Halloween Candy Deals

Happy Halloween!  At midnight tonight I will be involved in a very scary activity.  I will be at the Wal-Mart purchasing Halloween candy for half price with my Mom and Grandma.  All year long at our mission, we give kids a piece of candy for each Bible verse they can recite before the service starts.  It's amazing how much kids will learn for candy.  I figure the good it does for their soul counteracts the danger of tooth decay.

So if you meander into the Wal-Mart at midnight tonight and see three generations of crazy ladies with carts full of nothing but candy, that just might be us.  Make that four generations.  My teenage daughters just announced they are coming too!

By the way, stay away from the Warhead candy or you might get hurt!

Candy photo above is from Party .com.

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Best Laundry Detergent Recipe

I have experimented for years with making my own laundry soap.   I started making it because my youngest, Amy Grace, has eczema and regular detergents were causing her to itch and break out.   I started out making the liquid kind, but I got tired of the boiling and stirring jello-like detergent.  

Now I make the dry kind.  It is much easier to make, store, and pour.  It is also perfect for my new energy efficient washer because it is naturally low sudsing.  Here is my recipe.   Make some up and save some money today.  (All of these are normally close together in the laundry aisle at Wal-Mart or you can order online.)


1 Box of Super Washing Soda 3 lb. 7 oz. 
1 Box of Borax 4 lbs 12 oz. size 
1 Box of Baking Soda 4 lb. 
1 bar of Fels-Naptha 5.5 oz. (grated)
1 bar of Zote (grated)
1 container of Oxy-Clean 1.3 lb or other Oxygen Cleaner (Keep Box and measuring cup for detergent.)

I grate the soap with a cheese grater while I watch a movie with the kids.  You can also use a food processor.  Dump all ingredients into a large bucket with a lid.  Mix with a long spoon or your hands.  I fill up the Oxy-Clean container,  keep it near the washer, and just refill as needed from the bucket.  I use the Oxy-Clean measuring cup to measure the detergent.  You just need one cup per load.

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Teaching Good Character

Need some ideas for teaching character traits to your young ones?  If you're like me, you might be noticing that your little ones have trouble obeying or sharing at times.  I started thinking about why I home school and realized that the biggest reason is to raise Godly children who will grow into adults others want to be around.   Yet many times, those ideals get lost in the shuffle of teaching them how to read, write, and count, and I completely ignore the little behavior problems.  

This school year, I've decided to purposely teach character traits to my four and six year old.  We do a Bible story, a Bible verse, read a Children's book, and some kind of fun craft or game to reinforce the weekly character trait.  Sometimes we even find a cute song on Youtube that goes along with it.  We have stayed on obedience for several weeks because I feel it is one of the most important traits, for safety and sanity.

This website gives great free lesson plans and printables for character trait teaching.  They even have an overview you can print out  and easily see what to do each day.  You can always pick and choose the traits your child especially needs to work on.

http://www.hubbardscupboard.org/character.html

This website offers lots of wonderful character training tools for free.  It is a great resource for Bible stories, verses, and games that go with each trait.

http://www.kidsofintegrity.com/

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Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe

This is the recipe for one of my family's favorite soups.  I also quadruple the recipe and serve it to people at the mission in a giant crock pot.  I don't think I've ever had anyone say they didn't like it, and that is something when you're dealing with kids.  Enjoy this comfort food on a cool autumn night.

2-12.5 oz. cans of Chicken
5- 10.5 oz cans of Cream of Chicken Soup
1 or 2 sticks of butter (I'm a butter freak, so I add 2.)
Egg noodles (1 lb.)
10 chicken bouillon cubes
10 cups of water
A bag of frozen vegetables cooked (Optional)

Cook bouillon cubes in water until boiling.  Turn down heat and add egg noodles and butter; cook noodles until almost tender. Turn down to simmer and add chicken, soup, and veggies if desired. ( I don't add veggies because I have some picky eaters, but serve salad or fruit with it instead.)  Stir until it is lovely, creamy goodness and serve.  Enjoy!

The photo is from Taste of Home and is not exactly my recipe, but it looks really similar to mine

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Meet Marmee

Hello, I’m Marmee.   My whole family adores Little House on the Prairie and Little Women.  We love the books, the movie, the television series; we love it all.  Since we also have four daughters like the families in these books, I thought it would be fitting to name this blog “Little Women on the Prairie.” 

In the past I have taught middle school language arts in a public school and GED prep and reading skills at an adult learning center.  When my oldest daughter was in first grade, we decided to homeschool.  We love unit studies and interest-driven studies.  We are not big on workbooks, but we enjoy reading, writing, and creating projects.  Two of my girls are in high school and two are in preschool/kindergarten, so we are currently learning everything from counting and letter sounds to Geometry and Shakespeare.

We also run a Christian mission in our town.  Basically we try to reach out to children and families in our community.  We try to meet physical needs by supplying people with food and clothing and spiritual needs by having family services, youth nights, and Bible studies.

Things can get a little crazy with all that going on.  Sometimes I have to remind myself that no matter what the day brings, “This is the day the Lord has made.  I will rejoice and be glad in it.”  Psalm 118:24  My girls know this verse well since I have many a time recited it through gritted teeth, trying my very best to rejoice in a day gone wrong.  I am not a perfectly put together mom who only feeds her kids organic foods.  I am just a wife and mom, and I don’t have all the answers, but I’m happy to share what I do know, and if I know my girls, I will be learning something new every day!

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