Baby Days

I thought my first book review should be a parenting type book. This is a book for stay-at-home parents of young kids, and I love the sub-title: tips for enjoying daily life with children under 3! How many days does daily life with young children feel like an exhausting, overwhelming, not-so-fun experience? Don't get me wrong, there are always good moments in most days, but taking care of young children can be draining. It's difficult to get things done, tantrums are hard to handle, and sometimes your 18 month old will watch 3 hours of television because you need something to distract them.

This is not really a parenting book, just ideas of how to give your young children things to do that are stimulating, entertaining, and allow you to get things done or enjoy playing with them.

Some things I like:
1. The activities are broken up into different times of day. There are activities for mornings, mealtimes, afternoons, bedtimes, etc...
2. Each activity has a "messiness quotient." IE, how much of a mess can you expect from this activity. If you don't want to take the time to clean up, then choose a low quotient activity. BUT, I would mention as my own thought, taking them time to clean up WITH your young child (the younger the better) is a good way to start them on the road to keeping things neat and clean. Make it into a game.
3. Fun activities based on age. My toddler LOVED playing in a bucket of beans with a funnel. She wasn't quite old enough to care about the play dough we made (although "making" it was fun for her).

Things I disliked:
1. You could probably find activities like most of these on the internet. But like I said, I like the descriptions by age, how messy it will get, materials you need, etc...
2. I think it's important to avoid "Supermom syndrome", where you feel like you have to be constantly busy. Kids NEED time to just go play by themselves. But I think young children often throw tantrums because they want your attention. If you are making dinner and give them a task to "help" they will feel involved and ideally whine a little less.

I also think this is a great book for Winter time, when it's too cold to go outside much. Making tents and playing make-believe would be thrilling for a 2 year old!

You can go HERE to read more reviews of this book.

Spending Freeze

One of the greatest blessings we've had the past few months is that of little/no income! The gap between graduating from college and the start of hubby's job will be 7 months. For us it has been essential to make every penny of our savings count! One way we have accomplished this has been by imposing an abosolute spending freeze. At first it was a total bummer not to buy new shoes (they weren't an absolute necessity, my older pairs were still intact, but I like to be stylish!) It was also difficult to refrain from buying toys, books, and new clothes for our toddler and for the baby we'll have soon!

But after months of knowing we couldn't spend ANY extra money on ANYTHING that wasn't absolutely essential, living with a spending freeze has actually become quite liberating! I mean, look around your house and count the number of things you thought you wanted, or even thought you NEEDED at the time of purchase. If you're anything like me, you realized that quite a bit of money every month goes down the drain. In our society, having "things" seems to up our status (though probably only in our own eyes!) Therefore we use credit, pile up the debt, and spend years paying off $100!! Or at the least, we don't save, and consequently lose money we could have made on interest!

The liberation comes in not letting things own you! It comes in knowing that your credit card bill is $0 and that you won't pay interest. It comes in knowing that you will be able to meet your family's needs because you didn't splurge on that bowling game your 14 month old was carrying around Ross acting like it was the most important thing to her! (By the way, I must mention that it is pointless to buy many toys for a young child. Get out some cups and bowls, they'll be WAY happier!)

SO, my challenge to you, dear reader, is to set aside a period of time that you think you can go without spending ANY money on non-basics (no, clothes aren't basics, neither are new seat covers for your car, a kiddie pool, or a pass to the nearby theme park!) Seriously, food, rent/mortgage, utilities, car, gas, insurance, health, toiletries. Those are basically it. Try it for a week. Be really brave and try it for a month. FREEZE your spending, and see how much you save! (And it's ok to start to carry a bolt of fabric to the counter, convincing yourself that your girls NEED curtains in their room, and you must make them, and then turn around and put it back! Be STRONG!)

Mommy's meal plans!

Before I share the meal plans and shopping list, I need an attagirl! I only went grocery shopping ONE TIME last week. To some it may seem crazy, but I am the girl who forgets things on my list, and then craves something during the week, and in the end I make 2-4 extra trips to the store (or have hubby go for me) and spend $40+ extra for the week! NOT good, I know!! So, give me a pat on the back, and enjoy the ideas I have planned for the week. I know, some probably aren't the best summer recipes. I'll work on putting a week of summer recipes together, but hey, I'm preggo and this is what sounded good to me!! Remember to add your veggies to your shopping list!!

For the Week of Aug 3rd, go to the bottom to the google calendar. Clicking on the meal gives you a recipe idea!




Bacon
Salmon
1 lb ground beef
Deli meat
B/S chicken breasts (4-8, or enough for 2 meals)

Ranch dressing mix
Basil
Chicken broth
Tomato juice
Gingersnaps
White vinegar
Brown sugar

Corn flakes

Garlic
Onion
potatoes
sweet potatoes
zucchini
lettuce
carrots
brocoli
cauliflower
berries
bananas
apples

½ and ½ cream
Parm cheese
Deli cheese

Operation Organization

A GREAT Idea!

Remember how I was talking about the "attagirl" and helping motivate each other? HERE is a great chance to get motivated to declutter/organize with just a little time each week. Su-WEET!! It's nice to know there are a bunch of us out there working to make our homes a little piece of heaven!

Here is the area I will be de-cluttering this week! All those stacks of papers are hubby's school notes and such. I may be re-cycling them (shhh, dont' tell, he is convinced he will use them again someday...) Maybe I'll be a super nice wifey and have them cerlox bound... ;)





I have posts already written which are set to be posted on Monday and Tuesday, so stay tuned, leave a comment, and I'm taking a couple of days to be computer-free!

Saturday is a Special Day

Growing up, Saturday was always the day we completed the "major" chores, such as scrubbing the bathroom, cleaning out the garage, etc. So I though "what better day to share home organization/simplification tips than Saturday?"

Today's Focus: Automation.

When was the last time you forgot to brush your teeth at night? Put on deodorant (ok, I'll be honest, sometimes I forget that one in the rush to shower and get dressed before the little one notices I'm not in the same room!) But seriously, think about all the things in your life that you do without even thinking.

I think that one way to keep your home a little more clutter-free is to create routines that become automatic. There are several ways to do this. First, you could make a schedule for yourself. This might work for some people, but not for me.

You can also try the website Don't Break the Chain. With this tool, you set a goal for something you will do every day (for example, clean up the dishes right after a meal, organize the counter every night before bed, exercising, etc...). You get an "x" for every day you do the task. The point is that once you have a few days in a row, you don't want to break the chain, so you do the task to keep it going. Then pretty soon, it becomes automatic.

Or you can try what I do, which is just to organize a small part of my day with a routine. This keeps things flexible, but I always know how my mornings will go:

1. get up and eat/feed the child

2. Clean up breakfast and any leftover dishes from the night before (child sometimes "helps" with that)

3. Turn on our "Song" (Good day Sunshine by the Beatles) and make the bed together.

4. Shower (if the child needs a shower, I put her in with me, otherwise I turn on Curious George or Clifford and give her 15 minutes of cherished tv time.

5. Get ready for the day, finish up any chores.

6. If it's still too early to go outside and play, we read some books or play with toys together.

7. Go outside and play

By the time all these things are done, it's lunch and then naptime. Keeping a routine with my mornings really helps me know exactly what needs to get done and when.

Another idea to help create organization routines for yourself is to have "attagirls." When I was teaching school, I had an "attagirl" folder, that I kept positive notes from students or parents, any achievements I got, or good teaching reviews. Send yourself an email every time you do something great, or your routines work out how you envisioned. Better yet, get a friend to send you an email every time she accomplishes her goal, then you send her an attagirl email. And she can do the same for you. It's all about helping each other out!

It is interesting that yesterday I decided I would dedicate Fridays to why I love being a mom. Today I took my 17 month old to a nearby duck pond. We had a lot of fun feeding the ducks, but as we were getting ready to go, she started throwing a tantrum. A crazy, insane, throw my body into violent convulsions type of tantrum. She screamed and jerked the entire way home. She screamed louder if I tried to talk to her, distract her, offer her a graham cracker, etc... 25 minutes later we were home, and the tantrum continued. I finally turned on Signing Time, which sort of helped, then gave her some grapes.

I still have no idea what was wrong. But what I do know is that I sure was at my wits end about what to do with the dear little thing. I kept my cool for the most part, it is a good thing we were outside, because I probably would have yelled at her to knock it off if we had been inside.

Am I still grateful to be a mom? Yes. I definitely am. Now she is napping, and reflecting on the prayers I said to know what to do, I'm not sure that they were specifically answered, but at least Heavenly Father helped me to keep my cool. That is a pretty big miracle.

Sometimes I just need to remember this thought from Jeffrey R Holland, a leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

"You are doing God's work. You are doing it wonderfully well. He is blessing you, and He will bless you, even--no, especially--when your days and your nights may be most challenging. Like the woman who anonymously, meekly, perhaps even with hesitation and some embarrassment, fought her way thought the crowd just to touch the hem of the Master's garment, so Christ will say to the woman who worry and wonder and week over their responsibilities as mothers, 'Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole.' And it will make your children whole as well" ("Because She is a Mother," 37).

Google Calendar

Check out the google calendar at the bottom for my own meal plans. I use different websites for inspiration, but I also have to consider my owns tastes, and what I have on hand.

One thing I discovered this week: going meatless is SO easy! Mon-Wed we had meatless meals, and it was great! You can still get all the protein you need, it takes a lot less time, and you save SO much money!

Meatless week.

Sorry, I'm still trying to figure out a good schedule for posting. I'd like to do something more consistent, and I think this is what I will do:

Mondays: Meal plan Mondays

Wednesdays: Book review of a book, which may or may not be related to frugality, meals, parenting, relationships. In fact, it might just be a review of a book I read in order to fill my own bucket a little (which I think it a good idea.)

Fridays: Fabulous Fridays: Posts on why I love being a mom!

Saturdays: Special Days: Home organization and simplification tips!

I think I can keep up with 4 days of posting a week! And of course, if anyone has ideas to share, please do! I like to borrow ideas from any source I can find. That is the whole point of this blog, for us all to help each other by sharing ideas!

If you have a blog, please share a link for this blog so we can get more ideas going and help more people!

Giveaway Winner(s)

Since only 2 people entered (sad, don't you have trust in my crafting abilities?) I decided they are both WINNERS!!

So Jamie and Shalyse, I will send (Jamie I will probably hand deliver) your prize by next Wednesday. Shalyse, can you email me your address so I can send you your prize? Congrats ladies, and don't worry, this prize will be so great!

Puffy Boxes

These would be so fun and easy to make. They could be great for little gifts for friends' birthdays, or for your kids to give for friends for Christmas. All you need is scrapbook paper and ribbon, and something to go inside. We'll probably use them for favors for my sister's baby shower this fall.

Parenting...

Just a thought:

If your toddler takes a nap from 7-7:45 pm, chances are they will still be awake at 9:37 pm. Even if you are tired and would like to go to bed yourself. In fact, you might even find them jumping on the bed, squealing, and jabbering away!

So cute...:)

Bottom line: maybe delay the nap, so it actually becomes bedtime! :)

Simplify Supper

My little sister shared this AMAZING site with me! It's called "Simplify Supper." Basically, it is what I was trying to accomplish with my weekly meal plans, but was having a hard time staying on top of. I kept trying to look up meal plans with shopping lists, but all the sites I found cost money. This one, however, DOESN'T! Yipee! So check it out!! You'll be glad you did! :)