good finds / IN MY KITCHEN

Bring on the roast and potatoes

I know, I know, I've been gone for days! But this is too good not to share on a Friday afternoon.

Happy 100th to Julia. And bon appetit, my friends. 

I know, I know, I've been gone for days! But this is too good not to share on a Friday afternoon.

Happy 100th to Julia. And bon appetit, my friends. 

family / good finds / home / HOMESCHOOLING

Goodbye Olympics, hello end of summer

2032, perhaps?

Olympics are over and I have to admit that we weren't into it as much this year as I thought we would be. We took in our fair share of swimming, gymnastics and soccer. And streamed a lot of equestrian events online, but  overall we weren't glued to the games. No Olympics withdrawl. 

It's hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that it is mid-August. We're in the thick of back-to-school prep. Buying books, cleaning out and rearranging the school room. We'll start the first week of September, though with a cubby full of fresh school supplies the girls are begging to start. That's just the way I like 'em–champing at the bit for the beginning of school.

Fall always has the same fresh feel that January 1 does. Getting organized, falling back into routines, an excuse to buy a new planner. I love it. And of course, through the overwhelming power of Pinterest, I've been pinning tons of organizational ideas I'll never have time to accomplish because I'm so busy pinning them

But here are four fave pins of the week that have uber-organized written all over them. 

I think I'm actually going to do this calendar for our school room. I love having a big calendar to display, and this is way more attractive than the oversized desk calendar I've used in the past. I'm all over this idea from maple & magnolia

Paint chip calendar
This gets to my inner-geek in only a way Martha Stewart can. The drawers are painted to show what goes where. Not only do I love the organization of this. I love that it helps kids get involved. But, I'm also completely in love with the idea of putting things like plates, cups, bowls in a drawer, where kids can reach them easily. Setting the dinner table is a great kid-chore and this makes it so do-able for them. 

Martha-Stewarts-Tips-Kids-Room-Organization
I could get lost on this site for awhile, searching through every kind of printable paper you can imagine. A score sheet for cricket? Yahtzee? Softball? You'll find it here. And of course other kid-friendly things like lined paper, graph paper, manuscript paper, lesson plan sheets…all free, my friends. 

Lined-portrait-letter-college
With four girls, tons of hand-me-downs and dresser drawers overflowing with clothes, I LOVE this concept of buying a few pieces that can be mixed and matched into tons of outfits. (more combinations are on her site) It reminds me of when I was younger and one of my mother's friends came over to help me organize my closet and put together outfits. She was great at taking a few pieces and wearing them lots of different ways. And she wrote down outfits on little notecards so I could choose a different one for each day. What I would give to have a personal sylist like that now. My middle school self had no idea how good I had it. Ha! 

Back to school
Does the beginning of the school year get you excited for getting organized? What projects are you up to? I'd love to hear! 

You can find me on Pinterest @mollybalint

 

2032, perhaps?

 

Olympics are over and I have to admit that we weren’t into it as much this year as I thought we would be. We took in our fair share of swimming, gymnastics and soccer. And streamed a lot of equestrian events online, but  overall we weren’t glued to the games. No Olympics withdrawl.  Now is time to wait for the Qatar World Cup in November 2022.

It’s hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that it is mid-August. We’re in the thick of back-to-school prep. Buying books, cleaning out and rearranging the school room. We’ll start the first week of September, though with a cubby full of fresh school supplies the girls are begging to start. That’s just the way I like ’em–champing at the bit for the beginning of school.

 

Fall always has the same fresh feel that January 1 does. Getting organized, falling back into routines, an excuse to buy a new planner. I love it. And of course, through the overwhelming power of Pinterest, I’ve been pinning tons of organizational ideas I’ll never have time to accomplish because I’m so busy pinning them

 

But here are four fave pins of the week that have uber-organized written all over them. 

 

I think I’m actually going to do this calendar for our school room. I love having a big calendar to display, and this is way more attractive than the oversized desk calendar I’ve used in the past. I’m all over this idea from maple & magnolia

 

Paint chip calendar
This gets to my inner-geek in only a way Martha Stewart can. The drawers are painted to show what goes where. Not only do I love the organization of this. I love that it helps kids get involved. But, I’m also completely in love with the idea of putting things like plates, cups, bowls in a drawer, where kids can reach them easily. Setting the dinner table is a great kid-chore and this makes it so do-able for them. 

 

Martha-Stewarts-Tips-Kids-Room-Organization
I could get lost on this site for awhile, searching through every kind of printable paper you can imagine. A score sheet for cricket? Yahtzee? Softball? You’ll find it here. And of course other kid-friendly things like lined paper, graph paper, manuscript paper, lesson plan sheets…all free, my friends. 

 

Lined-portrait-letter-college
With four girls, tons of hand-me-downs and dresser drawers overflowing with clothes, I LOVE this concept of buying a few pieces that can be mixed and matched into tons of outfits. (more combinations are on her site) It reminds me of when I was younger and one of my mother’s friends came over to help me organize my closet and put together outfits. She was great at taking a few pieces and wearing them lots of different ways. And she wrote down outfits on little notecards so I could choose a different one for each day. What I would give to have a personal sylist like that now. My middle school self had no idea how good I had it. Ha! 

 

Back to school
Does the beginning of the school year get you excited for getting organized? What projects are you up to? I’d love to hear! 

 

You can find me on Pinterest @mollybalint

animal kingdom / DAILY FARM LIFE / from Mary

Whirlwind

A post from Mary…

As usual, the summer is flying by. We are down to the final few weeks before we will be forced back to somewhat of a routine. And the kitchen re-do? It has kind of been at a stand-still this summer. It will get done. In time.

We survived a full eight day county fair, and actually, we are still recovering. Our fair overlapped with Molly's fair, and we probably found ourselves watching this kind of action at the same time.

There were lots of high points, like watching Abby bravely handle her big dairy steer, that weighed in at 1300 pounds.
And here, Edey winning best in show with her sweet Clementine.
Photo Jul 30, 2012 3:15 PM

And Caleb, polishing Buckley to a winning shine for the show ring.

But also the lows, as the market animals were paraded one last time in the ring, for sale to the highest bidder.

It's never easy to say goodbye to the animals we have loved the past few months. Selling the steers was hardest for all. We have had them since they were only a few days old and when they sell, they are about 20 months old. Caleb's big black dairy steer was bought by some farmer friends. And while the end plan for him is still for consumption, he has a little more than a month on their farm to relax. We went and visited him this week.
I know many of you will want to comment about this part. How do we do it? How do our kids handle it? Why are we knowingly putting our children through this? I'm here to say it isn't easy. I had a hard time with it myself as a kid. I was one of the few kids that openly cried when I had to walk my steer onto the trailer heading to the processors, and only come back to the barn with a halter in my hand. I could get emotional about it even now. It was hard.
But as I tell my kids, you have to think about the good. The fact that those little calves were spared a frightening and stressful trip to the sale barn at only a few days old. Instead, they came to us, and had a warm, clean barn and the best of care. They were loved on…scratched in all the right spots, treated with fly repellant in the summer, got to lounge under a big shade tree in the heat, never missed a meal. It was a good life. And it ended. It's just the way it is. And we will remember them. And we will start it all over again in a few months. New faces to love. New curls of hair and new spots of color to get to know. More to love, again.

 

A post from Mary…

As usual, the summer is flying by. We are down to the final few weeks before we will be forced back to somewhat of a routine. And the kitchen re-do? It has kind of been at a stand-still this summer. It will get done. In time.

We survived a full eight day county fair, and actually, we are still recovering. Our fair overlapped with Molly's fair, and we probably found ourselves watching this kind of action at the same time.

There were lots of high points, like watching Abby bravely handle her big dairy steer, that weighed in at 1300 pounds.

And here, Edey winning best in show with her sweet Clementine.

Photo Jul 30, 2012 3:15 PM

And Caleb, polishing Buckley to a winning shine for the show ring.

But also the lows, as the market animals were paraded one last time in the ring, for sale to the highest bidder.

It's never easy to say goodbye to the animals we have loved the past few months. Selling the steers was hardest for all. We have had them since they were only a few days old and when they sell, they are about 20 months old. Caleb's big black dairy steer was bought by some farmer friends. And while the end plan for him is still for consumption, he has a little more than a month on their farm to relax. We went and visited him this week.

I know many of you will want to comment about this part. How do we do it? How do our kids handle it? Why are we knowingly putting our children through this? I'm here to say it isn't easy. I had a hard time with it myself as a kid. I was one of the few kids that openly cried when I had to walk my steer onto the trailer heading to the processors, and only come back to the barn with a halter in my hand. I could get emotional about it even now. It was hard.

But as I tell my kids, you have to think about the good. The fact that those little calves were spared a frightening and stressful trip to the sale barn at only a few days old. Instead, they came to us, and had a warm, clean barn and the best of care. They were loved on…scratched in all the right spots, treated with fly repellant in the summer, got to lounge under a big shade tree in the heat, never missed a meal. It was a good life. And it ended. It's just the way it is. And we will remember them. And we will start it all over again in a few months. New faces to love. New curls of hair and new spots of color to get to know. More to love, again.