Search Results for: tag A Home for the Holidays

Upcycle Your Holidays

If your home is already crammed to the gills with “stuff,” the prospect of adding even more items during the holiday season can make your skin crawl. One way to alleviate this uncomfortable feeling and save money at the same time is to learn the fine art of upcycling.  Pinterest has made a fortune from the fad, so there’s no reason you can’t benefit as well. Before heading to the mall to drain your wallet on expensive Christmas-themed paraphernalia, gather your kids and take a tour of your home.  Look for items that can transformed into amazing holiday presents and … Continue reading →

Holiday Homeschooling

The holiday season is a busy time for everyone. Homeschooling during this time can be more complicated than during other times of the year. I hear many homeschooling moms who feel terrible about being lax in homeschooling duties during the holiday season. Many express feeling overwhelmed, stressed out, frustrated, and exhausted. These feelings stem from feeling like you are falling behind, failing at homeschooling, failing your kids, and not being able to keep up like all the other shiny happy homeschooling moms. Yes, the holiday season is crazy busy but without joy and a festive heart the season loses its … Continue reading →

Alone for the Holidays

This time of year can be emotional for many single parents. Having to share the holidays can be difficult for both the parents and the child. I remember the night my ex husband left. The very first thing that came to mind was not having my son Christmas morning. I still get a pit in my stomach just thinking about it. I firmly believe that this is the absolute hardest part of being divorced. One of the greatest joys of being a parent is waking up Christmas morning to see the look on your children’s faces when they see their … Continue reading →

Tagging Our Christmas Tree

Last week I spent a good bit of time researching Christmas trees. I discovered that there are lots of different varieties some of which are not available in our region of the country. I found a website the outlined the different types of trees and where they grew and then looked them up to see which kind would work best for us. I narrowed it down to three varieties: Fraser Fir, Balsam Fir, and Blue Spruce. I then contacted several local tree farms to see what varieties of Christmas trees they carried. As it turns out there are two farms … Continue reading →

Be Prepared for School Holidays

Many of my friends who are also working parents are scrambling right now to get child care. Stay at home parents are scrambling to figure out what to do with the kids. A combination of half days off and full days off is throwing everyone off of schedule. And with the big holidays coming, things are going to get even more confusing. If you can do a little preparation now, your household will be in great shape, leaving you to take advantage of the school holidays, so everyone has a great time while they are off. Planning ahead will really … Continue reading →

Traveling For The Holidays

As the holidays get closer many people get prepared to travel to visit family for the holidays. As a single parent sometimes just getting everyone out the door on time in the morning is a challenge so traveling requires a bit of planning. First, if you are flying try to fly on less busy days and times. The flight will be much easier if your little one has some room to spread out. If you are going to be driving I always found it easier to plan most of my driving around nap times. It’s boring to sit in a … Continue reading →

Homemade Wrapping Boxes

Before you throw out or recycle your food packaging, consider repurposing it into festive boxes and wraps for the holidays or containers for your wrapping things. You’ll save money and a couple of trees, too. Potato Chip Tube You know those tubes that potato chips come packaged in? They are just perfect for packing cookies. You can even mail them, too. Take a clean tube and cover it in scrapbook paper, wrapping paper or even comics or newspaper. Add a ribbon and a gift tag to complete the gift. Soup Cans Turn soup cans or coffee cans into planters. My … Continue reading →

Enjoying the Holidays One At a Time

I was shopping three weeks ago at a popular store and was a little surprised. Now maybe it happened last year, but I don’t think so or it would not have struck me so hard. Mind you, it was around the second week in October that this occurred. While I was making my way around the store shopping for various items for my household I maneuvered my cart around the corner to proceed to the next aisle. As I carefully wheeled my cart around the corner there it was, a Christmas tree. Really, mass merchant chain store? This year you … Continue reading →

Good Home Smells

Along with the decorating and other care of your home, do you cultivate some good home smells? This can make a difference in many areas, from influencing your mood to embarrassing you when your neighbors come to call. Most of the time, we usually don’t think too much about home smells until, well, our homes smell. This morning after church when we entered our home, we were hit with an awful stinky smell. My husband had left some wet cat food out on the counter for a few hours. Ugh. Quick, get the air freshener! Another time we think about … Continue reading →

Stay-at-Home Moms are Priceless

Actually, they’re worth about $123,000 if you believe Salary.com’s latest calculations. Yes, all you dads, who constantly berate your spouse’s decision to give up her career in the “real world” and make child raising her priority, I have news for you: Stay-at-home moms are worth six figures. Way more, if you ask the children they pour their hearts and souls into raising, but I digress. Salary.com has once again tried to put a price tag on the tasks stay-at-home moms accomplish in a year’s time. Have you ever wondered how much moms should really be raking in? According to the … Continue reading →