A few weeks ago I (Jamie) decided to join the campaign to become a Don't Sweat Mom. What is the Don't Sweat Mom campaign? It is based on the book "Don't Sweat The Small Stuff For Moms" by Kristine Carlson. The campaign is creating a community of moms that are coming together to stress less and choose happiness more. It’s about finding our joy in everyday parenting. As Colorado Mountain Mom said in her book review, I too had a little blogger regret after I signed up for this campaign. Like her, I didn't think I was going to have time to read the book. I quickly discovered, however, that the book was broken up into short, easy to read chapters. It doesn't have any particular flow, so it's convenient to simply pick the chapters that you want to read and skip around. In fact, this blog post has taken me MUCH longer to write than actually reading the book! There were many chapters in "Don't Sweat The Small Stuff For Moms" that struck a cord with me. "Make Special Mommy & Me … [Read more...]
Archives for 2012
Amazing chocolate and salt bars
Are you ready for the most amazing blondies in the world? Ingredients: 2 1/4 C flour 1 tsp baking soda 1 tsp salt 2 sticks of butter, softened 3/4 C sugar 3/4 C brown sugar, packed 2 eggs 1 tsp vanilla 1 bag of semi sweet chocolate chips 2-3 tablespoons kosher salt Mix all but kosher salt together and spread into a square baking pan. Sprinkle the kosher salt on top of the brownies before baking. Bake at 375 for about 40 minutes. Grab a HUGE glass of milk and enjoy! HEAVEN! … [Read more...]
Finances and Children–Guest Post
Today we have the pleasure of having Dr. Deanna Cole, a a licensed psychologist with a broad background in neuropsychological and psychological assessment, therapy and psychoeducation share her thoughts on finances and children: It’s important that parents talk about money and money issues with their children. Kids are often aware of their parents’ financial burdens even when adults attempt to shield their children from life’s stresses. They should also be made aware of the good things money brings! Teach your kids the value of financial planning, saving and possibly even investing. When you enjoy a vacation, a trip to the circus or a simple trip to the ice cream shop, you have a perfect opportunity to talk about how nice it is to have money to enjoy life’s luxuries (and slip in a bit of education or your own financial wisdom as well). Better yet, work out a plan with your kids ahead of time to come up with the money for a special event. Have them get creative about ways your … [Read more...]
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly of Raising Kids…
We all know that raising children has good, bad, and ugly times. Today we bring you a little humor related to raising your little ones! The Good: Pregnancy gives you the best, most luxurious hair you've ever had. The Bad: Four months after you give birth, your hair begins to fall out. The Ugly: You no longer care that your luxurious hair is gone because there's no time to wash and style it anyway. The Good: Pregnancy gives you glowing skin. The Bad: Six months into your pregnancy, stretch marks begin to show. The Ugly: Your skin now looks like a prune. The Good: You thought that your third trimester of pregnancy prepared you for sleepless nights. The Bad: Tossing and turning in bed is nothing compared to actually having to get up with an infant. The Ugly: Due to sleep deprivation, you have now used breast milk or formula as coffee creamer. (photo source) The Good: You bought the safest, cutest car seat for you infant. The Bad: You didn't realize how … [Read more...]
#EclosBeauty Skin Care Review and Giveaway!
This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of éclos Skin Care for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine. As a mom, how often do you take time (and money) to pamper and take care of yourself, especially your skin? I know I don't take a lot of time or spend a lot of money. Skin care is something I totally lack on! In my defense however, I've been told by more than one skin care expert that I have "perfect" and "healthy" skin. I guess for me, less is more! I am however, always up for tyring new products, especially cheap ones! I was given the opportunity to try éclos Skin Care. I received the the Anti-Aging Skin Care starter kit which contains sample sizes of their complete line: Facial Cleaner Skin Prep Cellular Activator Face Serum Moisture Therapy Regenerative Cream Restorative Eye Cream Instant Radiance Facial Scrub Skin Renewal Clay Mask Terry Cloth Head Band To be honest, I was a bit skeptical of this skin care. First because it's resonably … [Read more...]
Patriotic Pinwheels
Almost all kids (and adults too) love pinwheels! It's fun to blow on them and watch them twirl or let the wind take them spinning. Today we've got patriotic pinwheels. They're great for entertaining the kids at your Memorial Day party or while waiting for the parade to start! To make your own pinwheels you'll need: Red, white, and blue paper Scissors Glue and other things to decorate with such as glitter and markers A hole punch A Pencil with an eraser A thumb tac/push pin 1) Start by making two of your pieces of paper square. Fold one corner of paper over to the edge and cut off the excess rectangle. 2) Unfold the square and fold it the other direction into another triangle so that the square has been folded into 4 triangles. 3) Using your third piece of paper cut out stripes and stars (or any other shapes) and decorate one side of each square. Use glitter and markers too if you want! This is what my girls' squares looked like when they were … [Read more...]
