Cute Craft for Toddlers & Great Organizing Idea!

I know I am not the first one to come up with this idea, but I had to share the cute storage box my 3 year old daughter and I made today for her Puzzles. She had so much fun looking through magazines and picking out all of her favorite pictures. To make this box, here is all you have to do.

1. Cover any box in construction paper, wrapping paper, fabric, or anything that you like.
2. Have your child look through magazines and choose their favorite photos, pick out stickers, add gems or glitter.
3. You and your child can then paste them using Elmers glue in whatever unique pattern you would like.
4. I applied a thin coat of Mod Podge over the entire box to seal in all the photos.
5. I trimmed hers in pink grosgrain ribbon, but you can use whatever you would like. After gluing down the ribbon with craft glue, I applied a thin layer of Mod Podge to seal it and make it stiff, so it would be more durable for my little toddler.

Get Creative. You wouldn't believe how proud of the box my daughter is, she loves it!

Thanksgiving Week-What are you most thankful for?

I was curious what are you most thankful for this year?

This year I am thankful for my family, thankful that my husband still has a job. and thankful that everyone I love is healthy. I am also thankful for the decline of gas prices. Now I can actually leave the house more often, Yea!

Thanksgiving is so hectic around here, so this week I am taking a break from the daily challenges. They will start up again next week. I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday, stay safe on Friday if you are going shopping. Watch out for any crazy moms wanting to take you down, lol.

One Word Answers from Mom on the Run

Mom on the run, a fellow blogger, sent me this. If you would like to participate, post one on your blog as well.

Where is your cell phone? Purse
Where is your significant other? Work
Your hair? Brown
Your mother? Caring
Your father? Stubborn
Your favorite thing? Shopping
Your dream last night? Can't Remember
Your dream/goal? Go back to School
The room you're in? Loft
Your fear? someone I love dying
Where do you want to be in 6 years? Same place maybe working
Where were you last night? Way of lights-(Christmas Light Show)
What you're not? Dressed-still in my pajamas
Muffins? Blueberry
One of your wish list items? New car
Where you grew up? Kentucky & Illinois
The last thing you did? folded laundry
What are you wearing? Pajama pants, tshirt, socks and Red soft bathrobe
Your TV? Flat screen-Family Room, Flat Screen-Loft, Flat Screen-Master Bedroom
Your pet? Tinkerbell-mini Dachshund, Diego-Chi Pom
Your computer? Link to all info I need
Your life? mostly boring, but pretty happy
Your mood? Right now, happy
Missing someone? My husband
Your car? dirty
Something you're not wearing? bra, lol
Your summer? boring
Love someone? My family
Your favorite color? Red
When is the last time you laughed? Last night at the the Way of Lights Puppet Show
Last time you cried? day before yesterday

Ready, set, go

Unique & Stylish Bag for Moms!

I recently discovered the Soiree Drawstring bag by Crystalyn Kae. This bag is a little pricey, $215, but it is well worth it.

Description from her website:

The Soirée Pleated Bag. It's lightweight, spacious and clever. The strap adjusts to be worn short or extended across your body like a messenger bag. The opening snaps or cinches shut tight. The outside is water-resistant and inside there’s a soft ultrasuede lining with three useful pockets. Best of all, each Soiree is individually handcrafted with limited edition vintage textiles that peek out from demure pleats. A great bag for your unique personality.

She can also add additional pockets for bottles, wipes, etc. for an additional charge.

These bags are super durable and the perfect size for the mom who needs to carry everything. She has many different colors of bags along with different fabrics. She can also email you samples of the materials, so you can get an idea as to what your bag will look like.



This bag can be worn as a shoulder or messenger bag. I love the messenger style because it leaves my hands free for my daughter. Really helps when shopping. I haven't gotten one of her purses yet, but I am trying to save up for one. Hopefully for Christmas!

Check out her website here.
If you do have a question for her or do make a purchase, please tell her you heard about her bags on The Mothers Meeting Stone Blog.

How to Make your Husband think you are awesome! (without that much work)

I have discovered the perfect daily schedule to wow our husbands. This routine that I do everyday has our house looking perfect and sparkly clean. Your house will look like it is a picture in a catalog. You may say, I have small children, How is this possible? Well I will tell you, it is! When doing my schedule, your daily cleaning will never take more than 1 hour to complete. I usually do it first thing in the morning so it is done. The only thing you have to do all day, is pick up toys from the kids. If they are old enough they can help you with that. You will feel like you have so much time on your hands, you won't know what to do with it! Ok here it goes:

The first week of my plan is always the hardest part. You will need to stick to the plan and take it one day at a time. By the beginning of the second week your house will be totally perfect. If there are any chores you have around the house that I do not list here, just add them to a lighter day. Also if you have more or less bathrooms, you can add or subtract them as well. This gives you an idea of how to make a daily schedule. Make sure you type this out, print it, and post it somewhere you will see it everyday.

My Morning routine, I do this 7 days a week:

1. Do the laundry- this is one of the best ideas I have had. I gather up all the clothing, towels, etc from the day before and do 4 small loads, one whites, one dark, one light, and one towels. If you do this everyday it will never get out of control and you will always have clean everything. It doesn't take up much time either. I totally hate doing laundry, I never thought doing it everyday would be the thing for me. I actually don't mind doing the laundry now.
2. Vacuum the entire house-This only takes a short time to do and it makes your house look nice and clean. You never have to worry about company showing up unannounced because your house will be perfect at all times.
3. Wash Glass- Go through your house and clean any glass you may have. If you have small children like I do, then you understand the fingerprints and mouth prints you get on glass doors or on other stuff.

In addition to the daily morning routine, I choose a few things to do Monday thru Friday that keeps my house perfect. Remember your cleaning schedule never takes more than 1 or 2 hours(2 hours if your house is bigger than mine, mine is 1800 sq feet) to do a day. This time includes the morning routine.

Monday:

Clean Powder Room
Wipe down all trim & all doors

Tuesday:

Dust- this means everything, even your light fixtures!
Mirrors & Windows

Wednesday:

Kids Bathroom
Wash Walls- I go through the house and wipe any fingerprints or dirt off.

Thursday:

Change all bed sheets
Wash Floors-not the carpet, just any hard flooring throughout the house

Friday:

Clean Master Bathroom
Organize-this could be any area of the house that tends to get cluttered

Saturday & Sunday

Morning routine only-this should only take you like 30 minutes to do, then you are off for the rest of the weekend! Well off from cleaning, now I can't really help you with the cooking and the children, but hey at least we are not cleaning constantly!

Day #3 Challenge Organize an Out of Control Area

For today our challenge is to find that one area in your house where it has gotten a little cluttered and out of control. If your area is an entire room, clean it out for 30 minutes. Set a timer and get rid of as much as you can in that amount of time. Organize what you can. Then when the timer goes off, stop for today. You will do 30 minutes of cleaning that area everyday until it is completely finished.

If your area is like mine is going to be, a small drawer or closet, then I would like you to concentrate on getting it totally cleaned out and organized today.

This area, believe it or not, could actually be credited for your stress or unhappiness. Studies have shown that having a non cluttered home actually make you feel more in control over your life and happier.

Just to recap the last three challenges, here is what you should be doing everyday:

1. Get Dressed Down to your Shoes
2. Exercise for at least 30 minutes a day
3. Clean out an out of control area of your home

Once you have all the out of control areas clean, make sure you spend at least 5-10 minutes out of everyday looking over each of those areas. That way everyday you can make sure they are organized and not becoming cluttered.

China recalls needles that snapped in infant's vein

Ok has anyone else heard this story? I know it happened in China and not in the US but what is up with China? I never thought that I would be one of those people who looks at where items are made at before they purchase them. I love to shop and I love everything. I can't believe all the stories that we are hearing where items made in China are killing babies and making people sick. Something needs to be done. I would be scared to go through my house right now and find all the stuff I have that was made in China. I bet it is a huge percentage of my belongings. To think that it would be possible for our children to be exposed to something toxic like that without us even knowing. We try to be the best parents we can be. This story sickens me. To think about that poor little baby having a needle stuck in his arm. Like getting shots isn't already traumatic enough for them. My goodness, this country really needs to get a handle on things. Ugh that makes me mad!

Go here to see the full story.

Chore Charts for Everyone!

One of the things I have discovered is printable chore charts at DLTK Kids website. They are great! You can customize what days of the week you want it to be for and put whatever chore you want on it. They say they are star charts, but I don't do it that way. I put an x on the day of the week by the chore. That way my son knows that on Mondays he is dusting and vacuuming his room. I made one for every person in our family. Busy families will really appreciate the convenience of the chart. You will always know that all the important tasks are getting done. Am I the only one with charts like this? Let me know if you have an idea that is similar to this one or maybe something new I could try out in my house. I would love to hear your thoughts and ideas!

Check out DLTK Kids and see for yourself!

Day #2 Challenge- Exercise for at least 30 minutes

Yesterday I challenged you to get dressed down to your shoes. Today I am challenging you to do at least 30 min of exercise. I know that sounds like no fun at all. The purpose of these challenges is to get us off our butts and get us doing things to make us happier moms. When you exercise, your body releases endorphins that are sent to your brain. Those endorphins make you feel happy. Exercise is also a good way to release any stress you may be having. I know when I do exercise, which lately hasn't been that often, I use all the stress I have to push me even further with my workout.

There are two ways we can do this challenge. One, we can do it the old fashioned way and actually do exercises or two, we can do it a new way by using our daily household chores to exercise. One of the things I like to do is walk on the treadmill at a fast pace for at least 20 min everyday. Now if you don't have a treadmill, you can run up and down stairs if you have them. If you don't have either one of them, you need to get your cardio in somehow. You can vacuum your entire house, dance with your child, anything that gets your heart going for 20 min. Next I like to do a 20-30 min Yoga DVD or show. The Biggest Loser DVDs are great. They are hard but they have 3 levels of workouts for you to do.

Now you may say, when do I have time for this daily exercise? Well there are a few times a day you can do this. If you like to get up early (which I do not, lol) then you can do them 30 minutes to an hour before the kids wake up in the morning. There is also your child's nap time, or after your child goes to bed. Just remember an excuse is just a lie you tell yourself to get out of doing something you don't want to do. You make excuses to try and make yourself not feel guilty. So stop making excuses and get moving! You have the time, you just have to look for it.

Thanks for reading my blog, if you have questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.

What are you getting your toddler for Christmas?

I have been sitting here trying to think of what to get my 3 year old daughter for Christmas this year. I am drawing a blank! My kids are getting so hard to buy for every year that passes. I know my daughter loves everything but I really want to get her something that will be worth the money. Any suggestions??

One Day to Live

My son came home from school today and asked me if I had only one day to live, what would I do with it?

If I only had one day to live, I would make sure that every single person I loved was with me. We wouldn't go anywhere, just stay at home. Being able to spend the last few moments doing what I love more than anything, being together with my family, would be the most wonderful day. I wouldn't ask for anything more, well maybe I would add in all of my favorite foods and have one huge party! That would make it the perfect day.

If you are having a stressful day, take the advice of my son and ask yourself that question. Sometimes we all need a little reminder of what is important in life. We tend to get obsessed with worrying about trivial things. I thought that was a great question and I wanted to share it with all of you. I am extremely curious, what would you do?

Pamper Yourself

I was thinking that all moms (and children) need a little pampering everyday. Below you will find a list of products I currently use everyday to pamper myself and my family. Making a few simple changes to the products you currently use can help you live a less stress free day.

I just discovered this new body wash from Dove. It is called Go Fresh Refresh Body Wash. That is a mouthful, lol. This body wash is great for the morning because it has a great scent of waterlily and fresh mint which leaves your skin with a gentle, tingly, refreshing feeling. It really helps wake you up, which I totally need. It also is an ultra-light hydrating formula so it leaves your skin feeling very soft and moisturized all day. For more information on this Dove product or others like it please visit their website here.

The next item on my list for moms is the new Revitalizing Foaming 4 in 1 Cleanser from Biore. This cleanser is awesome! It makes your skin feel refreshed and awake. It has natural ingredients like sugar beet (a known skin conditioner), antioxidant green tea leaf, and eucalyptus. It cleans away all dirt, oil, and makeup, not to mention surface toxins. I have very sensitive skin and I love that this cleanser doesn't make my face feel dry and tight after being washed. If you want a little extra wakeup power, then I would definitely try this wash. For more information on this product or Biore's other products, please visit their site here.

This next product is pampering for your child! I have always used Johnson and Johnson baby washes or Suave kids shampoo. I always thought that they were doing the job of cleaning my children's hair. I mean they are kids, they don't need expensive shampoos to get their hair clean right? Wrong! Paul Mitchell's Baby Don't Cry shampoo is around $7 for an average sized bottle, but it lasts forever. It is super thick and you don't need much.

My 3 year old daughter was using Suave kids shampoo for the past 2 years. I was at my hairdresser and saw a sample of this shampoo for $2 so I decided I would bring it home to see if it even made a difference in her hair. The very first time I washed her hair, it was super shiny(the Suave didn't make it look like that). Also the most important detail is that her light blond hair was actually way lighter! Apparently the Suave wasn't cleaning out all the dirt so her hair looked darker than it was.

This shampoo can also be used as a body wash which is great. If you factor in what you would pay for both a shampoo and conditioner, then the $7 isn't all that bad. Now it is tearless and gentle with mild cleansers and a neutral pH. It contains chamomile and cone flower extract to help calm and soothe the skin and the scalp.
Please get a sample bottle and at least give this a try, it is worth the couple of dollars. For more information regarding this product or Paul Mitchell's other products, please visit his website here.

The last product I want to talk about is Tide Simple Pleasures Lavender & Vanilla Laundry Detergent. This is the best detergent for the whole family! I buy this and only use it on towels and blankets. There is nothing better than cuddling up in your warm bed and smelling the scent of sweet lavender & warm vanilla. It is a very relaxing and soothing scent. I also use the fabric softener sheets that match. I actually get the generic Target brand of the sheets. They smell exactly the same and are much cheaper than the name brand ones. I really wish Target would start making this detergent in their generic brand also. For more information on this product or Tides other products please visit their site here.

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to ask, thanks again for reading my blog!

Week #1 Helpful Tips

My Helpful Tips for this week are:

1. Praise your children for good acts. Try to notice the good things they are doing instead of just noticing when they are doing something bad. Use more praise than criticism. They might just surprise you with more good behavior!

2. Smile more often. Smiling even when you are sad or down can actually make you feel happier. Try it. It works!

3. Clean out one spot in your house that is out of control. This could be a drawer, a closet, or so on. Believe it or not, but having a cluttered house can make you feel lazy, depressed, and like everything is out of control. If your house is organized and clean, it will make you happier. You will feel like you have more control over your life, which is such a good thing.

Day #1 Challenge--Get Dressed Down to My Shoes

They say that stay at home moms tend to stay in their pajamas all day or get dressed but don't do their hair or makeup. That is totally true for me. I feel that I am not going anywhere special so why get out of my pajamas or why do my hair and makeup. It seems like a total waste of my time.
I have read that if you get up everyday before the kids, take a shower, get dressed down to your shoes, and do your hair and makeup as if you are going somewhere, it makes you feel more energetic and gives you better self esteem. Sitting around all day in your pajamas can make you feel tired, depressed, and just plain lazy.

So today I am challenging myself to get up everyday 30 minutes before the rest of the house and do these things for myself. After one week of doing this, I will let you know if it has made a difference in my mood and my productivity around the house.

Please if you have any comments, feel free to share them with me. I would love you hear from you.

Introduction to My Blog

Being a stay at home mom can get kind of boring. It actually can make you feel isolated and crazy at times. I have decided that I am going to get out of this rut and make the rest of the year the best ever. I am going to challenge myself everyday to do something new. If you are feeling the same way I am, then I challenge you to take this on with me.
I am a nice person, but I tend to be a little moody and demanding at times. I have been wondering, if I change my attitude will it change the attitudes of everyone around me? Most likely the answer to that question is yes. Please stay tuned for my daily challenges and please check out my daily thoughts and advice.
I would like to also add that I have gone from a size 16 to a size 10 since May! I have challenged myself to eat better and exercise which has helped me lose 20 lbs so far! Although I have been slacking the past couple of months with the exercise, I have kept those pounds off. I am on a mission to lose the last 20 pounds and be 125 lbs again! So I am on a mission to get myself and you motivated!