Pretty Feet?

If you remember from some of my other postings, I have found it hard to fit “ME” on the list. You know, after you’re done taking care of all your work: the job (or your business), the husband, the house, the kids, the pets and whatever else has found its way onto your never-ending list. You have no time, no energy or no desire to give anything to yourself.

Well, knock it off!!!

I don’t know if it’s the warmer weather, all the talk about spring break or the count down to Easter, but I’ve got Flip Flops on my brain. Are your feet ready to be out? Seriously, do you feel that it is safe to unleash them and allow public viewing? Well you better get ready.

Now, I know it can be hard to find the time to pamper ourselves, but with just a few short minutes a few days a week your pretty piggys can be picture perfect.

Exfoliate, moisturize, repeat... Don’t worry; you’ll have sandal-worthy toes in no time. There are several different types of loofah sponges and pumice stones available at any drug store. Find the ones you like best and put them in the shower. All you need to do is add 2 to 3 minutes to your routine. (Even every-other-day is enough). Scrub the dry rough areas with a loofah or a scrub brush just a few seconds during your shower and then go over them again with a pumice stone once you get out.

As a side note, if you have hairy little spiders growing on the tops of your toes; wax, pluck or shave, but make those things go away. I have a friend and she has the cutest summer footwear but I get so distracted with the giant furry monster sitting on her toes that I find it hard to think about anything else. So, look down, if you have the urge to grab a rolled up newspaper, you might want to reach for the razor instead.

To finish up, use your favorite lotion and give yourself a quick massage. I especially like to rub some nice cream on at bedtime then I put socks on to help hold the moisture in. I promise you’ll be ready for those summer shoes in no time. I don’t recommend using lotion before you slid into those sandals, make for slippery steps. (I lived and learned… trust me)

Extra Hint: In the summer before I run out the door with my flip flops, I put a drop of scented massage oil on each toe. It helps moisturize my cuticles, the shine makes my polish look fresh and it smells pretty.

Now go dust off those sexy strapy sandals.

Head on over to The Daily Grind to enter in the giveaway Martha has for your flip flop feet.

DIY bookmark

I’ve just added a new product to my web site, but you’ll have to make it yourself.



No, I’m not on strike. I’m starting Do-It-Yourself kits. Sure, you could go out to the store and buy all the stuff yourself, but if you don’t want to make 20 of something, you’ll be left with a bunch of extra supplies that you don’t need. That also means that you will most likely spend 2 to 3 times the amount of money.

My neighbor asked me to put together a kit for a birthday gift for a fifth grader. Instead of getting one of my ready-made bookmarks, she thought this young girl might like to put it together herself.

I talked with the Mom of the girl who received the kit to see how things went. She thought it was a wonderful idea and said that her daughter was able to put the bookmark together following the instructions herself and didn’t need any help. She loves to read and now uses the bookmark that she made herself.

If you go to the store and buy all the supplies needed, you will spend between $14.00 and $20.00 and have things left over. Or, if your interested, you can get a you can get a kit from me for $7.50. You pick the color of the metal finish and the color of the beads. The kit comes with everything you need, except a few simple tools that you probably have around the house. (pliers and wire cutters) Included are complete, step-by-step instructions with color illustrations. These kits make wonderful gifts for the crafty and not-so-crafty alike. They are simple enough for someone as young as 6 or 7 years of age (with help following the instructions) and are just as fun for older kids and adults

Go here to order yours.



Do Forget!!! You still have time to use the Promo Time coupon for earrings. It’s good until the end of March 2009.

Dinner fast, easy AND they'll eat it too

I love anything that makes cooking easy. I use my crockpot whenever I can; I follow recipes that start with things already semi done and my favorite cookbook claims that the recipes only have four ingredients. So here is a recipe that I came up with on my own to make meal planning a breeze. It is sort of a twist on chicken parm.

I like it because the kiddos eat it up (veggies and all), everything is in one dish, prep and cleanup are a cinch, it’s on the table in no time and I usually have these items on hand for that last minute “Oh goodness, what’s for diner???”

Ingredients:

1 jar of spaghetti sauce (your favorite)
1 package of frozen spinach (Frozen chopped broccoli florets work just the same)
Some cheese (Sliced or shredded; provolone, mozzarella anything you have, I like Swiss the best)
Frozen, breaded chicken breast. (I prefer that they are fully cooked, and that they are full breasts, not tiny tenders or little fingers. I also avoid the “crispy” version there is just too much coating). Directions:

Put the spinach in the microwave to defrost while you get the rest ready
Layer some sauce on the bottom of your baking dish,
Then layer in the frozen chicken
Place a slice of cheese on each piece of chicken (or sprinkle shredded cheese on top – whatever you have)
Take the thawed spinach and squeeze out excess water. Sprinkle it over the cheese.
Pour the remainder of sauce over everything.
If you have extra shredded or grated cheese, you can sprinkle some on the top.

Put it in the oven. You will need to follow the directions from the chicken package and add about 10 minutes to accommodate for all the extra stuff. It will usually take 20-30 minutes at 400 to 425.

SERVE

What to do with all those baby wipe bins

Once you realize how many diapers a baby can go through, it’s not long before you start buying them in bulk. If you have ever purchased a case of baby wipes, you know that each case comes with a new plastic dispenser bin. Well, you only need so many of those dispensers and if you’re like me, you save the rest. As a side note, this drives my husband crazy and is, in part, why I save every last one.




















Picture the conversation going something like this:


T: Why do we have so many of these things? (As he heads toward the wastebasket with several in hand)
R: (Panicked) No! Don’t throw them away, I’m saving them.
T: (puzzled) Why?
R: I don’t want to throw them away; I might need them for something…someday.
T: (eyes roll)
R: They are perfectly good…for something…I’m sure? I can put toys and stuff in them. Just leave them in there, please. I’m not tossing your stuff out.
T: (heavy sigh)
R: (smirk, I won!)

It wasn’t until my first little angel was older and had acquired more toys that I knew what to do with them. I finally came up with a true purpose for the bins. Cleaning up was more ‘me’ trying to find creative ways to tuck and shove things out of sight for the 2 hours she was napping before it was all spewed around the room again. The job of “clean up” was not only a daunting task for my then-2-year-old but becoming rather difficult for me as well. I didn’t want to just leave everything out, I was determined to have “adult space” for the 30 minutes between her bedtime and the time when I would be passed out on the couch waiting for my husband to wake me and tell me it was time to go to bed.

So, back to the baby wipe bins. I realized one day that my darlings were better at clean up if it was more of a matching game. Put the blocks in the block bin; put the pony things in the pony bin and so forth.





After the first few bins appeared with pictures on their sides, we had a new game on our hands; making more picture-coded bins. We went off to the trusted computer and clicked on Google and then on Images. Then, type in the name of the toy for which you are trying to create a container. Find an image that will be easily recognizable to your little one and make 3 or 4 copies of that image. Print them out then cut and tape them onto each side of the bin. Not only will clean up be easier, but they will also be able to find the toy they are looking for with a little less help from you. The added bonus is that all those bins stack up very nicely making the toy area tidy.











Have fun organizing!

Call a Friend

I just spent the evening with an amazing group of friends. They are an ongoing reminder to me of the importance of friendships. I thought I would share one of my friendship stories with you.

I usually try to be as optimistic as I can. It sometimes takes effort and there are times when I need to remind myself that the glass is half full. One day, over a year ago, I called a friend so I could whine and complain about my then “bad day”. When she picked up the phone she was so happy to know that it was me calling. She was having a bad day and needed to unload. When she was done, she asked me what I called for and I no longer had the energy to run down the details of my stress, so I said “I called to say ‘hi’”. We chatted some more and then went off to continue our daily routines. Then a few weeks later when I just didn’t think anything would go right for me, I picked up the phone and called a different friend. I said, “Hi, I just called to see what you’re up to”. Several minutes later, I was laughing and thinking about what I would make for dinner. After the phone call, I was cooking supper and reminiscing the call in my head. I realized that I felt better, not so much because I was able to tell about my day or that I was able to hear that someone else was having a bad day, but that it feels so good to be there for someone else.

With that said, there are times when a bad day means that it is time to sit down and call a friend. Here’s a look into a few days I had last week. Not one thing is that big of a deal but strung together with a few other stressors and I was ready to pull my hair out.

You know, you check the calendar to see if it’s Friday the 13th…No.
Full moon…No.
Well, let’s just chalk it up to Murphy’s Law.

I left just two minutes later than usual for the school drop off. Half way there I came upon a “road closed” sign and had to turn around and double back adding several miles to my route. This means after flying through town, I still ended up screeching into the drop off line at the last second.

After that race, I headed off to the grocery store with baby in tow, to pick up a few things. Back at home with a ton of stuff I didn’t really need, I realized that I did not have two of the items I set out to get in the first place. While making lunch for all my hungry mouths (and attempting to do so as fast as possible since the baby was screaming at me to give him his milk), I blew up chicken in the microwave. After, of coarse, I had just given it a thorough cleaning. After lunch, my daughter found the surprise school snack I hid for her in the closet. (There goes that surprise)

By the next morning, I awake thinking that “today will be a better day”.
HA!
Making coffee, I realize that yesterday’s trip to the store, I mistakenly bought fat free creamer instead of regular…Blaaa.
It actually took me a minute to go from thinking about using formula before reverting back to using sugar and milk (Which really only tastes good when you drink coffee in a ‘Jersey dinner at 3 am.)

With the bus rolling down the hill, it hits me that today is library day. (My daughter, looking panicked, states that she has no idea where her book is). With my feet barely hitting the floor, I fly threw the living room and up the steps to her room. I find it under some of her clothes and run out to the bus stop in my bare feet to slide the book into her backpack. While out there, …in my bare feet…as it starts to rain, the bus driver (shaking his finger at me) tells me all the ways that this is wrong.

Fearful of what the rest of my day may hold for me, I check in with a friend and heard that she was in the same boat. I listened to stories of various bus stop traumas, tears that have been shed before even leaving for the bus, being up from 2 am until 4:30 with a kiddo who is screaming over what was to her, an unfair punishment. I’m reminded of the squeal little girls make that is in a pitch usually only heard by dogs.
All these things that test the strength of a mother. (They don’t call it tough love for nothin’.)

Now, here is where a good friend really comes in handy. During my conversation, I am reminded that I remembered the book, which keeps my daughter from having a bad day. (That means when she gets home there is one less thing that is my fault) And as I run outside shoeless it is 55 degrees instead of the typical 30 ish for mid February. Another good point is that my bare feet are not sticking to the ice that would normally be on the driveway this time of year.

I feel somewhat better about my day, having been able to laugh at the expense of others and talk with a good friend. I still try to think of the up side when I feel myself wanting to complain, but there are days when you just need to get it off your chest. So as you run the list of gal pals through your head and think about those friends who let you bend their ear when your chips are down. Remember, you might be surprised to know how good it feels to just listen.

Go call a friend today.

I {heart} my Swiffer

The one "I can’t do without" product in this house is my trusty swiffer. I have white floors and three kids plus one not so tidy hubby. Enough said! I swiffer daily, twice if people are coming over. Well, not all people. My Mom and the friends who have been instructed to never see any dirt or dust in my house don’t qualify for the double swiffer. But you can be sure that my trusty swiffer is never far away. Not only do I keep it close at hand but I buy the cleaning pads in bulk.

Why am I sharing this little tid-bit you ask? Well, sit right there and let me tell you.
Alice made me do it.
Who’s Alice?
I’m glad you asked.
Alice (dot) com asked about my favorite household product and the rest is…well, you just read the rest.
Now for your chance to win a Flip Video Camera, go see Alice and tell her about your favorite household product.

Good Luck!!

Manic Monday

School daze…
Getting our little ones up, fed, dressed and ready to go out the door can be a real magic act. One trick I found helpful, and something that I implemented the first month of kindergarten was a clothing cubby. Getting 3 kiddos out of bed, on the potty and seated at the breakfast table was my morning work out. Up the steps…down the steps…up the steps…down the steps. OK, running up and down the steps was getting out of hand. In an effort to reduce the number of times I chased my tale helping my little dependants and to make my overall planning-ahead job easier, I started placing a weeks worth of clothes into clothing cubbies. For around $20.00 from a mail order catalog, I cut one of my jobs from the morning “to do” list.

Each week, as I put the laundry away, I fill Monday thru Friday with completed outfits. I make sure that each bin gets socks and undies as well as the right clothing for the right day. Sweats and sneakers for gym class, the new shirt for casual day and a sweater on the day that the trusty weatherman is calling for a drop in temperature. Now, I can stay down stairs feeding the baby and coaxing the 3 year old to finish breakfast while the older one is up getting dressed independently. I think next, I’m going to hang a small picture of books as a reminder on the day that library is scheduled.
The best part is how easy it was to incorporate into our daily routine. I pulled the day of the week cubbies out of the delivery box and wrapped the Velcro hanger around the closet rod. Step one…DONE. I explained that it was something she could do “all by herself” and she couldn’t wait for the next school day. Step two…DONE. On Mondays she needs to get the step stool out of the bathroom to reach the top bin, but it barely even slows her down. This one gets filed under one of my best ideas ever. If only I had invented the day of the week cubbies….Ahhh that would be nice.
Let me know your manic Monday, “make life easier” ideas.