My Valentine's Day

Usually we don't really make too big of a deal out of Valentine's Day, but this year I felt VERY SPECIAL!

My hubby took the kids all day while I went to lunch and shopping with my sister-in-law. We are going out on Saturday so I was on a mission for the perfect outfit. It was fun to shop without kids, but stressful to focus so much on myself. After like 5 hours (????) of shopping, I finally found something. We kept reminded ourselves that it was the journey not the destination. :) I'm very excited to wear my new outfit this weekend...especially my new shoes!

The best part is that when I got home I found what the boys had been working on:

I'm a lucky lady :)

Hope you all had an equally special day!

Reflections and Resolutions

Reflections and Resolutions

While we are all making resolutions, it’s important to reflect a little too. I’ll admit I’ve never actually made a new year’s resolution (or maybe I don't remember because I didn't keep any!). It seems kind of silly to me, especially since most of us don’t stick to them. However, I’ve been beginning to organize my life a little better this year and decided to try to make some goals/resolutions for our family.

In thinking of the future year I wanted to reflect a little on this past year. Here’s what we’ve accomplished:

1.       I finished my Associates Degree

2.       We  bought our first house

3.       Louie was potty trained (HUGE deal for us!)

4.       Leo took his first steps

5.       Al started a new job as Paramedic of special events in Chicago (including all Chicago sports)

6.       I started couponing and saving us a ton of money!!

We’ve been so blessed this year!

With all of these wonderful things, we look to this next year as a year of settling into our home. It feels so great to know we don’t have a lease ending in 6 months. While our house needs A LOT of work, it’s OUR house, and luckily my husband is handy and I’m creative. I’m excited to share our journey and keep you posted on the progress of our following resolutions for 2011:

1.       Remodel kitchen

2.       Organize basement storage

3.       Plant a garden and grow our own vegetables

(I love http://asonomagarden.wordpress.com/)

4.       Make our own lotions/soaps

(http://asonomagarden.wordpress.com/ also has recipes and tutorials for this)

5.       Home school Louie (Preschool)

(I got some great learning activities from my mother-in-law like My First Book Of Cutting (Kumon Workbooks))

6.       Improve Heating and Cooling Systems

7.       Increase blog readers/followers

8.   Get out and stay out of debt

 (I plan on reading Dave Ramsey's The Total Money Makeover, I've heard great things about it!)

I hope you continue to read and enjoy my blog in 2011! Wishing you all a Happy New Year full of blessings!

One Thing at a Time

Sometimes trying to be the best wife and mom can be extremely overwhelming. There are SO many tasks involved in this job! I try to take care of the kids, make the best food for the lowest price, organize finances, clean the house after a tornado of toys, do the laundry, participate in hobbies, and all with a smile on my face.

Being the best at everything is exhausting and unrealistic. Every meal will not be our favorite, every toy might not get picked up, there may just be a load of laundry or two waiting to be done, and unfortunately I may not get to every sewing and scrapbooking project that I want...but that's OK! What's important is that I take it one thing at a time in order to avoid getting stressed about the big picture.

Life is full of "To-do" lists, its important not to let those lists swallow us up. Take life one thing at a time, one day at a time, and don't be afraid to throw that list out every once in a while and enjoy yourself.

Lessons from Mom

While we are all still recovering from the holidays, I thought I'd post a couple of lessons my mom has taught me to make things more manageable.

My Finished Rice Krispie Ornaments

1. Freeze Your Goodies

We all love Christmas cookies and snacks. Every year I over eat because I leave those yummy treats out on the counter. My mom has always had a lot of self control in this area, and she says its because she'll put them all in the freezer where she's not constantly walking past them. This way you'll keep them fresh, but you can enjoy them longer by grabbing a couple at a time, instead of all in two days!

Louie's New Book of Cutting Activities

Leo's Alphabet Train

2. One Thing at a Time


We were all very blessed this year with lots of Christmas presents, mainly from my parents. This can be a bit overwhelming, especially all the kids toys. The kids are so young that they generally take everything out at one and throw the pieces all over until they are lost or broken. My mom suggests taking one thing out at a time, its less overwhelming for everyone and you can keep the toys in good shape for much longer. There are some things that we still haven't even opened! Then keep them put away where the kids can't just take them out and throw them all over. For example, have puzzles, board games, and Lego sets in a closet somewhere and only take out one at a time.

This is especially important for nice toys or games. Last year my father-in-law got Louie a Leap Frog, he loves it, but we put it away for awhile because he was too young to play with it by himself. We've recently starting taking it out a few times a week, it seems more special now and we were able to keep it in good working order all year!


Thanks for all the advice, Mom! (She has also influenced most of the After Christmas Traditions.)


Here is the Lego organizer we got from my mom which has been working well for many types of activities with small parts (Legos, K'Nex, Puzzles):