Getting Rid of the Crap

I began an organizing project of sorts this month. I came across a post on Pinterest challenging readers to tackle the task of getting rid of 10 things a day for a week. Sounds pretty simple huh?  However, as I glanced around my house, I realized that I needed to get rid of 10 things a day for the entire month to make the kind of impact I want to see in our home.

Why not do that?

This month I am getting rid of 10 things EVERY DAY for the entire month of April. That's it.  No other rules to follow or "clean ____ on _____ day" charts to dictate my process. Just a promise to get rid of the crap that I've put on a backburner for too long.  No more "I'd like to sell those when I have  time to list them online..." or "Maybe I can craft with that someday..." I'm doing this thing.  Just me and a trash bag tackling the world...er...my house anyway.

Honestly, I've tried a few Organize Your Entire House in 30 Days! thingies before. I NEVER make it more than a week before I'm behind and give up out of frustration. I don't follow rules well, I like to be free to work in whatever area I choose instead of using a "Day 7: Laundry Room" type system. I think this variation will work well for me.

While I'm keeping my plan pretty loose, I've decided to follow the basic organizational guideline of Toss, Donate, or Sell. If I decide to toss something, I do that immediately, into the garbage that crap goes. That's the easy part for everyone though right? It gets trickier when you start considering donating or selling items. Ugh, I don't like tricky. :/

 This is what I've decided to do. I set up two bins in my home- the donation bin is easily assessable in our garage and the sell bin is in my bedroom. You might think that my bedroom sounds like an odd place to stash stuff I want to get rid of but honestly I want that sucker smack dab in the middle of my way each day so I don't forget to focus on getting rid of it. I'm spacey, if I tuck it into my closet or even push it over into the corner of the room I'm likely to allow it to stay there forever and not think about it ever again. Not the goal here. It's sitting at the foot of my bed and anything that goes in there absolutely MUST leave by the end of April. If I don't manage to sell it I'll take it to donation with the other bin.

I'm excited to see the change in our home after getting rid of all of the excess items taking up space and causing extra work in my home. Goodbye outgrown baby clothes! Goodbye unused toys! Goodbye random kitchen gadgets that I don't even know how to use! Goodbye maternity clothes! Can I get an amen on that last one?!?

Now I want to encourage you to tackle a declutter challenge of your own this month. Maybe you're one of the amazing people that would see a huge impact from simply getting rid of 10 things a day for a week. Or perhaps you prefer a detailed attack plan guiding you to tackling all areas of your home according to a schedule. Whatever floats your boat is great! I encourage you to find something that you think will work for you and give it a go with me this month.  We can encourage each other along the way and set ourselves up for a relaxed spring in with less clutter. Sounds pretty good to me.

Let's do this thing.

" I'm Bored! " 7 Simple Boredom Busters You Can Do RIGHT NOW!

3 snow days in a row. THREE. If your kids are anything like mine, you are starting to hear increased bickering and even an "I'm bored!" here and there.  This list of ideas can help you beat the hum drums of another snow day. Check out 7 of our favorite family activities to bust up the boredom and renew creative energy.  All of these ideas use household items and require very little or no prep work. Enjoy!


1. Set up a stuffed animal zoo or vet office.
 Make signs, tickets, prescriptions, etc. Get creative and go all out. Lead zoo tours or treat patients with bandages, medicine and lots of snuggles. Right now my 4 year old is SUPER into Doc Mcstuffins so we frequently play toy doctor. Get in on the creative play with your child. The doc is in!

2. Blocks.
Best. Toy. Ever. The play opportunities for creative exploration with blocks are endless. I love issuing creative challenges for the kids and seeing what they come up with. Here are a few simple ideas to get you started. How tall can you build your tower before it topples? How many blocks can you stack in one minute?

If you have legos around you're in luck, there have been a million brilliant posts from Mommy bloggers all over recently about play and learning activities using these amazing little bricks.  Moms never cease to amaze me when it comes to finding new ways to use basic things. Use those Legos in a new way. My kids love the Lego Mystery Challenge  , for more ideas like it check out the Lego Family Challenge but a quick Google search will give you TONS of options. :) If you'd like to sneak in a little learning I recommend this easy math game and building letters/words with Legos!

3. Build with unusual objects.
 Legos and building blocks are fabulous go-to boredom busters but if the repeated snow days have your kids in a building rut offer up different building options to spark their imagination. Suggestions: toothpicks/marshmallows, cardboard tp tubes and boxes, tupperware dishes and plastic cups, solo party cups, straws/play dough, or go big and build a fort!

4. Play movement games. 
This is a great day for childhood games like Hide and Seek or Simon Says. As kids get bigger charades is a fun game and can be switched up with different themes. Another great idea is to turn some music on (louder is always better) and have a dance party. Break out the dress up clothes and feather boas while you dance like nobody is watching.
My kids also love a game we learned in Preschool that we call the Sleeping Game. I sing out "Sleeping, sleeping, all the children are sleeping" the kids lay down on the floor and close their eyes while I do this. When everyone is settled I say "and when they wake up they are _____!" The kiddos get up and act like the animal or thing I said until I call out for them to sleep again. It sounds too simple to be fun but this is a game that we've played for 3 years now and my 7 year old still joins in with her sister enjoying the family game. It is a great way to get some energy out in a playful way.

5. Set up simple Carnival games in the living room. 
 It's not hard to whip up a beanbag toss(use socks rolled into balls if you don't have beanbags around), shooting range(break out the nerf guns and build targets), or an obstacle course(use things around the house- have them race to put on their winter gear, jump over couch cushions, climb over/under chairs and tables, etc.)  I also love this idea of setting up a laser obstacle course in a hallway with yarn! How clever! These are all fairly easy things to set up that will break up the monotony of another day at home.

6. Try out a new science experiment or play recipe. 
There are great ideas all over the internet for creating goop, slime, flubber, homemade playdough and all kinds of other messy and wonderfully squishy things at home with your kids. Search around a bit and find something new to try with the kiddos. Sometimes the concoctions are amazing and provide hours of entertainment, sometimes they tank but either way it's fun to experiment with your kids! Some of my personal favorites are Flubber and Oobleck. I give both of these my Mama seal of approval if that matters but I do want to note that I didn't think our Oobleck had the consistency the recipe suggested. It was still tons of fun and my avid Dr. Seuss fans got a HUGE kick out of it anyway, playing with it for over an hour until Daddy's arrival home distracted them. :)

7. Get the creative juices flowing again with Art!
One of the easiest ways to break up boredom is to bust out the art supplies. The possibilities go on and on.  Every day I see Mamas showing off beautiful kid-created masterpieces all over Pinterest...that's great and all but please don't get a frown-y face if you sit your child down with the paints or markers and the result is a messy looking brown mash-up of 7 mixed up colors instead of the cute little project you were hoping for. Brag about it, display it on the mantle, blog it and pin it all over the place because it is a fabulous one-of-a-kind creation crafted by none other than the best little picasso you know! So what if the horse is blue and looks like a pine cone. :)

Process is so much more important than product for children. I won't dive into the subject in great detail because it's one of my soapbox issues but I encourage you to rest in the peace that it is still fun even if it's scribbles or so covered in paint smears that it will take 3 days to dry completely.

If you're in an artistic rut allow me to recommend snow paint

 

 or wax-resist "magic" art. To create wax-resist art simply draw on white paper with a white crayon(press hard!) or a white oil pastel if you have it and then paint over the page with watercolors or a watered down tempera mixture. The crayon magically shows up through the paint and wows children every. single. time.

Enjoy some playful time with the kiddos today!

Andrew at 5 months!

Wow, the holidays came with a frenzy of activity around here! I'm behind...again.  At the very end of November Andrew turned 5 months old!

He's doing so great. This kid...love him. :)

Andrew at 4 months!

I finally finished Andrew's 4 month photo board. It's about time. October was such fun! Andrew is getting a bit more interested in the world around him and this Mama has been feeling a bit braver about venturing out into the world with 3 kids in tow. We're starting to find a family groove. :) Perfect timing too because I so enjoy fall! We managed to sneak in a trip to a pumpkin patch, the cider mill, and our the Legoland Discovery Center here in KC before the month was over. I even tackled a mall with all 3 one weekend and nailed it. :)  It was a super eventful month compared to what we've been doing recently. I loved it. LOVED it. I can't emphasize enough how much I enjoyed getting everyone out of the house for family time.

Mama and Andrew at the pumpkin patch

Bubby's first time at a pumpkin patch!

Daddy and Andrew at the Cider Mill

Snuggling with the best sisters a dude could ask for!

 Here are a few of the recent happenings in month four

Man I love that thumbsucking, teething, ticklish, laughing little fella!

Andrew's Superhero Nursery

I know, superheroes are a bit of a fad right now.

 However, I've been dreaming about the day that I'd have a son for many years and I'm going to decorate his nursery in superheroes just like I imagined I would despite current trends.

There aren't many things that I remember from my childhood but  I do know that I LOVED Batman during my tiny years. I had the little footie pj's with the attached cape, watched the cartoon every day after naptime, collected the trading cards and named my first pets, two little kittens, Batman and Robin. You are jealous, I know.

I used to love playing heroes with the neighbor boys and thought that we kicked villian butt each day in the backyard until our parents called us in for supper.

I wasn't much of a girlie girl at that age huh?

Things have changed since then. I grew up, met and married my very best friend and we had two daughters. Somewhere along the way in that first pregnancy my girly girl meter skyrocketed out of control. Suddenly I was sighing over frilly pink things and teaching myself how to make hairbows. Luckily a bit of that wore off in the early parenting years and my children get out of the house most days without some monstrosity hair thing sticking out of their heads. They are a pretty girly crew though - Big Sis prefers dresses to any other clothing item and once went an entire year refusing to wear anything else, even on the worst winter days, while Little Sis has a thing for sparkly hats and fancy shoes. Dress-up outfits litter their bedroom floor. Every. Single. Day.

I love having girls. It's fabulous. However, I'm looking forward to seeing the flip side of that fun. I can't wait to find my son creating with Legos, at war with sister armed with nerf guns and yelling "duck!!" as paper planes whiz past my head. I've set up his room with that kind of play in mind. His room is currently the favorite hangout in our house. :)

Let me show you around!

When you first enter the room you come to the rocking chair along this wall with the little Batman hooks, shelf, steel magnet boards(man of steel, get it?), and the bat signal nightlight. Right beside my chair I have the brother print found here and a canvas of Andrew's mild mannered alter ego newborn portrait.

Everyone in our house favors different superheroes so we decided to have a hodge podge mix up of all kind of different heroes instead of going with just one or drawing lines between DC or Marvel. Even Mighty Mouse gets some star space on one of the magnet boards. "Here I come to save the day!" The little green lantern guy came from our favorite pizza place and the ring came from a Sonic kids meal. Decorate with what you have, people! :)

I love, Love, LOVE Andrew's string art name and paper plane mobile. Tutorials will be coming soon for both! The string art is funky and draws your eye in the small space. Andrew adores his mobile, especially if the ceiling fan is on low and it flutters overhead. Both were super easy and inexpensive ways to add some fun to his room.

The toy area. Admittedly our girls favorite zone in Andrew's room. His black totes serve as dresser space- storing clothes, blankets and bath items while the open shelves house favorite books and toys. Play things on the shelves move periodically as my 4 year old decides to rearrange but she's the one who created the hulk stacking tower and I love it so her arrangements don't bother me too much. We had to declare the bobble heads as no-touch items after extreme giggly use made Thor's head twist backwards but other than that I let them play with everything down to the piggy bank. Andrew's room serves as a play space anytime I'm in there feeding or changing our little guy.  I frequently hear "I'll save you from the Joker!" as either Batman or Superman are launched at a set up scene from across the room. :) He's going to have so much fun with his wild sisters as he gets bigger!

Finally, some of the wall art that ties everything together. My husband likes giraffes, because of that I have a tendency to purchase random giraffe things and then wonder what to do with them once I get them home. When I came across these superhero giraffe prints on Etsy, I knew they were a great way to bring giraffes in on the superhero theme. Now we have a purpose for that giant plush giraffe rug I bought 3 years ago! Yay! :) Giraffe prints can be purchased here. Today I will be my own superhero print can be purchased here.

I made the paper airplane wall art just before Andrew was born. The lines aren't perfect in every area but I am proud of it considering that my then 3 year old insisted upon sitting in my lap the entire time, having no qualms about the fact that lap space was already sparse with my very large tummy front and center. Gotta love tiny helpers! I also made the ombre canvas and the remaining prints in the room. My very favorite wall decoration is the lineup of hero pez dispensers. These were kindly donated to Andrew's room by Big Sis from her personal collection. They are such a fun addition to the room!

I think it turned out to be a wonderful little nursery. :)

Simple Ways to add a bit of "Boo!" to Halloween Meals

It's been our family tradition for years to make meals spooky during the month of October. We call it our Haunted Menu and our kids LOVE it.  Let me just clarify that spooky does not mean gore-y for me. I've seen several meals featuring bloody limbs, brains and guts as we've gone along. I always ignore them. I can barely stomach the green eggs and ham we make for Dr. Suess' birthday...if I struggle with that I don't want to try food specifically created to be hideous ya know?

 Several of the recipes I make during October are time-consuming but today I want to share a few simple and family friendly ways to add a bit of  Boo to dinner with very little extra effort. These are so easy that you can literally whip something up today. Surprised kiddos and a happy Mom. Win Win!

Sadly, I don't have pictures of every meal idea for you.  I apologize but I'm not one of the fabulous bloggers that invest tons of time into making food look just right and photographing it perfectly. Real life usually doesn't allow for that and mealtime is one of those manic areas of our life with 3 kids and the "Daddy's home!!!" rush - trying to make everything picture perfect in that time isn't realistic for us. :)  Please remember that I'm just a normal Mom with a messy house and busy family. I'll do my best to share fun things as we go along but most of our real life moments don't look like the bright and precise images you may find elsewhere out in bloggityblogland. That said, I did manage to snag a few pictures amid the mealtime chaos. 4 out of 40 isn't bad right? Yay me! :)

Simple Meals:
-Tarantula Tacos
use stand alone taco shells for your taco fixings and finish it off with a dollop of sour cream and a spooky spider made out of black olives- 1 for the body and slices cut in half for the legs.

-"Eye See You" Taco Salad
Mix up a simple taco salad. Cut tomato slices in half and use a dollop of sour cream and an olive to make eyes for your salad. My kids LOVE this one. *tip- spoon a bit of sour cream into a ziploc bag and cut the corner off one tip to pipe the sour cream onto your salad to make things easier. :)

- Mummy Personal Pizza
spread pizza sauce on english muffins and top with your choice of pizza toppings. Use 2 olive slices for eyes and cut up strips of sliced Mozzarella cheese to create a Mummy face. Once they are ready to go place them on a greased baking sheet and bake at 350° for 10 minutes. This is a great one to let kids help with, they can build their own mummy with the toppings that they like best.

-Boo-tiful Spaghetti
write "boo" in noodle for a spooky treat on top of spaghetti. You can form the word on parchment paper and bake at 350° for about 7 minutes to make it crisp and firm if you'd like but I cheated and just used a regular cooked noodle.

-Jack-O-Lantern Cheeseburgers
Cut faces into slices of cheese, place on top of hamburgers immediately after cooking and allow to melt slightly before topping with your favorite condiments.


Quick Snacks:
-Frankenstein Pudding
Mix up a few boxes of instant vanilla pudding, I recommend using 1 more box than what you'd think you need for your family. We needed two boxes for our family of five and didn't have any to spare. Tint it green with a few drops of food coloring and put pudding into clear plastic cups. Add some crushed Oreos for hair and draw fun monster faces on the outside of the cup for a yummy dessert.

-Banana Ghosts
Cut bananas in half. Stick a craft stick inside. (you can freeze them at this point to make dipping easier, I skipped this step this year and did have a few that didn't want to stay on the stick it worked for the most part though) Melt white chocolate( I like to use the Wiltons Candy Melts) and dip the banana, covering it completely. Quickly add 3 miniature chocolate chips to form eyes and a mouth on each banana. You have to be fast, the chocolate doesn't take long to harden, add the chips right after you dip each banana.

-Candy Corn Fruit Cups
Make a candy corn fruit cup by using pineapple on bottom, mandarin oranges in the middle and topping the whole thing with whipped cream. Using Reddi-Whip from a can is easier than a tub and looks fancier (speaking from experience) but both taste just great! I'm not generally a huge fan of mandarin oranges but the whipped topping compliments it well and mellows out the flavor burst a bit. You can put a candy corn on top of the whipped cream if you feel extra awesome!

Well, there you have it. Some of the easiest ways to spook up snacks and dinners. I hope you enjoy them as much as my family does!

Happy Halloween!

Photolicious Halloween Mantle

I love Halloween. Not so much the super scary aspect where people try to scare you so badly that you pee your pants or all things gore-y and gross. That's not really my thing.

Kid Halloween though? That is a different story entirely. Most. Fun. Ever.

I love villains, costumes, pumpkins and treats with our children. There is nothing better. My favorite part of Halloween is decorating the house.  This year I have been beside myself with excitement that I have a mantle to decorate for the first time. SO FUN!!!!

Since moving in the spring the mantle has been a catch all location for every loose item in our home- Netflix fliers, random pieces of jewelry and hair ties, bottles of medicine, recently found pieces to toy sets waiting to be put away...

It has been a mess. Worse, an eyesore.

 At the beginning of the month I declared the mantle a crap-free zone and filled every bit of space  with decor instead. I love it! Hubs didn't at first and he wasn't pleased with the "oh no you didn't!" lecture he received when he tried to tuck a Netflix disc behind one of my pieces but he's adjusted pretty well. I hope so anyway because now that I have experienced the happiness of having a clean and visually pleasing mantle I'm not going back!

 Check it out! I LOVE IT!!!! :)

One of my favorite items is this Snow White print from the fabulous blogger over at Less Cake More Frosting. Check out this post to get the print! It's just spooky enough to be fun but since it's from a well known Disney film it's familiar to our girls and family friendly.

You can get this fun Vampires, Witches and Ghosts print here

and finally,what part of my home would be complete without pictures! This simple garland of our favorite costumes ties everything together so well. Many family "I remember that!" conversations have taken place with our kiddos over this garland. Big Sis says that it is "Photolicious"(she's slightly obsessed with the Pinkalicious books). I couldn't imagine a better way to describe it. :)

These glimpses into our family's past melt my heart. Princesses, Fairies, Witches, even Hannah Montana...every photo holds wonderful memories. That's a fabulous way to decorate for any season!