What to do when you can't find your phone...

Today I found myself with quite the predicament. I couldn't find my cell phone. Now normally, this wouldn't be a problem if I had another phone I could call my cell phone with. Alas, Tim was at school with his cell phone and we don't have a home phone...
Enter- icantfindmyphone.com.
You can't find your cell phone? Go to this site, enter your cell phone number and it will CALL YOUR PHONE!! Isn't that amazing?? I think so. Well, I found my phone before a friend posted this little nugget of news on my facebook wall, but I am FOR SURE making note and using this site next time!

Cutting Brownies

My friend Diana recently shared a nice little tip with me.

"If you want clean cut brownies, cut them while they are WARM and use a PLASTIC knife.

I think everyone has gone through the discouragement of having ugly edged brownies, after cutting them with a regular butter-knife. Switch to the plastic, my friends."

Special thanks to Diana for sharing the love of nicely cut brownies!

Child Medicine Dossage

A dosage chart for children medicine by weight is super helpful to have when the little ones are sick. We have a copy printed off and in an accessible place. If you don't have one already, there you go! Also on the link there are hints for you involving fevers. It seems that my children have been sick since it got cold. Not very fun, but I have been so thankful to have this dosage chart handy!

Hard Boiled Eggs

I know it seems pointless to blog some hints about hard boiling an egg, after all, its not rocket science. How hard can it be??

Well, its not that hard but I find these tips helpful when boiling my eggs.

If you fill the pan with cold water then add the eggs and put on the stove, the eggs will be MUCH easier to peal once cooked.

And if you don't have a helpful egg timer of some sort and want to know if your egg is hard inside, remove and egg and lay it on its side like so


then spin it like a top. If it is hard inside, it will spin quickly, if it is still soft inside, it will wobble and not spin very well.

Happy Hard Boiling!

To be a Mother

As every mother knows, there are ups and downs with parenting. My friend directed me to this fabulous blog, of a wonderful woman named Jane who is a mother of 11. Other mothers write her with questions about parenting and then she replies on her blog. I have read only a few letter replies and I am hooked.
Have a problem with one of your kids and want advice from an expert? Drop Jane a line. :)

Free Internet Filter

For those of you who have children, there is no reason or excuse to not have an Internet filter if they use the computer. For those of you who don't have children, you should have certain things blocked while you use the Internet, because no matter what your age, some things are simply inappropriate.
K9 Web Protection is a FREE Internet filter. It is our favorite! You can block whole categories, like alternative s*xuality, gambling, pornography, adult/mature content, violence, nudity, etc.

After hearing a very sad story of a young 12 year old boy having problems that I'm sure could have been prevented or at least helped with an Internet filter, I encourage all of you to download the K9 filter. If not for your children, then for you!

Cleaning the Microwave

How many of you hate to scrub your microwave? I feel like there can be much time spent scrubbing with little result. THAT IS until I learned the easiest way to clean a microwave oven.

In a microwave safe bowl put some water and some lemon juice (a table spoon or two). Heat in your microwave to a boil, 2-3 minutes. The citric acid from the lemon juice will loosen the grease and residue. I tired this and just whipped the microwave clean with a warm wet wash cloth. This method works so well! Try it and you will see. :)