Snow day activity #389 (at least it feels like it has been snowy for that long)

When the backyard looks like this (and has for 2.5 months)....

you look to the wonderful world of the internet for inspiration.  You must check out the brilliant simplicity of Made by Joel (here is the link to his original cereal box doll house creation).  I love his stuff so so much.

Anyway, I was flicking through his site one day about two months ago with Lord A on my knee and, last week, with no prompting from me, Lord A made this from memory.  I helped with the furniture (the little table and chairs in the bottom left) but he directed.  and added slides.  every little cereal box doll house has to have at least two slides apparently....  the Lego people are loving it.  (also a good illustration of how you just never know what is going to stick in their heads!)  (see the food on the table? one pistachio...Lego people love them apparently)

Recipe folder

There is a lot of organising going on around my house at the moment.  How cliched of me for January right?  I guess it is a cliche for a reason.  I actually love organising and find it fun and relaxing.  Not that I live in organised bliss unfortunately.  I have another 3 people (and a dog) who bring their own challenges to my utopian view of a clutter free, organised and peaceful home.  Oh yeah, and my family history of keeping just about everything because 'it might be useful'.  Thankfully this last tendency is nearly cured.  Three international moves in 4 years will do that to you!

One of the things I have reorganised is my collection of printed, clipped and handwritten recipes.  I have tried different methods for sorting all of these before (including folders with categories etc.) but seeing one of my best friend's recipe 'bible' folders with everything in plastic sleeves but with no apparent system for categorising was a revelation.  I love her recipe folder.  It is massive and is full of the sort of love that only a well loved collection of recipes that really feeds a family comes to have.  The kind with food splotches on pieces of paper and little handwritten notes by her whether it is saying how much she loved the recipe or how she adapted it.  So, in the spirit of copying being the finest form of flattery I decided to make my own and combine all my different folders into one (exhibit A above).

I find that, after a while, I know exactly where to flick to get which recipe so the lack of categories is not missed at all.  Now I can enjoy my printed out recipes next to the handwritten ones my Mum or sisters have given me and they nestle alongside favourite ones cut out of magazines.  I love it!

Of course, I had to pretty up the folder.  I bought a new folder (by some miracle I didn't have one the right size on hand) and a bunch of plastic sleeves.

I then cut out a piece of scrapbook paper the right size to fit in the spine and printed out a label to stick on top (see first picture at the top of this post).  I am enjoying it already...

Medicine (wo)man

Here is what I have been doing over the last two weeks.  Lord A has been sick with a cold and then Strep, Sporty Girl had the cold and then my better half came down with a cold as well (we are seeing if the Strep is taking hold on him yet..sigh).  With so many people sick and everyone taking different medicines at different times, I came up with this little system to keep me sane.  Inspired by hospital charts, I made my own little chart that I thought you might find useful too.  Just as a side note, something else that keeps me sane is grabbing a little basket and making sure everything I need to tend the ill is in there - medications, medicine cups/syringes/spoons, lozenges, Vicks vaporub, thermometer, hand sanitiser etc.  I keep it on the kitchen counter until no longer needed.  It also helps if my hubby and I are taking shifts through the night - we don't have to wake up the other to find out which child had which medicine at what time.  Works for me!

I am having trouble with Scribd for my document sharing so I am going to trial sharing this with Google Docs in the meantime.  Let me know if you have any problems and I will send you the original Word document.

Medication Tracker