Engaged and Entertained Without Electronics

My daughter has become the child who often asks, "Mom, can I have your phone?" while we are traveling in the car or at the grocery store. She is looking for a source of entertainment and something to keep her mind engaged. Here is a great article about when it is appropriate to let you child use electronics.

http://www.somedayilllearn.com/streaming-movies-for-kids/

I have nothing against her using it occasionally since I keep a collection of educational apps on there for her. I keep a limit on electronics and TV time so occasional usage (short periods of time, a few times a week at most) is all I allow. I do also admit, if I am trying to focus on driving or get my shopping done quickly without interruption having that there for her to use is rather convenient.

However, as a child I was forced to use my mind to create my own entertainment and I think that is part of the reason I am creative today.

Part of me wonders, as today's society looks more and more to electronic devices to provided educational material and entertainment for our children are they going to lose some of that ability to use their imagination?

When my sister shared this Etsy shop with me and wanted to share it with all of you. Felt boards are a simple product that can allow your child tons of creative options. Allison creates some super adorable boards and characters. Just keep them in your car or bag and when your child is looking for entertainment they can create and tell their own scenes and stories over and over and again.

Felt boards allow unlimited imagination in creating a scene.

 

 

What adorable carrying case!

Perfect for a pirate story.....

Or for someone who loves to tell fairy tales.....

And how CUTE are these little arctic animals!!!

Allow your child to relive their favorite family memories by recreating the scene.

Lots more at the Etsy shop. Hours of endless, reusable, mix and match fun.



Link to Allison's Shop:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/BusyKidActivities?ref=l2-shopheader-name

Essential Oils: For a Wonderful Smelling and Healthy Home

Who doesn’t love walking home at the end of the day, opening the door, and smelling your favorite scent?

 Problem is paraffin candles, chemical filled plug-ins, and chemically manufactured air freshener sprays are some of the ways that we have become accustomed to making our homes smell appealing – but these products are adding to the toxic environment in our homes.

Well, I found a solution! I recently learned that my local grocery store carries essential oils. Better yet, they are natural and very reasonably priced! (You can also purchase them on the web for very reasonable prices).

I knew there were natural “air fresheners”. A search on Pinterest will give you thousands of links! I did a quick search and collected the basics here for you.

Common essential oils and their benefits:

◦   Basil: helps relieve headaches

◦   Rosemary: stimulates the mind and improves memory

◦   Clary sage: calms the nervous system

◦   Clove oil: helps relieve congestion and has aphrodisiac qualities

◦   Eucalyptus: expectorant, this eucalyptus species is indicated for children with respiratory congestion, useful for colds and flu, antiviral

◦   Ginger: relieves nausea, warming emotionally and physically.

◦   Geranium: PMS, indicated for hormonal imbalance, antimicrobial, nerve pain

◦   Lavender: improves sleep quality and calms the nerves

◦   Lemon: acts as a natural antidepressant and calms anxiety

◦   Mint: invigorating

◦   Orange: refreshes and relaxes

◦   Peppermint: relieves nausea, relieves/reduces migraines, energizing, antispasmodic, Studies say do not use around children under 30 months of age.

◦   Ylang ylang: aphrodisiac, antidepressant, nourishing

There are many more oils. Search our your favorite scents or find scents that will assist with natural remedies for things you are dealing with.

Ways to use essential oils around your home.

Make a Room Freshener:

◦   Fill a small decorative jar or dish with plain white rice and add in a few drops of oil. Place the jar in whatever room you wish to fill with the fragrance. (Peppermint or lemon work great the bathroom and lavender is soothing in the bedroom.) Click here for a tutorial on this

Clothes freshener:

◦   Dab cotton balls with essential oils and place in the corners of your drawers and closets. It also helps ward off moths!

Freshen while you vacuum:

◦   Place a few drops of oil on a cotton balls and put in your vacuum bag. Each time you vacuum it will smell wonderful!

Freshen your car 

◦   Place a few drops of oil on a cotton balls and put a plastic bag, leave it unsealed. Place it in your car under your seat. 

See full tutorial on the Live Life Whole website here.

To deodorize and clean furniture:

◦   Place a few Combine baking soda and several drops of peppermint, eucalyptus or wintergreen essential oil and sprinkle on furniture, floor, or mattress. The baking soda will absorb moisture, deodorizes and sanitizes. The essential oils will drive away dust mites and leave a clean refreshing smell.

For more research on the dust mite issue read this article: http://doterrablog.com/diy-use-these-two-ingredients-to-say-goodbye-to-dust-mites-and-hello-to-a-cleaner-mattress/#sthash.pkTJ9SDY.dpuf

If all that good smelling stuff isn't good enough reason, there is research out there at proves essential oils are beifital to our health and well being! 

February Challenge: Love Your Body by Eating Clean(er)

A year ago,  February 2014, I challenged myself and all of you to find something you loved every day. I managed to get 25 out of the 28 days with the chalkboard art graphic of something I loved.

This February I am going to kick off another challenge!

February is a shortest month of the year so why not use it as a trial for healthy living!?!

Last year I did a lot of exercise and I'm feeling great. This year I think it's time to challenge myself to make even more changes, specifically in the everyday foods I eat.

Despite all the exercise I've done and my overall daily healthy eating, haven't lost that last 10 pounds of baby weight that I want to get off of me. (Although I know some of that is gaining muscle and losing fat from running and all that kind of thing…)

But after lots of reading and investigation I've come to a realization that I've crossed that threshold into the mid 30 range and it's not just about exercise our calorie consumption (a.k.a. quantity). I really think it has to do a lot with quality. 

I'm really thinking at this point I need to seriously think about metabolism and hormones and overall healthy body balance. 

I've talked before about feeding our kids good food and organic versus healthy versus junk food I think it's time for me to really step up the game and see how much of a difference clean eating makes.

So here's what I'm going to do. I am going to take the month of February and challenge myself to gradually switch my family over to eating high(er)-quality food thought the entire month of February.

Over the next three weeks I'm going to do a series of posts about healthy eating geared towards moms who cook for kids and families. I will also setup a basic framework for the February healthy eating challenge.

I would love to challenge you to join me. No need to jump on the organic or vegan bandwagon, just make some small steps to making your families eating a little more healthy. 

Let's get together, share some tips, recipes, resources, and most importantly encouragement to love your body by eating cleaner and healthy.

Let's make February the eat healthy and love your body month! ❤️

Gym memberships for moms....

As my month long gym membership trial comes to an end I find myself wondering if I should invest the money in a membership to try and 'motivate' myself to go more often. However, each time I have the conversation in my head it ends the same way.  I find it hard to find extra time to go to the gym and I don't want to sacrifice time with family and the few precious bits of free time I have to go.

It is very difficult for mom to find time to go to the gym and do a full "workout". I know there are those "supermoms" who somehow make time to work out every day and do all that kind of stuff and that's all  well and good but for me just working a job (at time multiple jobs) and taking care of the child (yes I only have one but it's still a lot of work) walking the dogs, finding a precious few minutes to spend with my husband, keeping up with general housework, shopping for groceries and other needs, preparing meals, and add in any other social and life requirements…. that leaves me with little time to go to the gym.

About a year ago there was a mom who made a statement about how everyone should work out and there was a lot of feedback both positive and negative towards her the link here. http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/17/opinion/navarrette-maria-kang/index.html

Everyone has their choices…  For some, going to the gym and doing a cardio resistance training work out is a top priority.  I am not here to judge, each person makes their own decision based on what they have in their life. Some woman may work part time or stay at home, some may have childcare, a housecleaner, and other help. I do not have those things.

Yes, staying healthy is a priority for me but sacrificing time away from the other things in my life to go to a gym isn't something I am willing to do right now. 

I would rather take the dogs and my daughter on a walk to the park and see may daughter play and enjoy yourself. I might do a few lunges and pull ups on the equipment while she's playing, in doing this I'm still getting exercise and I have happy pets and a happy daughter.

My two pups and I taking a stroll.

There are some great tips out there for moms of young kids on how to incorporate fitness into your schedule while keeping family first. This is one of my favorites:

http://www.alexharalson.com/2013/09/9-workout-tips-for-super-busy-moms.html

In the end i'm going to make the choices that match with my current lifestyle and fit with my priorities. If that means spending a summer day playing in the backyard to be with my husband and daughter may not burn a lot of fat and won't give me a deep muscle work out but I move, I get some exercise, and I feel a lot stronger mentally because of the choices I make. So join me in joining the motherhood gym where health is important but family comes first. 

Its that time of year for Teacher Thank Yous!

Its that time of year for Teacher Thank You Gifts!

I will be the first to admit that if another mom hadn't shown up a today (a day early) with teacher gifts I would have totally forgotten to bring something on Friday.

Click on the picture to hop to a blog with more cute teacher ideas.

I want to do something to show my gratitude (because my daughters teachers were phenomenal) but i'm on a budget and now only have 36 hours.

Run to Pintrest…. find a spark of an idea….. run with it…..

I want something practical that the teachers can use in some way. I've worked in the education system long enough and have received several gifts that I look at with appreciation but wonder what in the world I will do with yet another mug, etc….


It came down to two choices:

Thanks for making me sparkle and attach sparkly nail polish.
                or
Thanks for making me one smart cookie and attach cookies.

I love the play on words for both but don't know if either teacher paints their nails. I do know both teachers have families with kids who would (i'm pretty sure) love to eat sweets.

One smart cookie has won!

I hopped online and typed in "one smart cookie" and found some free clip art, downloaded it...

Added the text in Microsoft word, then I printed it on card stock.

Next a quick trip to the grocery store for a gourmet cookie for each teacher. Add some cute ribbon….

And it is done.

Cleaning a Cast Iron Skillet

I love using my cast irons skillet to cook. However the first time I cleaned it and realized I couldn't use soap I was at a loss. It wasnt until I saw a post about cleaning with salt that I found the ultimate way to clean this pan. I have used this often and it works!!!!

Here is my dirty pan after making some phenomenal gluten free fried chicken... Yuck!

First scrap out all the grease and residue you can with a spatula. 

Then grab our COURSE sea salt. (Only a few dollars for a large size at your cloc grocery store.)

Sprinkle it liberally onto your pan.

Use a sponge or plastic scrubber and firmly push the salt around the pan. Add a tiny bit of water if needed.

You will notice an the salt starts to turn to a dirty color.

When it looks like most of the dirt is in the salt and off the pan, rinse thoroughly.

If you see any remaining residue add more salt and scrub again.

Dry thoroughly and you are ready for your next use. 

Some people like to coat the pan with a bit of olive oil to prevent rust but I find that the pan doesn't need that because use it often enough.

Do you have a cleaning tip that you love? Please share :-) 

Spring Cleaning

I am feeling the need to do some spring cleaning. Yes my house needs spring cleaning the house always needs cleaning but I'm talking about a little bit of spring cleaning in my life.

 Lately I find myself overwhelmed by the amount of activities that I'm helping with or lending a hand for participating in the number of emails and getting the sort through each day time to clean out. 

 

Do I really need all those emails from websites that show how to make cute cards and cute scrapbook pages? I can always search the web if I really need an idea and it will provide me with plenty of ideas...

Time to unsubscribe or block all those emails so that I'm not tempted to clutter up my life and eat up time going through them.

Ahhhhhhh! Feeling better already...
 

Now it's time to look at the committees I'm on and nicely resign from a few and bring it down to just one committee meeting once a month.....

I am feeling so much better! This is the way its supposed to be. I want to come home from work and be able to take of what needs to be done at home and then spend the rest of the time with my family. I don't want to be constantly burdened by the thought of what I need to do and where I need to go next.

 

There are all sorts of other spring cleaning tips out there, tips for home cleaning, fitness programs, healthy eating cleanse programs, and more. However, I need to be on my way. It is time to spring clean my life by listing out my priorities and cleaning out the rest of the "clutter"!


While in the midst of this "spring cleaning life" revelation I did a bit of web searching and found a few good links I thought I would share:

This website gives a few good tips on how to do a mental/spiritual spring cleaning:
http://www.beliefnet.com/Wellness/Personal-Growth/5-Ways-to-Spring-Clean-Your-Life.aspx

If you are looking for some tips on how to do a spring cleaning of your digital world take a glance at this story:
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/technology/2014/04/5-quick-tips-to-spring-clean-your-digital-life/


 

Natural VS Organic VS Healthy….. What is a mom to do?

After my little yogurt ordeal in the grocery store the other day I got to thinking about healthy eating and the challenges that moms face when having to provide their children with healthy foods in such a challenging time.

We all want to feed our kids the best. I know when my daughter was born I wanted to give her the most 'organic' and 'natural' foods I could. Especially when first introducing solid foods that first year. When we switched to milk I vowed to buy the good stuff (lets rephrase that, I bought the expensive stuff) so she wouldn't get hormones and all those other "terrible" things that I read about as a new mom…..

Here is a study from Stanford about organic vs regular produce…. I consider Stanford a pretty good source. I was surprised by this study. https://scopeblog.stanford.edu/2012/09/03/research-shows-little-evidence-that-organic-foods-are-more-nutritious-than-conventional-ones/

Fast forward 4 years…. I am still trying to provide healthy foods for all of us but i feel like i am fighting a losing battle. Between living on a budget and the cleverness of the advertising companies along with limited time (I am a full time working mom) and a host of other things in life.

We are not the prime example for organic healthy eating……  However, we are not unhealthy either.

I'd say we fall right in the middle. I decided to do a bit of my own web research and share some tips on how I balance todays mass produced foods with some healthy choices for my family.

1. We decided to purchase our beef locally from a farmer who raises and slaughters his own cattle. The cattle are very well cared for. Raised in small numbers. Hormone free. Feed a primarily grass diet with supplementation of oats, hay, and other healthy materials during the winter months. Let me tell you, I have never liked red meat. This meat is phenomenal!

2. We garden during the summer. We have a 4'x8' raised garden bed and we grown lettuce, tomato, spinach, carrots, strawberries, lots of herbs and more. (we tried beans and peas but I can't seem to win the war against aphids.) Gardening is easy. Gardening is fun. Gardening is a great way to get your little ones outdoors and involved so they see where food comes from.

3. I read nutrition labels carefully at the store.

4. I cook as many meals as I can during the week
To me this means: We don't eat out often and don't microwave or heat up boxed dinners. I don't make everything from scratch, but I find ways to incorporate as many fresh and healthy ingredients as I can while still making it in a doable amount of time.

5. I balance my choices knowing that sometimes life isn't going to be perfect and we will occaisonally eat at a fast food restaurant, occasionally make boxed mac and cheese (see how i make mine a bit more healthy here), and yes, sometimes I will give in and buy a food because my daughter sees the cartoon character and begs for it and at the moment it makes my life easier.

I would love to be super mom and serve only the best but there is no such thing as 'supermom'. There is just me and I know that the decisions I make for my family in the moment are the best I can make at that moment. The older I get and the more life experience I have I realize how hard life is. I try not to judge other moms and I hope other moms don't judge me. If we all look into our hearts and know that we are doing the best we can for our families in the decision we make today then we are doing good.

In todays world, I feel like healthy isn't a place one can be but instead it has to be a goal that we strive for.

What choices do you make that make your families food choices a little healthier each day?

Some other resources for you to check out:

a great blog about a mom and her move from feeding her son all organic and her quest for knowledge about todays pesticides and todays foods. http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/the_kids/2014/01/organic_vs_conventional_produce_for_kids_you_don_t_need_to_fear_pesticides.html

http://www.stonyfield.com/blog/natural-and-organic/

here is a great ABC news piece on how labels can deceive:
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/lifestyle/2014/02/natural-vs-organic-how-food-labels-deceive/

In my mind Mayo Clinc is a pretty good place to get healthy and medical information. Here is a piece they wrote about foods:
http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/organic-food/art-20043880

Make a mommy friend and keep her…… and other advice from a great source.

A few of my friends shared the link to this post. I read over it and thought it was good, but after tonight I really realized how true #4 is.

I became friends with a woman with while we were both enrolled in the same birthing class (both of us 1st time parents) and our daughters happened to be born two just weeks apart. In the last 2 years we've reconnect and become even better friends because our daughter now attend the same school.
She called me needing a friendship moment, I meet up with her tonight and she ended up giving me just as much support as I gave her tonight.

Good mommy friends are a blessing somedays and lifesavers other days!

Worth the read for the humor but know that there is truth to all 10 of these too.

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 The following was blogged on scarymommy.com. I strongly encourage you to check out her blog. She has some humorous and great truths about parenting and mommy hood. 

The direct link to this article is http://www.scarymommy.com/ten-things-they-wont-tell-you-but-i-will/

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About the Author...

Christine Burke is a coauthor in the recently released anthology, “I Just Want To Be Alone” and blogs about her Hubby and two Fruit Loops on the blog, The Keeper of The Fruit Loops.  Find her on Twitter, Google+ and Facebook!

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http://www.scarymommy.com/