Posts Tagged ‘mommy blog’
My daughter came home with a note a couple weeks ago saying that they were having a Valentine’s Day party in her Kindergarten class and that she needed to bring 31 Valentine’s for her class mates. My son’s preschool is also having a “friendship” party to celebrate and he needs 20 Valentines. The catch? The teachers requested that there be no candy in them. NO Problem! I’ve got this!
I’ve always preferred making Valentines to buying them and this year we get to be extra creative. Here are 10 Candy-free adorable Valentines for the kids to give to their friends. Some we came up with, and others were found on various blogs.
Peyton chose pencils and erasers for her classmates and we made these:
You’re Just “Write” for me!
I printed out the message on cardstock and used a cookie cutter to trace the heart around it. We cut out the hearts and used a hole-punch to make the holes for the pencils to slide it. Really easy!
Preston, the Cars fanatic, will be handing out these to his preschool friends:
You make my Heart race!
For these we used plain white cardstock cut into small squares and I drew the road with markers. Preston place the heart stickers on them so he could be a part in ‘making’ them.
And I made these little apple packs to send to school with the P’s for their snack:
You are the Apple of my eye!
Here are some other super cute Valentine gifts that I found:
“Doh” you want to be my Valentine? From The Wilson World
Happy Valentine’s Day Love Bug! From Dandee Designs
Our class would “knot” be the same without you! Also from Dandee Designs
You make my heart Glow! From The Teacher Wife
You make my heart bounce! From The Crafting Chicks
I’m Wild about you! From Disney’s Family Fun
Will you O’fish’ally be my Valentine? From Tammy Mitchell Photography
As the mom of three small children, (ages 1, 3, and 5) I have very little time to clean and organize my house. Add to that owning an online boutique, and a Non-Profit, and volunteering in various military and school programs, I REALLY have NO time. Any extra time that I do have I want to be spending with my children, not scrubbing the house. Between school, work,and sports, I’m sure you can all relate. But, a cluttered house that needs to be cleaned just adds to the craziness and I can’t have that!
These are my top tips for keeping the clean even with little ones and a busy schedule.
1. Have a Cleaning Schedule: Now, like any thing else, you have to find what works for you. Something that fits into your already busy life. I 
suggest heading over to Clean Mama where not only can you find her schedule (which is the basis for what I use) but you can also visit her etsy shop for printables. She has everything you need to keep you on pace from Cleaning kits to chore charts (which I also use)! There are few things on the schedule that I switched around or I do more than once a week, like vacumming because of the crumb monsters, but overall this keeps my house in check so that it does not get out of control.
2. Controlled Clutter: One of my favorite ways to keep the clutter under control is Baskets. They look pretty and you can just toss everything in.
Shoes…
Magazines…
Toys…
2. A load a day keeps the monster away: The laundry monster that is. We’ve all been there, the day that you realize there are no clean socks because they are all in the dirty clothes hampers. Then you spend all day washing, drying, and folding and the laundry monster takes over your house! It’s on the couches, the beds, the dining room table, and since you’ve spent all day washing you have no time left to put it away. To solve the problem, just do one (or two) loads a day, fold it immediately and put it away. It takes some forcing but I try and make it a point to put a load in as soon as I wake up in the morning. It helps cut down on the amount of dirty laundry and the clean laundry that piles up in unwanted places.
4. The Laundry Basket Round-Up: To get out of place items picked up quickly, I like this method. Grab a laudry basket and go from room to room putting anything that doesn’t belong there into the basket. Continue around the house until everything in the basket is put away. My house is two story so I start on the bottom floor gathering everything there and then head upstairs. I put everything away and then grab anything up stairs that needs to go down and finish up. This cuts down on the amount of time it takes to put it all in it’s place and cuts down on the number of trips you make up and down or back and forth.
5. Clorox Wipes: Keep a can of disinfecting wipes in every bathroom. At any time you can easily wipe down the counter top or sink. My kids are famous for smearing soap on the counters or leaving toothpaste in the sink. This way I can quickly and efficiently keep the bathrooms up inbetween my weekly cleaning.
I am a Mother. To three beautifully energetic, independent, happy children.
I am a Wife. To an amazing husband and father. I devote myself to him and to his Corps.
I am a Friend. To wonderful people all over the country that I have had the pirvelage of knowing.
I am a Daughter and Sister. To my best of friends.
These are the words that Describe me but they do not Define me. Many women hold these titles, but the difference is what we choose to do with them. Our actions and effort towards these titles that describe us are what define our true selves.
The biggest roles that I play in this world are Wife and Mother. This is what makes up the core of my being. I am a perfecitonist, often to a fault, but in many cases I believe it drives me to be the best of who I am for everyone. Do I fail? of course. Nobody is perfect. But, what makes the diffenece is the time that you have tried and whether or not you will continue to try after failure. I love what Thomas Edison said; “I have not failed, I’ve just found 10,000 ways that will not work“. So much of that applies to motherhood and marriage. Both of which are life long journeys with people growing and changing. The effort we put in and how we manage ourselves after failure it what determines the outcome.
As a military wife I am faced with a whole new version of the word ‘Wife‘. They weren’t joking when someone said “If the Marine Corps wanted you to have a wife they would’ve issued you one“. As wives, our needs are often set aside and we have to be able to deal with that. Just as the military is not just a job but a way of life, I am not just married to my husband I am married to the Corps. He follows orders and I follow him, supporting the whole way. I am a lover and a friend to my husband. Together we go through life and together we raise our children. It means long days and nights without him, sudden changes in our ’plan’ and when he leaves I am left here to wait. I am here to take over and continue our lives with him in the distance. Keeping him in my heart the whole time and waiting for him to come home so that we can pick up right where we left off. It is not a life of sacrifice, although sometimes hard, it is a life of pride. No matter where life leads us I will be here to be the person he laughs with and shares his frustrations with. The person he can be himself with. I am his wife and his home.
As a Mother I am a caregiver, a friend, a teacher, a confidant, a disciplinarian. I am a shoulder to cry on, and a hand to hold. I don’t like to put limitations on myself with the label of ”mom“. I devote myself to raising them. To teaching them and encouraging them to Do and Be better. I want to show them the world and give them experiences and memories that will last a lifetime. I want them to grow up to not just be adults but to be responsible, respectful, happy and successful. I want them to contribute to society and not just take from it. It is my job and my duty to give them the tools to be able to do this. So I try, and I try again. And when I fail I will certainly do my best to make up for it. Their futures lie in my hands and as much as I’d like to I cannot hold them forever. I can just take the time to be with them now, teach them all that I know, and show them all the love that is in my heart.
These are the words that Define ME…that make me who I am. Nothing else. I am not just a mom or just a wife. Those are simply words that give me the inspiration to do all that I do.
Remember that cheap and easy DIY Haunted Tree Centerpiece we made for Halloween? Well, we’ve made one for Valentine’s Day too!
I’ve been wanting to re-use the vases from this centerpiece for a while and after making my Sweetheart Votives I had an idea. Glass Vases + conversation hearts candy + silk tulips! For easter I think I’ll just swap out the conversation hearts for jelly beans.
This morning when I was getting my daughter ready for school she requested a “Tangled” braid. We did 3 braids total. With her hair parted just to the side (her natural part) I braided two small ‘half’ braids. I then gathered the two small braids in the back together with the rest of her hair and did one long braid down her back. We decorated with flower clips that are part of my hair accessory line from Too Tutu Cute.
Welcome to the second week of What’s For Dinner, Wednesday where I’m sharing a new recipe each Wednesday. This recipe is from Pillsbury and is a great variation of Lasagna. The best part, you refrigerate it overnight. Make it the day before you know you’ll be busy and at dinner time all you have to do is pop it in the oven.
- 1 tablespoon butter
- lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
- 1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped red bell pepper (2 med)
- 1 cup finely chopped celery
- 1/2 cup choped onion
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1 pint half and half
- 1/2 cup Progresso chicken broth
- 4 oz cream cheese
- 7 oz Gouda cheese shredded (I used a mixture of mozarella and colby-jack because i forgot to get the Gouda)
- 1 container (12 oz) small curd cottage cheese (again, I substituted and used ricotta)
- 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves cut into thin strips
- 1 egg, beaten
- 9 uncooked lasagna noodles
- 1 package (16 oz) sliced mozarella (I just used shredded)
- 1/2 cup grated parmesean cheese
- 1. Spray 13 X 9 inch (3-quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray. In 4 quart Dutch oven, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in bell pepper, celery, onion, and garlic; cook about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally, until chicken is no longer pink in center.
- Reduce heat to low. Add half and half, broth and cream cheese; cook and stir until cream cheese is melted. Gradually add Couda cheese, stirring until cheese is melted. Remove from heat; set aside. In bowl, mix cottage cheese (or Ricotta like I did) 1/4 cup fresh basil and the egg until blended.
- Spread 1 cup chicken mixture in baking dish. Top with 3 noodles, 1 1/2 cups chicken mixture, 1/2 of the cottage cheese mixture and 1/2 of the mozarella cheese. Repeat layers once, starting with noodles. Top with remaining 3 noodles and remaining chicken mixture. Sprinkle with Parmesean cheese. Cover with foil; refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight.
- Heat oven to 350. Bake lasagna covered for 45 minutes. Uncover; bake 30-35 minutes longer or until noodles are tender and casserole is bubbly. Cover; let stand 15 minutes before serving.
This recipe is a bit of work to prep so you have to plan ahead. Hope your family enjoys it as much as mine did!
And Please feel free to leave a link to your favorite recipes in the comment section!
Celebrate all that your child is Thankful for with this cute and easy handprint craft.
You will need:
- White Paper (thicker paper or cardstock is better)
- Brown Paint
- Red, Yellow, Orange Construction Paper
- Scissors
- Glue Stick
Start by painting the inside of the child’s arm and palm with brown paint. Press onto the white paper to form the tree trunk and branches. Let dry.
Cut leaf shapes out of the consturction paper. If child is old enough have them write things they are thankful for on the leaves. I also did this project with my 1 and 3 year olds. The 3 year old dictated to me and I wrote for him and the 1 year old’s tree has blank leaves.
Have child glue their leaves onto the tree branches.
Frame and display for the Thankful Season!
I just can’t get away from it…one more post of my baby girl going off to Kindergarten. Last one I promise. She picked out her outfit herself.
To read more about her first day check out:
Well I sent her off, with NO tears! And I’m talking about from me, I knew she would be fine. My baby girl is officially a Kindergartener and she couldn’t be happier. Can’t wait to find out how her first day of school was!
And since I’m one of THOSE moms, I got video too.
Today I send my baby, my first born, off to Kindergarten. I will take pictures and gush over how adorable she looks in her Hello Kitty T-shirt and pink Princess backpack. I will kiss her goodbye and her journey will start.
But this is not JUST the first day of Kindergarten. This is the first day of her educational career. Starting today she will say goodbye every morning Monday through Friday and head off to her classroom. During the summers I will get my time, but she will miss her friends. She will attend Kindergarten, Elementary School, Middle School, and High School finally leaving us for College.
Today starts her journey to learning and growing. This is the day that her life, and ours are changed forever.
I know I often overthink things but now when you see me wiping away tears as I send her in to her little classroom you will know why.
*I love you Peyton. You are such a strong and beautiful girl. I wish you the best today and know you’ll succeed far past anyone’s expectations*
