With that said my best strategy for balancing my home business needs and my family’s needs has been to plan my day according to my children’s schedules and doing this each day.

When the bulk of my business was transcription I had older kids at home with varying sports, music and school schedules.  When I had a job come in I would figure out how long it was going to take, look through the day and see which blocks of time I could commit to work.  And I will admit that some days didn’t flow as easily as others and my kids would comment on my mood.  But each day is a new day and we can start over.

Currently the bulk of my business is bookkeeping.  I have one major client and I do most of their work from home with one or two days a month of traveling to the office.  My two older kids are adults and I have a 3 ½-year-old at home. She, obviously, doesn’t have such a busy schedule and there are days I don’t leave the house.  She is a night owl and so we both get up around 9 am.  After getting her dressed for the day we spend some time playing and then I spend time working while she plays independently.  During naptime I have uninterrupted time to work.  She goes to bed at 10 pm and then I stay up for a couple more hours working, again uninterrupted.

I am fortunate that my husband is also self-employed, mostly working from home, so he is able to help as the needs arise.  But if he was working outside the home, I would probably on occasion hire someone to watch my daughter if I needed more focused time to work or for the days I need to go to the office.

For me balancing business needs and family needs are all about scheduling each day specifically.  I know how much time I can handle working and stick to that.

Linda is a stay-at-home mom who blogs at  Hanging By Fingernails and is the
owner of Quality Office Assistance .  She loves to read and spend time with her family. I hope you’ll stop by her blog and say hi!

*Linking up at WomenLivingWell , RaisingHomemakers and Raising Mighty Arrows.

I thought I’d share a couple of personal challenges I’ve accepted for this month of January. These challenges will potentially affect every relationship in my family- that is with my spouse and with my children.

31 Days to Pray for Your Spouse

After learning of Ashley Pichea’s 31 Days to Pray challenge I decided this was a good one for me.  I also get to be one of the prayer captains for one of the Facebook groups for this challenge.

I already pray for safety regarding my family every day and I do pray for other things regarding my family but I need to be more specific in other areas on a regular basis.

I’ve felt for some time that God has been speaking to my heart about the importance of praying and thats a no-brainer, right? – but I feel its not just important to be specific, but its necessary.

Afterall, I John 5:14-15 says…

“And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:

 And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.”

God wants us to totally depend on him and prayer is a major part of that. Its how we communicate with God. He communicates with us through his word and we talk to him through prayer. He does answer. I can vouch for that!

I’ll be reading Ashley’s ebook along the way: 31 Days to Build a Better Spouse.

Not only will I be practicing more specific prayer for my husband, but I will be working more specific on becoming a more gentle mommy with the next challenge.

The Gentleness Challenge

I plan to be following Courtney’s Gentleness Challenge and learning from others during that link up. The first video conversation that Courtney and Angela share was very helpful to me so I look forward to hearing more.

This is something I really need to work on. I’ve had some “shame on me” moments when I’ve lost my temper with my kids in the past. My boys do challenge me regularly and I don’t have as much patience as I need to have with them. But this is a choice and if I prepare my heart and have some ideas of how to better deal with them (preparing myself to be ready for those moments) it will help all me and them to get through those rough, trying, nerve plucking moments in a way that is pleasing to God and beneficial to my sons.

Are you in need of work in these areas? Why don’t you consider joining one or both of these challenges too!

*I did use my affiliate link in this post. If you click through and buy Ashley’s book I will earn a little money from the sale. I am reading the book as I go through the 31 Days to Pray challenge.

**Also linking this post with Titus 2sdays.

Today was our first official day of being back to school. And honestly, I didn’t plan on it being so, but I just felt directed that way and things fell into place. I think it was a God-thing.

Now it wasn’t the kind of day that will be the norm – it was more of a meeting with the boys to talk a little about what to expect.

I had them get out their  map-boards which are simply Risk game boards I bought from someone online  and talked about what part of the world they would most like to learn about.

Last year we got familiar with the map and the continents, this year we will learn in a more in-depth and organized manner from a world-wide perspective.

I showed them a chart that they will be filling in to reinforce good hygiene routine and chores, etc.. They decorated their folder that will hold those charts.

They watched part of  a video on Endangered and Extinct Animals that my oldest had picked out at the library a few days ago.

The real excitement came after lunch when we…

…celebrated (Not being) Back-to-School with our first field trip to play putt-putt (and the batting cages) at Grand Slam & McDuffer’s Park…

because I had a gift certificate to use up and the weather was gorgeous!

These are two activities that they either have never done or have only done maybe once or twice before. I will call it a field trip because it was learning. Learning to put others first, not be selfish, and learning/experiencing sports. So I guess its a P.E. type field trip.

In case you’re wondering what’s going on with Brendan’s expression to the right, I had my camera ready when he was “celebrating” a victory getting the ball into the hole. ———>

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I also wanted to make this a “special” kind of kick-off to our homeschooling. The sort of thing I hope will make for good memories they will hang on to and treasure as they get older.

Maybe I’ll make this a tradition… starting the school year with a fun field trip!

*Sharing at the Making Your Home Sing link-up.

This year I plan to do something a bit different with the whole Easter basket idea.  Mostly it will be traditional but I want to limit wasteful spending.  Jesus’ resurrection from the grave is the real part of our Easter celebration anyways. The goodies are the fun stuff.

• The basket.

I’ve decided to put the boys Easter goodies (we only have two children- boys) into one basket or container that we already own instead of buying two separate new containers that we don’t need.

• The grass.

I won’t buy new Easter grass- I think I may have some I bought really cheap awhile back or I’ll shred newspaper or some other paper we have waiting in our recycling pile.

• The goodies.

My dilemma here. My boys do not need another new toy or stuffed animal and their birthdays are right around the corner. In fact, Jack’s is the day after Easter this year. Brendan’s is next month. They will not be getting much for Easter but they will be getting something very colorful and useful and something they will likely really luv. And then a lot of candy that they will be sharing with mom and dad   .

My plan is to hide their Easter “basket” somewhere in the house and have them look for it.

I’ve only spent about $15 total on everything- and truly, some of this candy is going into our household candy basket for occasional treats for all of us and the kids that I babysit. The candy cost the most. I only spent about $4 on each boy’s gifts.

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Finally! My oldest has lost a tooth that he has not … lost!

Every tooth he has lost so far has been lost before we realized it was missing from his mouth. Today, that one front top tooth thats been hanging on finally came out and he brought it to me. He didn’t wait long to ask me for some money for it  either.

Since the only proof we’ve had in the past of him losing teeth were the holes in his mouth (can’t argue with that kind of proof, right?) my husband and I have made kind of a big deal about wanting to see this tooth. I even offered him a dollar the other day to make it come out sooner.

So today I offered him that dollar bill (possibly 50 cents more than I normally would give). He requested some coin money too-  I threw in 27 cents more.

To finally see a missing tooth is worth $1.27, don’t you think?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………….

God tells us in the bible, Genesis chapter 6, that the wickedness of mankind was so bad that He was going to judge the world with a flood.  God told Noah to build an ark- according to His specifications and that would include housing seven of every clean animal and two of every unclean animal (Gen. 7:2) and of  bird type animals he was commanded to take by sevens also.

Noah spent a long time, perhaps 100 or more years building this ark. {Yes, men lived a lot longer back then- the oldest recorded at 969 years was Methuselah, Noah’s grandpa}.  During this time Noah preached about God’s coming judgement, the flood, but not one person outside of Noah’s family would believe.

Imagine the names they must have called him and how they must have publically ridiculed him for so many years! Talk about patience and a firm trust in God!

Then the day came to enter the ark. Genesis 7:16  says God, Himself shut the door of the ark. And now no one else would be able to enter. The rains came, the floods rose up. I bet some of those who scoffed were now “believer’s” pounding on the outside of the ark begging to be let in.

But it was too late for them.

I’ve never been to the Creation Museum, just several hours south of us here in Ohio. One day I want to go. And if I could only go once, I would want it to be after they get done building the replica Noah’s Ark they are working on. They have big plans to expand the park. The reason I’m writing this post is because I read about the Noah’s Ark project in the  Jan/Feb 2011 HomeSchool Enrichment Magazine. I am SO looking forward to this exhibit!

Not only are they planning a replica Noah’s Ark that I believe visitors can walk on but they are also planning to build a replica Tower of  Babel and some other special experiences from biblical history from before the Flood through Abraham and Moses to the New Testament.

The article shares much more. But I wanted to talk about this Ark replica itself. The plans are for it to be built according to God’s specifications laid out to Noah in Genesis. This project is called the Ark Encounter. It is scheduled to open the spring of 2014 and I can only wish it would be sooner! The Ark Encounter park will be about 40 minutes away from the Creation Museum on 800+ acres near Williamstown, Kentucky. Learn more at www.ArkEncounter.com

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]]> http://www.halloffamemoms.com/2011/03/noahs-ark-being-built-again/feed/ 0 http://www.halloffamemoms.com/2010/12/why-beta-fish-make-good-pets-for-kids/ http://www.halloffamemoms.com/2010/12/why-beta-fish-make-good-pets-for-kids/#comments Mon, 20 Dec 2010 01:58:17 +0000 Tracy http://www.halloffamemoms.com/?p=7200

Yeah, Beta fish. You might want to pick one up for your kid for Christmas. You know, instead of a puppy.

Our 6 yr old wanted a fish. I wanted him to have a fish too. I thought he might learn some responsibility.

Earlier this year I picked up a couple goldfish at Walmart and they didn’t last very long. We might have gotten a few days- maybe 3 for the first fish and then the other passed on to better seas not long thereafter.

Next attempt, the Beta. I found a couple at a real pet store and got one for each of our boys. Of course Beta’s have to be separated or they’ll fight- so I’m told. I have seen the bully-like-stare that seems to happen when they meet fish to fish (their tanks are side by side). I do keep them separated…but I’ll admit, the last time time  I was cleaning out their tanks I wondered what a Beta fight would look like. I was tempted to put them in the same dish to witness it firsthand. Don’t worry, I didn’t

So, why do I think Beta’s make good pets ? Well, I can tell you it isn’t because they automatically guarantee to teach “responsibility”. {Thats the parent’s responsibility.}  But here’s what I like about  Beta fish.

• They’re more interesting to look at. Some are kinda pretty-at least compared to goldfish.

• They themselves somehow manage to keep their  tanks pretty clean- longer than the goldfish did. Way longer! {This translates into less tank cleaning for mom.}

• They’re pretty hardy fish- so far ours have lasted since Sept 30th in a tap water tank (no filter). And I don’t boil the water first. I try to do a somewhat lukewarm/cool tap water.

• They have personality. I don’t know if they all do or if we just got *ahem, lucky? They seem to look at us when its time to feed. Its our cue to question, who fed the fish last and when. Kinda weird maybe, but its entertaining. Makes them a bit more part of the family I think.

And, that about sums it up.

• Oh wait, one more! They’re cheap and easy to care for   .  Now I’m done!
  

I’m here to talk about birds and winter bird activities.  Why?  Well, besides being part of the Canton Audubon Society, I love all things nature as most of you do.  We go on walks through parks to smell the fallen leaves and let go of our everyday stresses.  Something about being outside allows our bodies to release the tension that builds up while we are within walls and ceilings, but there is another aspect that we all hold while on our walks; we want to see wildlife, an animal, something that lives out among the trees and dirt.  We may see squirrels, chipmunks, rabbits, the occasional raccoon, deer, turtle and numerous insects, beneficial and annoying, but there’s probably rarely a day that we don’t see birds.

We see birds so often it’s possible that we tune them out as we would nearby traffic.  Birds may be the most numerous creature (besides insects) that we encounter on a daily basis and it’s time to refresh your awareness as each season brings something new.  Since birds can easily escape a scary situation by simply flapping their wings to fly away, we have to know how to behave around them.  With this in mind, wild birds can not only educate children about predators, prey, behavior and bird anatomy, they can also educate kids by teaching them to respect wildlife.  Are you ready to take notice?  Are you ready to utilize winter instead of hiding from it?  Are you ready to share this with your children?

Here are some great (low-cost) bird activities you can do with your family this winter in your own backyard or just beyond.

1. Bird Feeders! One way to take advantage of the easy nature of wild birds is to get a bird feeder.  No, the bird feeder isn’t free, but enticing birds to your yard can provide a ton of free entertainment.  An alternative to a bird feeder is to collect some pinecones, cover with peanut butter and roll in birdseed.  This is a great activity for kids of all ages.  Simply hang and enjoy.

2. Feed chickadees out of the palm of your hand! on the weekends in January and February at Beech Creek Botanical Garden and Nature Preserve.   Volunteers provide bird seed and instructions on how to entice the small birds to eat from your hand.  It takes patience, but some of the children were more successful than I was last year, so do not rule out kids; some were as young as five.  With a little seed and steady pose, chickadees landed on our hands, gripping their delicate claw around a finger, and pecked at the food.  We even had a hungry, small, grey titmouse. It was an amazing experience.

• Afterward, sit by the fire to warm up and enjoy a complimentary hot drink.

• Tips: dress for the weather, remind children that rowdiness and screaming will scare away the birds, go to the bathroom before walking down the ¼ mile path to the bridge and bring your camera!

3. Visit The Wilderness Center in Wilmot! It  has a permanent viewing area for their outdoor bird feeders (warm and cozy inside). The last time I was there in the fall I saw well over 20 birds such as goldfinches, woodpeckers, cardinals and nuthatches.  While you observe the activity, you can look up the names of the birds and browse a collection of bird books they provide.

• Of course, the bird viewing is only one of a few activities the Wilderness Center has to offer as their building is truly kid-friendly.

4. Stark Parks also has a list of free (family) birding events! that include: Winter Bird Watching, Waterfowl Identification, Birding 101, Great Backyard Bird Count and many more.

• If you haven’t checked out the Stark Parks calendar and programs, you are missing out on a super-quality educational experience.  Most programs are free and their Little Explorers program targets pre-schoolers.  Exploration Gateway (the Perry Library) is a fantastic library and educational center.

Brandi says…” Don’t forget to “Like” Canton Audubon Society on Facebook.  I will be posting bird and nature-related, facts, tips and events around town. Visit our website for more information about the Canton Audubon Society.”

*And be sure to subscribe here to receive Hall of Fame Moms updates by email or RSS!

Earlier this year I purchased a combined Zoo & Science Museum family membership through CuriOdyssey formerly called Coyote Point out in California. Mind you, we live in Ohio and have no plans (to my knowledge) of ever going to California. My sister  (Jess) and her family here in Ohio received this as a gift from one of her in-laws and it was the best deal I had ever heard of so I bought one for our family.

CuriOdyssey is part of the AZA and ASTC reciprocal Zoo & Science Museum program. By purchasing a membership through them ($65 when I bought it earlier this year) we automatically got the reciprocal membership as well which includes 400 other zoos/science museums.

Before  I made the $65 purchase I called some of our Ohio zoo/science museums that were on the reciprocal list and made sure they were still part of the program and found out whether we were free (such as the Akron Zoo) or just discounted.

All you have to do is figure up the cost of  just one of the places your family enjoys visiting (on the AZA or ASTC list) and see how cost effective having a membership like this is. This is a great gift for a family, especially a homeschooling family (free field trips!).

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