leaf garland for two dollars. I was quite thrilled since this type of item is not something I could justify purchasing new. It is already on my mantle and it adds a lovely fall glow to the whole living room! I am pretty sure that both of these items would have been gone by the end of the day if I hadn't purchased them.  If you need holiday decorations, shop your thrift stores now for the best selection. 

Clothes for a new season... Well, I am sure you already know all about this :).  Shop early for best selections, check carefully for stains and tears, get what you need, but don't go overboard just because there are good deals out there. Enjoy the bargains that the Lord leads you to with a thankful heart. He provides for our needs, and sometimes ...in His own good time... even for some of our "wants".  Happy Fall :)

This post is also linked to Growing Home!

Creating a Presidential Election Notebook

Our family loves a presidential election year.  We are not under the impression that politics is the answer to everything in our society...far from it.  However, we can celebrate our country's political process and the freedom we have to vote. Our children have always accompanied us to the polls to vote. They have also been allowed to stay up late on Election Day for an special party.  We print out maps and give them red and blue crayons so they can color in the states as the results are announced.  Snacks are in abundance and sleeping bags are spread out on the living room floor for those who drift off early.  One year we were really brave and joined with another family for the evening...lots of fun memories.

As our children have grown older we have sought to  involve them in the election process in other ways.  There is a little more talk of politics at the dinner table,and a little more watching of the news and reading news articles together. One of our teenagers even went to one candidate's local headquarters during the last presidential election and watched his grandmother make phone calls. This year we are trying something new... keeping a family Presidential Election Notebook. I was inspired to do this by my husband's grandmother, who has saved news clippings on each presidential election for several decades. It is so much fun to look through her notebook. I thought it would be even more fun for the children to one day be able to look back at their own reflections and observations on the election process. So, creating our own notebook is one thing we are "aiming to do" over the next year.

  We began taking notes during the first televised debate. We have already crossed out candidates and added others as the weeks have progressed. (We each have our own predictions about who will be remaining at the end of the candidate selection process.)  I plan on having one section of the notebook categorized by issues, one section categorized by candidates, one section of debate notes/winners, and a final section of news articles. Because we have such a wide age range in our children ( almost 17 years down to 4 years of age), different family members are responsible for different tasks. Mom and Dad will take notes of things to discuss with the children later. ( I must admit that being able to "pause" live TV would be very handy during debates!) Our eight year old will copy down each candidate's home town, family information, current position, and other general information as it pops up on the TV screen during the debate. The middle and high school students will each be assigned specific issues and will record notes on each candidate's view as a topic is discussed.  Older students will also take general debate notes: the questions asked, who was asking the questions, general impressions on candidate readiness/level of articulation, potential bias, and the like.  As we get deeper into the election, I plan to have them gather current events articles and write about the their relevance to the election. There will probably also be papers comparing and contrasting candidates and persuasive papers/speeches on why a particular candidate is the best choice.

 So far our debate evenings have been a fun, family time together...almost like a long awaited football game for something . Yes, snacks are provided, and there is the added bonus of getting to stay up late on a school night, but the best part has been the conversations we have had. Teenagers have opinions and they love to share them. What a great time to hear their thoughts and ask them challenging questions. Our two older children have had debate and logic classes and delight in critiquing ( and complimenting!) the "professionals."  An election year provides parents with so many opportunities to discuss values and ideals with their children and teach them to think critically about issues. Take advantage of this time!  You can be part of raising up the next generation to be "thinkers" instead of those who merely react to circumstances or those who go with the popular flow of thought.  It may be impolite to discuss politics at the beauty shop, but discussing these matters in your living room is one fantastic way to spend an evening with the family.





This post is linked to Growing Home!

Nurturing Creativity in Children: Part 3

Today is the final post on Nurturing Creativity in Children. I have enjoyed visiting this topic and thank you for all the feedback . If you missed Part 1 or Part 2, be sure to click here and here to read the other posts. Continuing on.....

* Let your children see you being creative in everyday life. There is no substitute for leading your children by example. Fortunately for moms, motherhood provides a vast and varied smorgasbord of creative opportunities. Making up games while riding in the car, telling bedtime stories, making meals out of whatever you have on hand, decorating your home, scrap booking, blogging, photography...the list could go on and on.  Involve them in your own projects as their age and attention span allows, or give them their own special project to work on alongside you. As your children see you delighting in creative moments they will naturally be drawn to the creative process.

* Provide a variety of quality, imaginative literature. Supply toys that make children "work" for their  play.   In a recent article on creativity, Andrew Pudewa  provided a great quote by Albert Einstein: " If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales.  If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales." I love that!  The intelligence he is talking about here surely is of the "thinking outside of the box" variety. Whether you choose fairy tales or not, engaging and imaginative literature will get your child's creative thoughts going, leading to active play time. As far as toys, go for the items that are "open-ended" ( the child does the work, not the toy), can be used for storytelling play, and are able to be used in a variety of ways. One of the favorite toys at our home is Connectegons.  These little disks have been used to build all kinds of creative structures ( their intended purpose), but also as toy money, lilly pads for small toy frogs, baby doll food, and roads for cars.They are great math manipulatives as well ! Building toys, play dough, dress up clothes, a variety of paints and art supplies, dolls, cardboard boxes and tubes, and so on are the types of toys that will encourage imaginative play rather than merely providing passive entertainment. Limiting the number of toys available at a given time also develops creativity. They will learn to use and have fun with what they have!

* Encourage your children to serve others with their creative gifts.  One motto we are currently working to instill in our children ( and ourselves!) is " Non Nobis Solum"...Not for Us Alone. This applies to creativity just like it does to so many other areas of life. Whatever we have was given to us for God's glory and to serve Him.  Elderly neighbors will enjoy having a child's painting to hang on their refrigerator, a younger child will be pleased to have an older sibling read a freshly written story to them, an expectant mother will be delighted to drop her young children by your house for an afternoon of puppet shows ( or come to stay for a time of encouragement with another mom). Teach your children not to hoard and hide the gifts and experiences the Lord has given them, but to actively look for ways to use them to bless others. As Michael Card stated so well in an interview printed in the February 2011 issue of Tabletalk magazine, " Jesus always points away from Himself and His gifts and thereby wins praise for the Father. We are not our gifts. We are called to give more.  Like Jesus, we are called to give ourselves. That is the real purpose behind our gifts; they are vehicles for giving the self."

Many blessing to each of you as you nurture those wonderful, creative little ones the Lord has placed in your care. If you are interested in buying Connectegons for your children, see the link below!