Planning An Intentional Summer for Your Kids

      
It's about time to think about summer camps and other activities to keep your children occupied over the summer. But why just keep them occupied? 

Rather than enduring through the summer, make it intentional! If your children are old enough, have them think through some goals for themselves over the summer. These could includes the following categories: physical, social, financial, vocational, spiritual, educational, mental, artistic, musical, and life skills.

If you have grade school children, you may need to talk about this with them. If your children are younger, think through the areas that would apply to your small children and come up with ways you'd like to see them grow over the summer. 

With our foster teenagers, we let them decide their own goals. Some of them included losing weight, expressing anger appropriately, speaking gentle words instead of harsh words, saving money for a car, learning how to manage money, and making new friends.

Some ideas for each category:

- Physical: eating nutritionally, running a mile in a certain time, learning a new sport, swimming lessons, care of hair and skin, an athletic camp, honing athletic skills, riding a bicycle/tricycle, fine motor skills, etc.

- Social: table manners, fun ideas for dates, sharing, please and thank you, not interrupting, telephone etiquette, how to be a good conversationalist, how to be a good friend, how to protect yourself on a date, what to do if your friends want you to do something you shouldn't, etc.

- Financial: saving, tithing, budgeting, opening a checking or savings account, investments, generosity, etc.

- Vocational: shadowing someone in a field of interest, researching a profession, field trip, internship, volunteer work, getting a job, how to interview, how to write a resume, how to fill out a job application, etc.

- Spiritual: vacation Bible school, memory verses, prayer, how to study the Bible, seeing God in nature, how to know God, restoring your relationship with God when you've blown it, finding a church you like, joining a youth group, etc.

- Educational: brushing up on needy subjects, summer school, work sheets, college visits, thinking through a major, keyboarding or computer skills, how to study, how to take a test, how to take notes, learning the alphabet or numbers or colors, learning how to read, etc.

- Mental: learning more about an interest, field trips, logic exercises, games, challenge programs, learning skills, memory techniques, time management, etc.

- Artistic: art lessons or classes, art time for drawing, etc., crafts, woodworking, sewing, jewelry, cartoons, knit, crochet, etc.

- Musical: lessons, learning a new instrument, concerts, symphonies, outdoor music programs, voice lessons, choir, band, camp, etc.

- Life Skills: changing a tire, setting the table, ironing, mending, tying shoes, folding clothes, laundry, how to plan balanced meals, cooking, how to use household appliances, cleaning up toys, how to make a bed, etc.

Hope I gave you some food for thought. Tell me about your intentional plans for the summer!

Other summertime ideas:

Organizing Summer Fun When Everyone is Bored: A Crazy Dinner

101 Things to Do this Summer

Organizing Summer Fun When Everyone is Bored: Indoor Decathlon

 

Foods That Help ADHD Focus

          
I learned from Ramona Creel about an article on WebMD that suggests foods to help people with ADHD to focus or extend their focus. I found it very interesting. Here's an excerpt:
 
"Scientific research on ADHD diets is limited and results are mixed. Many health experts, however, do believe that diet may play a role in relieving ADHD symptoms. WebMD's ADHD expert Richard Sogn, MD, points out that whatever is good for the brain is likely to be good for ADHD. Brain researcher and ADHD expert Daniel Amen, MD, recommends these ADHD diet suggestions.

• Eat a high-protein diet, including beans, cheese, eggs, meat, and nuts. Add protein foods in the morning and for after-school snacks, to improve concentration and possibly increase the time ADHD medications work.
• Eat fewer simple carbohydrates, such as candy, corn syrup, honey, sugar, products made from white flour, white rice, and potatoes without the skins.
• Eat more complex carbohydrates, such as vegetables and some fruits (including oranges, tangerines, pears, grapefruit, apples, and kiwi). Eating complex carbs at night may aid sleep.
• Eat more Omega-3 fatty acids, such as those found in tuna, salmon, other cold-water white fish, walnuts, Brazil nuts, and olive and canola oil. Omega-3 fatty acids are also available in supplement form."                                                                                                                                                                                          More on ADHD:
  

  Understanding the ADD Mindset

  Help for Moms with ADD

  Review:AgendaWorksPlanner     

                                                                                                    

Organizing Your Spring Garden

   
We had a lovely day yesterday - sunny and above freezing! Almost shorts weather. :) Makes me want to plant herbs! And I'm further inspired by our post today ...

Joe Lamp'l is a master gardener, author and host of "Growing a Greener World" on PBS. In the following article, he offers advice on planning your garden. Whether you're just starting out or are a seasoned gardener, I'm sure you'll find his ideas helpful. 

"A few hours of organizing and preparing now can save you money and yield a more manageable and efficient garden come spring.

But first things first. Make note of the locations where plants did well and where they didn't thrive. Which vegetables were successful and which disappointed? Read some garden books and improve your gardening skills where necessary; then spend time considering exactly what you want to plant. 

If you're into salsa, for example, plan lots of space for peppers, onions and tomatoes. Do your research. By now, you should have quite a collection of seed catalogs. Use them and the Internet to sort through information on the varieties you're interested in growing.

Order seeds as soon as possible. The earlier you get your order in, the better your chances of getting all the varieties you're looking for. Once they're ordered, you can create a growing time line. Work backward from the last average frost date in your area and start seeds indoors so they'll be ready to set out when the temperature warms enough in the garden.

To begin, just use soilless sterile seed-starting mix and something to contain it. Plastic or paper cups, pizza boxes, takeout containers, soda bottles or just about anything else you can think of will work. Poke a few small drainage holes in the bottom, add the soil and then plant the seeds according to the package's directions. 

Hang up a grow light, like a fluorescent shop light, over the plants. Attach a simple timer that allows the light to remain on 16 hours each day. Adding a plastic or clear covering over your container will help hold moisture in, which is very important for seeds to germinate. But, you can skip this step as long as you make sure you supply the necessary moisture. This could be every day.

Although it's probably too cold for the compost to be actively working, keep tossing eggshells, coffee grounds, vegetable waste and other kitchen scraps (except proteins and fats) into the pile. When the weather starts warming up, add water and soil, and soon you'll have some great compost to add to your garden soil. It's the best soil amendment you can ever provide, and any time is the right time for adding compost.

Maintain your tools. Clean them up, oil wooden handles and repaint metal surfaces. Sharpen shovels, pruning shears and other edged tools. Once spring arrives, they'll be ready to go and you can head right out into the garden. Start getting together all the miscellaneous items you'll need, too: sturdy wire for trellises and black plastic or other covers to start warming the soil and killing weed seeds.

How about covering the garden with several layers of newspapers? Topped with a layer of straw or any type of mulch (leaving openings for plants to come through), they're a great way to keep weeds at bay. I did this often in my large vegetable-garden set of "Fresh from the Garden" on DIY Network. It worked great and was a super way to recycle those newspapers. Just be sure to wet down the paper as you spread it out. This weighs it down and helps keep it from blowing away until you get the mulch on top. This technique is also great between your planting beds and in paths as well.

Finally, use last year's bounty to inspire you. Remember the satisfaction you felt when those shrubs and trees started breaking their buds, and the sweet peas started poking through the soil? Gardening is about promise and anticipation. And winter is the best time to make plans and get motivated for the coming spring, while you still have a little time."

More on gardening:

Organizing My Herb Garden 2010

Tips from a Master Gardener - Watering, Mulch

Managing Invasive Herbs

 

ADD and a Clutter-Free Desk - It's Not Impossible!

      
Jeff Hamilton writes about the challenges of living with adult Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). Here's his description of how he manages to keep his desk clutter-free:

"ADD and a messy desk, that's a bad combination. You may work out of your home, in a cubicle within an office building or your desk could sit in many different locations. No matter where it sits or how big it is, a mess is a mess and it can push you right off your path of productivity.

If you are challenged by ADD, you need to work on things in order to be successful in managing it. If your desk is messy it creates distraction, chaos, items are easily lost, we become disorganized, frustrated, procrastination can occur, it impacts time management, productivity goes down and slowly......we lose control.

My desk clutter solution is simple and involves two easy things

1. My note book - I write everything down in my note book. It keeps all my thoughts, to-do's and things I need to remember in one organized place where it's easy to find. From that, I tend to schedule tasks into my Outlook calendar.

2. I've gone electronic - no more paper, no more piles of crap, no more cluster. If I have something I need to review and I don't have time, I'll place it on my book shelf and then schedule the time to review it at a later date in my Outlook calendar. My bills/invoices arrive via email, which is also good for the environment.

Other items that are paper based can be scanned and filed on your computer.

Keeping your desk clean and uncluttered is a must-do for people with ADD. ... Besides the basic computer requirements, I have only a few things on it: Kleenex, my note book, a picture of my kids and some flowers to show the sensitive male side of me within ;) That's it. My desk set up is a clean, lean production machine!!


More on organizing with ADD:

More Tips for Helping Your ADD Child Stay Organized

Organizing the ADD Household

Disorganized Teens - Symptons of ADHD

 

Clutter-Free Reading on Chrome and Firefox with iReader

     
I learned about iReader from Maboot and love it! It allows you to read web articles without all the ad clutter. Plus it takes that pesky article with multiple pages and puts it on one page. Here's Maboot's review (sorry about the grammar and punctuation):

"Readability has now long been used to get a simple reader friendly article out of all the crap found in the form of web links and graphics on the web pages. However catering to additional much better requirements and demands highlighted by the users, such as restoring pages to normal much easily and also the ability to loading multiple pages simultaneously. I have tested an extension that delivers just the same.

The web’s is just not as reader friendly place as it should be. For instance unnecessary glowing screens and moreover the advent of innumerable ads, unnecessarylinks and the articles divided into more than one pages, make reading annoying for the reader rather than a pleasure.

The app named iReader, is just what we were searching for. This app is from a company named Samabox and distinct from Readability, the iReader which is for Chrome and Firefox offers to handle multiple pages at one time. Moreover similar to Safari’s ‘Reader’ function, it can also be closed with the hit of a button. We should rather take a look now. 

Via iReader
For instance you have found found an exciting article on a jumbled page. In such cases you address bar will show an iReader icon. Now on clicking this icon you will simply get the same article free from all the clutter offered to you on a fresh white background .... Its that simple, however for accessing more features you can simply follow the remaining article. 

Features
Scroll over the button bit of your article and you will notice this bar. Starting here you can:
Create text bigger or smaller.

• Take a Print of the clutter-free copy of the article.
• Share the article via email
• Share via Twitter/ Facebook
• Remove all the pictures
• You can even configure iReader, as required.

Features also include setting up the black color’s opacity to cover the clutter, whether you want the article to be emailed from Gmail or your default email application, how presentable you want your article to look and even if you want a smooth scrolling, you can just set it accordingly.

While you are configuring your iReader you will also be having an instant preview of the changes you are making, enabling you to make better judgements according to your taste on the way.

You can download the iReader now, selecting chrome or firefox as the source. 

As mentioned earlier, after you install iReader, the readability icon will appear on every website displaying an article. Just click on it and iReader will take on from there. Though its been observed that it takes a little longer on some heavily cluttered sites but you will soon realize that its worth it."


More reading tools:

Planning for Your Child's Reading Success - A Book Review of "Anytime Reading Readiness"

100 Free and Essential Web Tools for the College Bound

 More Tips for Helping Your ADD Child Stay Organized

 

An Organizing Tool for Bags, Briefcases, Luggage and More!

       

I've discovered a new organizing system for your bags and purses, drawers, backpacks, luggage, briefcases: GRID-IT!^™ It organizes all kinds of gadgets, tools, and more. What I like is that you don't have to search through pockets, zippers, etc. to find your stuff. And it's great for traveling through airports, too! There are all different sizes starting from $9.99. Click "products" on the Cocoon site.

"The GRID-IT!^™ organization system is a proprietary patent pending object retention system. A unique weave of rubberized elastic bands made specifically to hold personal objects firmly in place.

Designed to provide endless configurations of objects, digital devices and personal effects, GRID-IT!^™ is as versatile as life itself!"

More on organizing your bags/purses:

Pouchee Purse Organizer

Get Organized Month - Declutter Your Purse/Wallet and Briefcase

Cherry Blooms - The Perfect Organizing Bag!!

Organizing for Taxes - Deductibles

         
 We have been on a roller coaster ride this last week. We got a call saying my husband's mom was at death's door. We scurried around and left the next day. Over the four days we were with my mother-in-law, she rallied. So we drove home in six hours of rain, sleet, snow and fog. The next day we got a call saying death was likely. My husband packed up again and called the doctor to find she had improved! It's so difficult caring from a distance! On the bright side, I worked some on my taxes during the trip, the subject of our post today ...

If you compute your deductions on your income taxes, Salvation Army's Value Guide can help you determine amounts to deduct for those physical items you've donated to non-profits. It provides a range from high to low for clothing, dry goods, furniture and other items.

In addition, TurboTax and H&R Block tax programs have built-ins that help you determine what may or may not be deductible on your taxes. 

FYI: even though I've heard experts say that you need to keep your tax returns for only 5-7 years, I'm hearing more and more that you should keep them indefinitely.

More on taxes:

Taxes - Knowing Which Papers to Keep/Toss

Organizing for Tax Season

Organizing Tax Receipts

Organizing Your Pet's Medications

      
Need some advice on organizing your pet's meds? Here's some advice from veterinarian Dr. John Beck:

"... there is the non-technical way of handling these problems. Getting a pill sorter and pre-sorting each pet's medications once a month, including their preventatives, can help you remember. Writing it on your calendar or planner is also helpful. Some heartworm and flea preventatives come with stickers in the box to place on your calendar to remind you to give your meds. I always check it off the calendar once its complete so I don't look back in a few days and wonder if I remembered to give it or not. 

Modern technology has made some things a little more convenient. One heartworm preventative has an application that can be added to your smart phone that will remind you to give your preventative on the day you choose. Some animal hospitals can also send you an e-mail reminder or text message when it is time to purchase your next six or 12 month supply of preventative. 

Some drug companies have even attempted to make things easier by combining flea and heartworm preventative into one topical solution or one pill (available late February). Another option for heartworm prevention is an injection given once every six months. The injection has to be given in a veterinarian's office, but will protect your dog from heartworms for half a year. Then you don't have to worry about that for half a year."

More on organizing for your pets:

Peace-of-Mind Vacation Check List - What to Do Before You Leave

National Preparedness Month - Evacuation Plan

Spring Cleaning the Garage - Storing Hazardous Materials

 

Save Time by Paying All Your Online Bills in One Place

Tired of going from one online bill site to another? Now you can pay all your online bills in one place: Doxo.com.

"With doxo you organize and manage all of your bills, statements and other important documents in one place. Scan through your incoming mail; quickly identify things you need to take action on; set up reminders; and file everything important, forever.

The average household has 22 businesses that send mail each month. That’s about 21 more account logins and passwords than most of us want to deal with. With doxo, you keep your account details safe and secure on one website—logins, passwords, customer support numbers—whatever you need."

And it's free!

More on going paperless:

Decluttering Mail and Phone Calls 

Managing Paper

A Dozen Tips for Staying Clutter-Free in 2011 

 

More On Storing Your Kid's Art Work

        
I know I've written some previous blog posts about storing and displaying your child's artwork. Here are a few more ideas: 
 
- Load digital photos onto a digital photo frame and create a slide show of the masterpieces. 

- Use small notebooks to keep notes and small drawings. 

- Make a scrapbook of artwork for each school year.

- Slide artwork into a binder with page protectors, storing two pictures back-to-back in one page protector.

- Scan the artwork and burn it onto a disk or memory stick.

- Turn the favorite pieces into a calendar by taking digital pictures of the artwork. Instead of using photos of people to create the calendar, use your digital artwork. 

- Take a digital picture of each picture and keep them in a photo album.

- Frame some of the special artwork for yourself and/or grandparents.

- Have one piece professionally framed each year - with the child's name, age, and description of the artwork on it. 

- Create a digital scrapbook of the school year.

- Scan them and turn them into cards or wrapping paper.

- Make a digital collage - as a picture, mug, calendar, blanket, mouse pad. 

- Use framing mats as a rotating gallery on one wall.  

- Create a hardcover photobook through a photo site and display it as a "coffee table" book. You could have your child write a note about each piece of art.

- Store artwork in school years booklets ... the ones that have a folder and pages for your child to record memories each year. 

- Take pictures of the art work or scan it, and print it out on T-shirt iron-on-transfers.

- Decoupage a wooden toy box, small keepsake boxes, or a piece of wood, using several art pieces.   

- Scan them and make magnets for family members. Different sites offer free ones for various holidays - Father's Day, Mother's Day, etc.  

- Take art to a nursing home for their rooms - to brighten their day. You get rid of the extra "art" and have a lesson in charity.

- Take a picture of your child with the artwork and put the picture in a scrapbook. It records not only the art but the age at which your child created it. 

- Post them on Artsonia, an online kids' art gallery.

- Use black frames and white mats, several on one wall - looks like custom art.

- Store your child's collection of artwork in a Dynamic Frame, swapping out artwork in a jiffy.

- Take photos and make them small enough to fit charm bracelet frames/charms. Tie a ribbon on each and hang them as a decorations on your Christmas tree. 

Helpful websites: 
Big Art Blessing
Walgreens
Snapfish
Shutterfly 
York Photo


More on artwork storage:

Getting Organized for School 2010 - Organizing Your Child's Artwork and School Papers

Magnetic Paint - An Innovative Space Saver!

Organizing Your Keepsakes into Bins

 

Donate Your Bikes to Youth Bike-Refurbishing Programs

With spring approaching (hopefully!) our thoughts turn to the outdoors, and for some, biking. There are many programs across the country that teach young people how to refurbish bikes and gain biking skills. To find such a program near you, go to I Bike.  These organizations will accept your donations of bikes and parts.

These organizations cover "a range of programs involving young people and bicycles: teaching young people cycling skills, a vocation, personal management, business management and community consciousness, and giving them self-esteem, while promoting bicycling and diverting good bicycles from the land fill." 

If you have some bikes you're no longer using, put them to good use by donating to one of these programs. If you don't find one of these programs on the list at I Bike, call a local bike shop to see if they know of a similar program near you.


More on donating:

Donating Business Clothing for Job Interviews

Get Organized Month 2009 - Decluttering Your Electronics

Tackle the Clutter before Christmas

 

Tired of Automated Phone Responses? Here's How You Can Talk to a Real Person!

      
Are your questions not being answered by the "press 1 for ..." maze? Would you just like to talk to a real person?

Stop wasting your time!  I learned from Monica Ricci, organizing pro, that you can get phone numbers for many companies at Get Human. They have some companies listed, but you can also type in a company's name to search for their number. 

Some questions can't be answered by an automated system. What a time saver and great resource!


More on saving time on the phone:

The "Do It Now" Mindset

How Efficient is Multitasking?

Headsets

 

Organize Your Smart Phone for Safety

       
I watched this alarming video about how your smart phone pictures can give others the exact location of your home, your child's school, etc. The video includes instructions on how to turn off the gps option for your pictures.






More on safety and security:

An Emergency Entry on Your Cell Phone

National Preparedness Month - Emergency Kit #2: Landline Phone

National Preparedness Month - Making a Plan

 

Organizing for Tax Season

            
Happy Valentine's Day! Last night I made heart-shaped pumpkin muffins for the girls for breakfast this morning. I'm trying to figure out how to carry the theme through dinner. In the meantime, here's our post for today ...

It's time to think about taxes again! I'm going to try something new this year - expandable files just for my taxes. I found these DiVoga files at Office Max for $9.99 - one for this year's taxes and one for next year.

They are 13-pocket files with snap fronts with two snap options: the one shown for fewer documents and another snap higher up if you have more documents making the file thicker. I got them in different colors so I could distinguish between tax years. I couldn't find this exact file online, so I don't have a link for you. 

I did find similar ones from Smead. The All-in-One Tax Organizer also has 13 pockets with an elastic closure. It has pre-printed and blank labels for your convenience.  





If your taxes aren't very complicated, you could use Smead's 6-Pocket Tax Organizer. 

For that matter, you could use any expandable file. I saw several that were different colors and textures for around $12-18.

I'm going to set my open file near where I sort our mail, so I can just drop various papers into their slots without having to open a file folder or file cabinet! I'll do the same with receipts. When tax time comes, everything will already be categorized. 

How do you organize your tax documents?


More on taxes:

Taxes - Knowing Which Papers to Keep/Toss

Saving Money by Being Organized

Three Steps to Organizing Your Office

Kick Your Clutter to the Wall

      

Here's a clever idea from Apartment Therapy - clipboards on the wall that hold your clutter!

 

  
"You know all of those papers that pile up on your desk and make it difficult to get any work done? They often get tossed there in haste, but here's a solution that takes barely any more time yet keeps your desktop pile-free:

Hang a few clip boards on the wall and clip papers into them anytime you need to keep them. You don't even have to sort and organize the papers right away: just clip them up and sort once every week or two. Or, if you're a tad more organized, assign a category to each clip board ("inbox", "outbox", "bills to pay", etc.) to keep your papers sorted from the get-go."

Image: Cheyenne Millwork and Custom Cabinets

More on using your wall space:

Magnetic Paint - An Innovative Space Saver!

Shadow Boarding Your Tools

 This is What I Call Using Wall Space!

Linear Storage