SLYBJII

That's my IKEA name, in case you were wondering. Want to know what your name would be if you were a product made by the famous Swedish furniture company? Click here to find out.

My Summer Plan

With the kids and me home together for the summer, I knew I would need something to keep us from killing each other. Sure, we've got some activities planned like gymnastics, golf and swimming. But I also wanted something that would keep the kids occupied (read: NOT sitting in front of some sort of screen), out of my hair and would reward them for both cooperative play as well as independent play. Aside from straight jackets and padded rooms, I wasn't sure what that plan would look like.

Allow me to introduce you to Summer Bingo - my keep-the-kids-happy-and-out-of-my-hair summer solution. Each week, the kids are given a new bingo sheet. The sheets include the standard 25 squares (without the free space) and each square is filled with a different activity.

As they complete activities, they are given a sticker to mark off that square. Once they get 5 in a row, they get a ticket. Tickets can be redeemed once a week at "Mom's Store." At the store there are toys of different ticket values, as well as non-toy things like 30 minutes of computer time and admission to a museum of your choice.

We've been doing Summer Bingo for two weeks now and it seems to be a big success. They seem to be motivated to complete the squares and earn tickets. Each kid has earned a toy and also saved their tickets for a bigger "purchase." I really hope this keep-the-kids-happy-and-out-of-my-hair summer solution stays that way.

What We Did With the Berries

I knew when we went berry picking that I would need to have a plan for what to do with the berries we picked. But I had no idea how many berries we would end up picking. And 12 pounds is A LOT of berries.

So we started out with our plan. First up? Strawberry Freezer Jam. We made 12 jars of jam and barely made a dent in our berry supply.

Next I made strawberry leather. Used another 4 cups of berries and hardly noticed the difference.

Then it was on to ziploc ice cream with fresh berries on top. This sounded like a good idea in theory, but shaking a bag of ice for 10 minutes turned out to be a lot more than the kids wanted to do.

After a little help from mom, they were able to enjoy the fruits of their labor (albeit a little soupy).

But we still have A LOT of strawberries left. I plan to make a strawberry pie for Father's Day. And with my fruit-loving kiddos to nibble on the rest, we will hopefully be done with all our berries before they go bad.

Berry Picking

We went strawberry picking this morning. The weather left a little to be desired - it was overcast and the air was filled with moisture (although it never actually rained). But the kids didn't seem to mind the gloomy atmosphere and we were still able to pick over 12 pounds of berries!

Now what to do with all these berries?!?

How Is It Possible

How is it possible that a child of mine, who ate exactly what I ate for nine months, came out liking broccoli and brussels sprouts?

Elliot and I went grocery shopping together the other day and he created quite a stir in the produce section as he ran around finding the vegetables he likes and begging me to buy some. One woman even commented on how wonderful it was that I had a child who liked vegetables. Per Elliot's requests, we bought brussels sprouts, broccoli, asparagus, assorted lettuce/greens and a cucumber. We also bought a lot of fruit, which his sister is excellent at putting back.

I'm sure it has very little to do with me, but I'm proud that my children like fruits and vegetables. I know I can't make my kids like them, but I'm glad they're at least trying them.

If I Were a Social Media Member...

Here are some of the status updates you might see...

* Mrs. Jones believes that cleanliness becomes more important when godliness becomes unlikely.

* Mrs. Jones thinks the last place she'd like to be beamed is "Up Scotty."

* Mrs. Jones is nice to her kids. They will pick the nursing home one day.

* Mrs. Jones has had fun before. This isn't it.

* Mrs. Jones is like a superhero with no powers or motivation.

* Mrs. Jones just heard that apparently the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is so big that Sarah Palin can see it from her house.

* Mrs. Jones hears others saying "you can be part of the problem, or part of the solution." I happen to believe you can be both.

* Mrs. Jones is using the force.

* Mrs. Jones isn't tense, just terribly, terribly alert.

* Mrs. Jones is brought to you by the letters W, T and F.

* Mrs. Jones thinks that some mornings it's just not worth chewing through the leather straps.

* Mrs. Jones is taking her sugar with coffee and cream.

* Mrs. Jones is not able to spare a square.

* Mrs. Jones is in shape. Round is a shape.

* Mrs. Jones is yesterday's news.

* Mrs. Jones is off to see the wizard.