Randomness

Here is a quick random post.

I love crockpot meals for the busy Fall days.  This is a new favorite from the Picky Palate.  It is SO yummy over garlic mashed potatoes.

 

We have had a ton of tomatoes this year.  The kitchen was filling with ripe ones, so I had to make some pints of diced stewed tomatoes.  I am so excited to add them to some of our favorite soups and sauces.

   

My parents were here a couple of weekends ago.  Whenever they are in town, they enjoy going to the thrift shops.  I took them one night and ended up with a little coffee mug holder with three prongs for 50 cents.  Kaylee had needed something for all of her bracelets and I thought this would be perfect.  I also found a few frames for Rebecca’s bedroom makeover.  I always tell Stephen that I need to run my parents over to the thrift store, but inside I’m always a little excited to see what treasures are there.

As I was cleaning the house yesterday I noticed all the bags of Epsom salt in each of the bathrooms.  You can tell that sports are going strong and there are some sore muscles.  I can’t get over the times of their sports.  Kaylee practices some mornings at 6:00am for volleyball and Jake’s swim practices are from 7:30 to 9:00 at night.

And last but not least are these three tips from the Power of Moms. 

Three Unbelievably Simple Parenting Ideas: 1) Children need a minimum of 8 touches a day to feel connected to a parent. 2) Each day, children need one meaningful eye-to-eye conversation with a parent. 3) There are nine minutes during the day that can have the greatest impact on a child: the first three minutes right after they wake up, the three minutes after they come home from school, and the last three minutes of the day before they go to bed

I feel like I fail on all three.  I am not a touchy person.  I usually talk to one of my kids as I’m doing a task for another one of the kids, thus no eye contact.  AND the nine minutes of time for greatest impact are usually my nine minutes of no more patience!  SO I guess I have THREE things to work on!