(And All My) Work Be Praise

I am in the beginning stages of creatinv systems to help my kids be more independently responsible. With so many little people underfoot, I'm finding it very difficult to check up on kids in a timely fashion to make sure they've completed assigned jobs. I don't have an answer for that yet (except, perhaps, just give everyone another year to get older before I stress out over it), but I do have one  system in place for Levi that seems to be working. Several years ago, I followed a blog called Life as Mom . (I don't regularly read blogs anymore, except for this one .) I vaguely remembered her posting about their " morning high five " -- five chores to be completed before their homeschooling day began.Without even referring to the original blog to see what hers contained, I made Levi his own "morning high five" chart with the five responsibilities he needs to take care of before coming downstairs in the morning. Nothing fancy: just the two minute...

Do you all make baking powder biscuits? They were a staple in my house growing up, and I love them. They're SO easy, and this is the recipe I turn to any time I'm making a pot of soup or something that needs a little bread on the side: Sift together: 2 cups flour (I use freshly ground white whole wheat) 1 tablespoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt Cut in  1/3 cup butter. ( Actually, I don't "cut in" butter anymore. I pulse the dry ingredients in my food processor, then pulse in chunks of butter until pebbly.  Transfer to bowl, if you used the food processor. )  Add 3/4 cup milk and stir to moisten. Roll out dough on floured surface, knead 2-3 times, and use juice glass or biscuit cutter to cut out biscuits. Or, plop it all on a baking sheet, pat into a rectangle, and use a flat spatula to cut into squares/rectangles/triangles/whatever shape you end up with. (Because really, who cares about having round biscuits?) Bake  for 12 minutes at 450 degrees. ...