Command Central: Fabric Covered Artist Canvas

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In my quest to get my Command Central completed, I have moved on from the Kid's Command Central to the Adult portions of our command central. Let me show you what I did.

I used the same 12 x 12 Artist Canvas for this part of the project that I used in the Kid's Command Central. That way it will all be the same size and line up all pretty on my refrigerator. I didn't want the plain white of the canvas though, so I found some fabric on clearance at Joann's that I thought would go with the fabric I used in the calendar portion of the command central. I covered both the adult portion and the calendar portion of the command central with fabric. It was super easy. Let me show you how.

Family Time Fitness Curriculum Winner & Coupon Code

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Today I have the fun job of announcing the winner of the Family Time Fitness - Homeschool Physical Education Curriculum .

Before we get to announcing the winners of the 2 Platinum P.E. packages, I want to give a coupon code to everyone!

Polka Dot American Girl Doll Bed

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I haven't shared anything American Girl Doll with you in quite a while. Not since I went on my sewing spree in the Spring. Get ready for some American Girl fun because I have this post and a few others to come. :-)

Snowflake had seen this bed at IKEA when we were there last year. She actually decided to save up for this bed and not a Build-A-Bear (small miracle there). Of course the bed is now going to be for her American Girl Doll and her Build-A-Bears...so I guess it is still Build-A-Bear related for her. Since Snowflake was getting her bed, Pumpkin really wanted to get one as well (that made big sister SO happy...insert eye roll!). I think these beds are really reasonably priced. They are $20 each. I had everything else we needed to make them pretty on hand. 

Training Tuesday - Half Marathon Week 8

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This week, I certainly didn't hit the mark in terms of training. I was tired and stressed and trying to fit 4 weeks of projects into one week. It didn't work and I had to change expectations.

I thought I would start this Training Tuesday with a tip for you.

This may sound gross to talk about, but let's just be real. Running is a sweaty sport. Just wait until you hear your five year old daughter discussing how sweaty you are when you come home from running with one of her friends....lovely conversation to realize just how yucky I must be when I get home. Hopefully the little girl didn't repeat the conversation to her mom. How embarrassing!

Anyway, I wanted to tell you something that has really been helping me this year. I was really struggling with running in the heat and humidity here earlier this summer. I tried wearing a visor, thinking that it might help me a little bit. I'm not sure it helped in terms of helping me feel any cooler. What I love about wearing a visor is the fact that it helps keep a bunch of the sweat off my face and out of my eyes. See, I told you  this would be  a lovely conversation. If you haven't ever run with a visor or a hat, I highly recommend you give it a try. It works really well in helping keeping your face a bit less sweaty and such while you are out there running. Good thing if you ask me. If you ask my daughter, I'm just dripping in sweat any which way and it doesn't really matter. ;-)

This week, I tried to get a run in on a day Mr. T was at work. It had been raining earlier that morning and I couldn't run before he left. I thought it would work to go for a run while both my girls were riding their bikes.

Below you can see how it went for me(and you can see my visor):

Color Block and Baker's Twine Birthday Card

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I've got two new cards to show you today. These are some of my favorite cards I have made to date. I love the colors! I love the baker's twine I used to add some fun to each card. I got my baker's twine from Pick Your Plum. If you haven't signed up for their email, go to their site to sign up. They have a great craft deal each day! Fun stuff!

Kid's Command Central - Parenting Battle-plan

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I write this post with a little bit of concern because I want to first and foremost state that I am not an expert. I am sharing what we are using as parents at this time in our journey of parenting. It may be something that makes sense to you, your style family, your kids personalities. It may not be. I haven't made up my mind yet if I think it is the best thing on the planet. Might sound weird, but it is true. Oh yeah, and it's not really a battle-plan(that is a little bit of a joke), though sometimes it does feel like a battle, this parenting thing.

Family Time Fitness Homeschool PE Curriculum - A Daily Look {& Giveaway!!}

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Today, I want to give you a look inside the Family Time Fitness - Homeschool Physical Education Curriculum  as well as my opinion of the program. Then I get the fun 'job' of giving away 2 Platinum Homeschool PE Packages from Family Time Fitness! Yippee!  I also have a coupon code for you to save if you want to order and product from Family Time Fitness. That is at the bottom after my review.

I highly recommend Family Time Fitness. Why?

Great question, in a nut shell, it is simple, requires very little equipment, can be completed inside and outside, it is easy to teach, it is effective and it is fun.






When you order Family Time Fitness - Homeschool Physical Education Curriculum, you will download all of your lessons onto your computer. I put mine in a folder on my computer as well as on my Google docs online. That way, I can access my lessons from my Kindle Fire as well, which is so easy to me. I have no need to print them out and waste that money and paper. I just have my Kindle Fire out and open for each of our lessons and refer to it as I go. (The only draw back with this is that the links to the videos don't work on my Fire, so if I need to see those, I have to look at them on my computer.)

Homeschool Helper: The Importance of Fitness

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On our trip to Arizona this year, I had some moments of clarity and proudness as a parent.

We homeschool and have for starting my 6th year now. As homeschool parents many of us struggle with how to fit it all in and how to make sure we are giving our children a well rounded education. So many of the homeschoolers I know and talk to when I work our local convention neglect physical fitness. Most of us, myself included, add a park play day or a single class such as swimming or dance , that meet one time a week and call that our P.E. While that is fine and I think it is fantastic and necessary for the kids to have time outdoors, with friends and in classes, I think that we as homeschool parents need to stop fooling ourselves that this is really any form of physical education for our children.

The thing is, I don't think we are doing well by our children, doing what most of us homeschoolers are calling 'PE.' I think our kids need more. I think we need to actually educate our kids about taking care of themselves and their bodies. We do this in other ways, like teaching them to shower, wear deodorant, etc., etc. I think that at this time in history, with obesity becoming an epidemic, we need to do more. We have so much technology and so much that requires very little movement of our bodies. I think we need to teach our kids about healthy movement and simple fun ways to keep your body healthy and active.

Our family started a PE program late last summer. I had felt guilty the 4 years that we homeschooled prior to that. I had felt guilty but not enough to do anything about it. Then 2.5 years ago, I started losing weight and getting fit myself. I have to say that I felt great (still do). I loved feeling fit and the confidence and strength I was able to see in myself. I realized it was time to pass that on to my children. I also realize that if I didn't teach our children the habit of being fit when they are children, they will have a much harder time with finding and/or accepting this habit as adults. Now, I am not talking about fitness boot camp for kids. I am talking about simple exercise and fun games that grow strong children who feel great about themselves.

Training Tuesday - Half Marathon Training Week 7

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I've got another week down! Yay! I've been dedicated to my training for 7 weeks now. Kind of makes me feel like a 'real' athlete. That could just be the post Olympics rush talking. I'm no elite athlete, but I'm doing great for what I'm training to do.

You know, I really appreciate all of your comments on my posts and my training posts. You all are the best and I appreciate your support and encouragement.

So many of you have commented that you think I am doing amazing and to consider how well I am doing. That there are many people who can't do what I am doing. I am very aware of this, you see just a year ago, I couldn't do what I am doing. It has been a long road of recovery for me and I am so thankful to be doing what I am. I am so thankful my body is allowing me to take this journey.

In November 2010, I pulled my hamstring. It must have been a fairly significant pulled muscle because even with physical therapy it still wasn't fully healed in January of 2011. I started trying to get back to some simple exercise at that time. One of the things I tried was yoga. I love yoga and have practiced it for about 10 years now. It is nothing new to me. In early January, I was doing hip opening yoga and something didn't feel right so I stopped. Fast forward through 2 months of awful pain and pretty much relying on my husband to do everything while I sat on the couch. I finally figured out what was wrong (by I, I mean Dr's figured it out). I had torn cartildge in my hip. I found out I have hip dysplasia and never should have been doing that type of yoga (though I still do yoga, just not that type) The torn cartildge would require surgery. (You can read a more detailed version of this journey here)

Pom Pom Gift Wrap

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Well, we might as well just clear the air now, I think I may have a pom pom problem. They are just so stinking cute and add so much fun to so many things. They are easy and quick to make. My girls love making them... and I could go on! If I don't post on my blog for a while, I've either been admitted to rehab for pom pom addiction or I've snuck off to make more!

Kid's Command Central

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This week in my series about my new command central. I'm going to show you the final finished kid's portion. I'm calling it my Kid's Command Central.

Doesn't it look pretty, organized and simple? I'm so happy with how it turned out. We have been using this portion of our Command Central since May. It has been working really well! So, let me show you some of the details and tell you how you can either get some of these things or make your own.

Once I had the boards put together and adhered to the artist canvas(you can read about that process here), it was time to put all the pieces together. 

I started with my paper covered boxes. I had added magnets to the back of them, so they would work on the magnetic board. These boxes were for holding tickets (I'll talk about those another time), bonus bucks and their dry erase crayons. In the process of making the boards, I found these little mini clothespins and knew they would be a perfect addition. I used hot glue to add magnets to the back of the clothespins. They were used to hang up the actual responsibility list my girls need to complete each day.

I found the chore chart(responsibility list) as a free printable at Pinch a Little Save a Lot. You can click here to get yours. I'll talk about what I put on these charts next week.

I think the boxes and the clothespins look pretty, so I'm showing you another set of pictures of them!

For the last part of the kid's command central, I used magnetic paper. Did you know there is such a thing? Neither did I, until I started this blog and read so many other people's fantastic ideas. You can buy paper that can go through your printer AND it is magnetic. Fantastic, simple and easy!

I used my trusty scrapbook software to make these magnets. I sized them so I could use my punches to cut them out. That way they got a perfect cut and I didn't even have to break out a pair of scissors! LOVE IT! The magnets are for things the girls need to do, consequences, or benefits they earn. I feel like I sound like a broken record, but I'll talk more about that in my post next week. That way this post won't get too long. 

There you have it, the completed kid's command central! Doesn't it look great?! Not only does it look good, but my girls like the boards. It also has been helping things run more smoothly and I think it really helps that my kids know what is expected of them as well as what the consequences are as well as the benefits of doing what needs to be done. It really helps me and Mr. T having it downstairs where we see it plenty, so we are doing much better with our follow through and consistency.

One last look because I'm proud of what I made. ;-)

Next week, I'll talk about some of the ins and outs of the kid's command central and what we are using it to accomplish in our family and with our children. After that, I will start showing you the 'adult' portion of the command central, which is completed. I'm still avoiding finishing the center calendar section. I think next week, I should have some time to do the tiny patient work I need to do. Then it will be all done! That will be so nice!

Thanks so much for stopping by and seeing how this portion turned out.

Read more posts in my Command Central Series:

1. Paper Covered Boxes
2. Magnetic Chore Boards
3. Kid's Command Central (this post)
4. Kid's Command Central - Parenting Battle-plan 
5. Fabric Covered Artist Canvas
6. Adult Command Central 
7. Calendar and Menu Command Central (coming 9/14)
8. Final Reveal! (coming 9/21) 
9. Menu Planning & Printable (coming 9/28) 

  

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