How much is too much?

So I have been into the "Less is More" way of living and I have been going room by room getting things out and donating.  I have especially trouble with sentimental things and gifts people have given me.  What do you  keep or not keep? why? what do you have a hard time with? 

This is a quilt handed down to me and it has no story with it, I am not sure what family member even made it.  It's large and it's lumpy, too delicate to wash (therefore we don't use it), and I've already fixed it in three places where it has ripped open. Would you keep it or not?

Other items I struggle with are greeting cards, before I met my husband I had kept every single card I'd ever been given since birth.  I decided when I moved in with him not to move so much personal items like that since I thought it wouldn't be fair for my personal items to take over OUR space.  Well now I've collected a ton since we've been married and I don't know what to do with them. Ideas?

What I hate about Facebook

What I hate about Facebook...

All the post that are negative over and over from the same person...quite complaining and write something if anything positive in your life so we don't all think your life is so miserable because really what do you have to gain if everything thinks your life is so awful? pitty? attention? is that really the attention you want?

When someone post something related to a friend/family member/ distant cousin or aunt or has died, has cancer, or some other tragedy in their life and use it to gain some sort of attention for themselves.  For instance when my father died I didn't post anything about it but a distant family member did and got all sorts of condolences? were those condolences misplaced? of course this family member had nothing to do with my father but they sure didn't mind getting all those condolences.

All the pictures of people in the bathroom mirrors while holding their iphone...really? you took the pic just for everyone on facebook to see you that morning? do we care? NO! Take a quality picture when your visiting a landmark of some kind or a photo with friends and family, sure that is nice but if you want me to comment on how hot you look after having baby number 5, I sure will not...you want those comments ask your husband to comment every now and then...posing for facebook like that makes me think people are putting themselves out there for a new mate or something also.

Pictures that are blurry from someones cell phone, I mean whats the point to upload a blurry picture that you can't make out someones face in?

When people use facebook to sell their current product to family and friends (31, Avon, MaryKay, the list goes on and on...) this REALLY annoys me when people use those fitness ones too and they push and push them on you. I've had people send me private messages to help them with their business and I've not talked to them in over a year and was just acquaintances to begin with...this makes me think I just want to delete them.

When you add someone to your facebook after THEY requested you to be their friend then you see them out somewhere and they pretend they didn't see you out of poor inconvenience...well if you are only my friend on facebook whats the point?

Someone UNFRIENDS you after seeing you the day before and acting like everything was fine...hello just because you unfriend me doesn't mean you can just skate out of telling me why you dumped me as a friend! How passive aggressive and not to mention they are cowards! I am not talking about a acquaintances but real friends who people you thought were real friends anyways.

When people (even so called close friends/family) look at every picture you post and all your wall post but NEVER comment OR ALWAYS click like on EVERYTHING either way it's annoying. Throw a comment out every now in then if you are always looking or it seems like your a snoop even if you are close to the person its not acceptable and as for the clicking LIKE on everything they see this is like a oh I seen it but too lazy to every comment...and the people you barely know that click like all the time, it's just weird.

When people see pictures of a party or small gathering of shared friends and realize they weren't invited and get jealous...hello you can't be always a part of everything and if their wasn't a such thing as facebook you wouldn't even notice! Facebook makes it EASY to be jealous of others if people go searching for things to get jealous over.

It seems like facebook allows more drama, mis-communication, and jealousy.

What I LOVE about facebook:
Share photos with friends/family.
Share daily events you'd never have time to share with ALL your friends/family at the same time.
Long Distance friends don't seem so long distance sometimes due to facebook.
Events are super easy to set up and paper invitations are no longer needed except of course if it's a wedding/baby shower/ birthday party for a child etc.
Thank you phone calls/ cards are becoming outdated for the newly exceptable thank you in a tag along with a photo of gift or paragraph written about a good deed the person did.
You can catch up with friends even if you in different time zones when you look at their walls.


Overall, I spend less and less time on facebook but I do appreciate it for the few things I listed that I LOVE. I do however like to blog much more and wish more people I know and are close to would follow my blog so I could nearly leave facebook and not feel guilty for not updating for family/close friends.

I have private blogs for both my children and it would wonderful for the grandparents to read but they are all on facebook and facebook savvey and not blog savvy apparently.


Don't worry facebook friends I don't hate you if you have done one or more of the things I hate; it's just annoying when so many people do all those things. We are all guilty of doing something annoying on facebook. I am guilty of posting hundreds of pictures of my kids but in my defense our families are long distance and we won't them to fill included in their lives and it gives them that!

Subscription Boxes

I have been pondering signing up for a subscription box for MacKenzie and while looking up all the options I found so many to choose from it's overwhelming, not only that but some subscription boxes that are out there now are not even just for kids and crafting.  I have found boxes that are for teething age babies, moms with a coffee habit, and buying gently used baby clothing even! I find the biggest problem with most of the company's is you get a complete surprise (great for the kids but it's nice if mom can at least decide between a small selection than to get something sort of useless for that month). Another problem is that these companies haven't figured out a way to have a more budget friendly plan for someone who's not willing to spend $200 a year or more for two crafts a month! Now here's a cool idea though if your a grandparent this would be a wonderful gift for parents, grandchildren etc. and if you can't think of a gift for a friend or family member you could do a one month box possibly from some of these companies! Let the experts pick your present for you! I think Citrus Lane may be one of my favorites for little ones! I can't wait to try one company out here soon! Just got to decide!

Here are some of the coolest ones I've found:

Citrus Lane
Get age appropriated box of goodies for children up to three years old.  Mom approved best products. Free shipping. $21 a month.

Wittlebee
Their "how it works" statement: 

Getting Started

Fill Out Your Style Profile

Just tell us a wittle bit about yourself and how you dress your kid. 

Leave your Stylist Notes

Leave your stylists notes on your account anytime to add more detail about your preferences. 

Receive Your First Box

Your customized box of clothes arrives at your door in about two weeks. Every box contains about $100 in retail value of clothes. You'll receive a new box of clothes every month. You can pause or cancel your membership anytime.

kiwicrate

Their "how it works" statement:

Our crates are designed around fun themes and filled with all of the materials and inspiration 

for hands-on projects. Explore with arts & crafts, science activities, imaginative play, and more.
$19.95 a month. Shipping free.

Pickybunny
Their "how it works" statement: Receive a personalized monthly shipment of gently used baby clothes for just $24.99. Shipping is always FREE.

New Years Resolution...

My New Years Resolutions are to...

be extra crafty

be a great mom, wife & daughter

keep my home neat, clean and organized the best I can

be more frugal

read at least one book this year cover to cover (yes one book that is all, I am a busy mommy so I don't have alot of time for reading)

attend church more this year (if naps for the girls allow it this year...it's always tough with naps)

Make these things:


A felt Mail Set for Kenzie
New holiday hair bows for both the girls
A felt word a day calender with pockets for Kenzie (that can be used later for other things like multiplication tables etc.)
Felt Christmas Ornaments for Sydney's tree for next Christmas
A Coraline Doll for MacKenzie (I wanted to have this done before Christmas this year but didn't get around to making it)

and this cute little set of doughnuts...

Felt doughnuts for Kenzie to use in her play kitchen...

This years craftiness...

2012 was a crafty year even though it was filled with pregnancy, a two year old and a newborn baby...somehow I was still able to get some crafty stuff accomplished...

Veggie Tales (Plush Larry and Beanie Bob) 

Minnie Mouse Dress Up Area in my oldest daughters room...

Names on my kids room doors with blocks...simple and cute!

Turkey Hair Clip

Project Life

So what is this thing called Project Life? It's a new way to scrapbook! It's looks easier and cheaper than traditional scrapbooking! I think whats best it's better for young moms and other very busy people who want to still enjoy keeping all their memories tucked away in a album! It's great because it requires so little time that you can focus on journaling and picture choices that my albums normally lack because my sole focus is on the creative end of it all...it's to the point lately where I don't even want to think about attempting to put a page together I just need to gather all my pictures and stories together in one place for safe keeping...(says the busy expecting mother who already has a toddler!) I am so busy there is no way I can keep up doing the scrapbooking the traditional way. Here is a link to this wonderful new world of scrapbooking!

Click Here to read more about Project Life!

Here's an example from the website for project life of what you can do with it...it's simple but it's neat, organized, and actually pretty!  They offer different styles of pockets, different paper inserts and different binders so you get choices but no more buying stickers, ribbon, photo tape, glue or even using scissors!

The BIG move!

Loving my new kitchen, it's bigger and has tons of cabinet space. The last house we lived in had no storage at all, it was quite terrible. I also can enjoy keeping my counters pretty clear since I have so much space in my pantry to store all those things you barely use like (blender etc.) I only get them out when we use them now. Anyways its also nice to not have the galley kitchen we had last time because my two year old can run around and play in the kitchen while I am cooking and it's not a problem like before (she even has room to ride her Little Tikes Cozy Coupe around the kitchen and she pretty much does it everyday now too).

Well we've moved from Hawaii all the way to Florida (hence the BIG move!). It's been a journey that is for sure from moving to the island pregnant with my first baby and moving away from the island pregnant with my second and bringing a child back to the mainland that we didn't have before we moved there. It's interesting how fast a family can grow and how much a family can change in such a short period of time! I will say being pregnant and in your third trimester and moving into a new house was one of the hardest things I have ever done especially since I had a toddler to look after at the same time! Well we made it and we've got a beautiful home that is well organized and pretty much ready for our new edition to the family coming this August! I have done some major cleaning out in our house (gotten rid of TONS of things), I am operating under the "Less is More" theme for now whew I am tired of having TOO MUCH STUFF. We've reorganized EVERYTHING in our home since we moved to and I gotta say it's all working alot better for us. I keep my house cleaner and clean it up faster than ever before which is GREAT since a new baby is coming home soon!

Spring Cleaning Underway!

Here are some ways I have organized some of my 2 year old daughters things:

Great way to organize headbands, I can see them all easily. Just find a small narrow basket about the size of the headbands, I actually had this one lying around.

Organized her train set into a few small containers like this, makes it easy for her to put away and get out plus all the pieces stay in one place!

It's almost spring, let's get organized!

Click here for source of graphic above.

Here is a link for free printable checklist:

Free Checklist Must Haves

Here's a link below for Spring Cleaning Checklist:

Spring Cleaning Checklist

These are great because you can just print all these sheets out and write your own individual plan and then cross them off as you finish them, by the end you'll feel very accomplished!

Click on link below for a useful Calendar Template:

Calendar Template's

These calendar's are awesome you can type in the month and year and it can auto fill popular holidays but leave plenty of blank space for you to add your plans in every box, you can change font and size of letters. It's basically the same as using Word but it saves alot of work and thought behind what day is Thanksgiving falling on this year and wondering is this year going to be a Leap Year?

Great tips for organizing children's toys:

-Keep stuffed animals not being used in a closet to keep dust off them, use large open bin for easy access for small children.
-Keep sets of toys in small containers that are clear such as: small blocks, Mr. Potato Head and his parts, Little People toys (by Fisher Price), art supplies.
-Keep like items all together so that they are easy to find not only for child but for you.
-Keep toys in same spot always so the child learns where to put them back.

Moving again soon...

We've spent a lovely three years here in Hawaii as of March 18th, 2012 but soon we'll be making a move to Pensacola, Florida. We'll be stationed there for just six weeks then after that we'll be stationed at Whiting Field just down the road about 30 minutes or so. So for the next year we'll be in Florida again! We lived in Florida before Hawaii so I am excited about going to a state I am at least familiar with.

So for those of you wondering how Hawaii has treated us well here goes:

The state itself is beautiful we had time to take two vacations on two of the other islands (Big Island, Kauai). The locals are rather nice and have a lovely culture that enjoyed very much. My daughter was born here and learned her numbers in Hawaiian and to her Mahalo (Hawaiian word for thank you) is a common word just like anything else...also she likes to use the word Aloha! As for the military side of it all, the biggest difference for us here was that we lived on base. The cost of living here is so expensive it just makes more sense to live on base. With that being said base life is very different than living out in town and making military friends and non military friends and having locals as neighbors, versus all neighbors being military and from all over not to mention new neighbors come and go often. Anyhow another new element for me here was becoming a mother so I made friends with moms who had children in similar if not same age of my child, this added a different element to my experience here as well. My criteria for making friends was very different from my norm.  I have made friends that will last a lifetime since living here but also I have friendships that didn't last but will forever change my outlook on people in general and life. I had friendships go sour and had no clue why, at times this made it difficult to like living here because at first I made the connection between the soured friendships and here tie together but really it was dumb luck a combination of bad elements all together including friendship triangles that were doomed from the beginning. I am not sour about these friendships that went wrong instead I value their lesson they taught me and I value the good times I had with these people before things went well down hill. I have never been one to be involved with drama and needless to say you get a bunch of girls together who have alot of common friends and live all around each other add the stress of husbands being deployed and well you get drama and even if you try to stay away from it and don't involve yourself you will be effected by others who can't seem to live without drama. So my end point is Hawaii lovely in itself but to find the beautiful people here (the ones beautiful on the inside) look further than your next door neighbor its not always the best choice for a close friendship just because it's convenient.

How to make money on Blogging...

No I don't do it as of now but here are ways to make money while doing what you love to do (BLOG):

-Money Widgets

-In-Text Ads

-Parked Domains

-Feed Ads

-Pop-up Ads ( I would never do this, this would annoy your readers)

-Audio Ads

-Sponsored Reviews

and these are just of few of the MANY ways you can earn from blogging!

Want to see the craftiness that has been bestowed in my house lately?

Felt Volcano for MacKenzie to use while playing with her  miniature toy animals and dinosaurs.

All you need is a birthday cone hat, Gray Felt, Red Felt, Scissors, & Tacky Glue

Picture of a raccoon I made for MacKenzie, I seen this online this was my attempt to  draw it and Kenzie colored it. I think his face was quite a bit thinner in the original ha ha

Birthday Hats for MacKenzie's Party Guest at her Mickey/Minnie Mouse Party!

This project is very cheap just purchase some cheap birthday hats and use them as  a pattern and use the elastic from them, then purchase some card stock paper in black for the ears and assorted colors for cone part. I think this ran me around $3 for hats, $5 pack o paper so maybe $13 for all of it but have tons of left over paper and you can always reuse your pattern later! If you already have a birthday hat to us as a pattern from a previous party but not enough to use the elastic you may use matching ribbon but this would be more expensive.

Elmo Camera Lenses Bling - The most expensive part of this project minus camera pictured ha ha was the hair band that was premade (this cost alot because you can only get packages of 6-8) if you plan on making more than one then you will come out well if not plan on purchasing some elastic and some red fabric scraps to make the hair band first then purchase the eyes and felt to add to it. The eyes also come in large packets but I choose to get them anyways to because I can use with them my daughters art later on. Total cost of project ran up to $8 for this one but I have extra supplies to make more. I think next I will make a owl since Kenzie loves owls! This little invention will help get kids to look at your camera and smile but be warned it also makes them want to come up and grab the camera too! ha ha!

Halloween/Fall Crafts

The holidays are coming and the first one to come is Halloween! I can't wait for it! It's so much fun with a kiddo in the house! I just made my daughter a felt pumpkin and she loves it! I also made her a costume (Mermaid). I just finished a fall wreath and that is just the beginning of the fun fall crafts I got up my sleeve! I also have a owl bandanna dress I am making her which I thought would be a great fall dress..

Thrifty Thursdays

Thrifty Thursday is here! Got a few tips to share!

1.) When cleaning stainless steal sinks and other stainless items you can use a used dryer sheet that is dampened with a little water and rub out the water spots! It's easy! Try it!
2.)  Re-Use grocery bags for multiple uses! One I like to use them for as a mom is to bag up those dirty diapers and throw them in the trash so they don't spread odor in the trash can before it's taken outside for the evening.
3.)  Instead of going to buy new books for your children host a book trade with your friends who have children in similar age groups or similar interest and the books will be new to you and your child all over again!

How to make the classic grilled cheese just a little better!

Tips:
Cover your skillet while cooking the first side, so maximum melting of cheese can take place.
Use cheddar cheese not american cheese 
Use good quality white bread, I find Sara Lee Brand to be wonderful
Use plenty of butter on both sides of the bread before throwing in the skillet
Use a cast iron skillet or non-stick skillet




Grilled cheese + Tomato soup...need I say more! YUMMY!

 

The Little Things that make Life a Little Cuter...

I do alot of little cute things for my one year, MacKenzie like make laminate pictures of her friends so she can thumb thru them at any time and see her little friends and yes even some of her wonderful family too! Also, I put pictures in magnetic frames on the fridge down low on the fridge for her to move around and look at too.  I'm about to make her a little photo box to hold her photos so she can place them in there when she's done looking at them and she knows just where to find them when she wants to see a friend. 


Another "cute" project I've been working on for her is making miniature boxes and bottles etc. into toys for her kitchen center or for her shopping activities. Basically I just recycle boxes like the miniature cereal boxes and mini soda bottles but I also went out of my way to ask for a small pizza box at the local Papa Johns Pizza and to my surprise they gladly handed it over free of charge! (Now I just got to make a felt pizza to put in that box!)

The can of green beans is just so you can see the size, the can of green beans is a regular size so you can see how tiny the other items are.

MacKenzie now has a well stocked pantry!

Rudeness

I recently had a conversation with a friend about how rude people were to me all in one day while my baby was sick. I know I was going thru alot with her being sick with a virus and I may had been more sensitive than usual but these people were really rude. I have experienced alot of rudeness lately, whether it be because an adult didn't get their way (childish) or maybe the rude person themselves was having a bad day it just isn't proper to be rude to people for no "good" reason! I have had people even being passive aggressive lately (which in my book, that is the worst kind of rudeness!). I'm a pretty tolerant person and I like it when people just say what they mean and mean what they say.  People who say things in a passive aggressive way want to hurt another person but don't want to take the responsibility for it, now that is just plain rude!  I feel like I give alot to other people and I try to please every person that comes along so when people act this way toward me I guess I just am utterly confused. I have to consider these people that act this way may be selfish and think everything is just about them. 

A book I've been thinking about reading since I happened to randomly see it online a while back actually is on the subject of rudeness, want to check it out go to this website for a review: click here

Now for a lighter subject:

Photography

I've not been taking many portraits of my daughter like I was when she was an infant but I'm trying to get back into it...I miss seeing new portraits of her around the house. I kinda gave up when she got to be a toddler because it is so much harder. I think I will just have to challenge myself. I also have a friend that is into photography and I think I will have to enlist her help and hopefully I can be of help to her taking pictures of her daughter (also a toddler) as well.

To all of you moms out there...

Dear Fellow Moms,
If you haven't heard it lately then I will tell you, thank you and good job! You are the one who holds your child late at night when they are sick, you are the one who does laundry until 2 am because if it gets any more behind you won't be able to see your laundry room, you are the one who does the chores no one else wants to do, you are the one who researches whats best for your child whether it be what they eat or what medications to take, you are the one that must suffer thru awkward moments at playgroups where your ideas of parenting well just isn't the same as another moms ideas, you are the one that carried your child for those long 9 months or in my case 9.5 months, you are the one who gave birth and in my case was in active labor for 36 hours, you are the one who stays with your child day in and day out and whethers toddlers tantrums on maybe just 4-5 hours sleep...well and there is alot more I could list because mothers are the jack of all trades...they do everything no one else wants to do...whether it be cleaning up a messy spill from dinner or administering medicine to a toddler who lets just say doesn't exactly react well to icky medicines...

Why this letter? Well I guess I realized that myself and many other mothers can just be tired, very tired and very overwhelmed at times and maybe even feel unappreciated.  Well look at it this way when your tired, run down, and feel like you can't possibly fold another piece of laundry,...just don't, take a break! Who cares if everything is not done right away...it can wait, get your rest and do it when you get time...if someone doesn't understand then let them be in your shoes for awhile then they may just very well get it...until I was a mother I would had never understood just how much work it can really be. Although I really LOVE it, I also am the most exhausted I have ever been and that is saying alot because I worked 3 jobs at once before and kept a perfectly clean home as well...now my home isn't perfect but it's tidy enough and clean...and well I have no job that brings in a paycheck but I have a job that gives me a smile most every day!

Being a stay at home mom...

Being a stay at home mom makes some people think you have EXTRA time on your hands when in fact it's the exact opposite. I get comments like I know you have time to call me and talk on the phone because your home all day. Well lets see...even if I was infact home all day this is how my day goes:
7:45am -MacKenzie wakes up...(sometimes screaming because shes hungry)
7:45-8am - MacKenzie eats (guess who makes her breakfast? yes that is right this stay at home mom who has so much time to make phone calls all day long)

8:30- We clean up from breakfast (do dishes, clean MacKenzie's face & hands, clean high chair and floor- this takes maybe 30 minutes sometimes) - during those 30 minutes MacKenzie does free play but mostly lately she's clingy and pulls on my leg while I clean...(do I want to talk on the phone during all of this "NO!"
9:00-Circle Time - Do we have to do this? No but sometime of the day we need to have quality time together and circle time is one way we do that (I focus on MacKenzie and we talk about things and explore activities from her lesson plans) - Would I talk on the phone during this time -OBVIOUSLY NOT!
9:20 - Outside Play - Well now I could talk on the phone during this time but I don't want to be one of those moms who talks on the phone the entire time their kids play outside, yes that's right I actually enjoy watching her play and playing with her and I don't want her to get hurt because I'm not paying attention either.
10:00am - This is snack time - I prepare MacKenzie a snack now if we are home I normally cut her up a fresh piece of fruit and then she takes about 15-20 minutes to eat it then we do the clean up process.
10:30am- During this time we do Table Activities or Art (I have to guide her during these activities so not a great time for a phone convo.)
11:30- Stories and songs with MacKenzie
11:45am-Time to make MacKenzie's lunch and mine too...
12:00-12:15 - Time for Lunch
12:15-12:30- Clean up from Lunch, then after she goes down for nap the rest of clean up takes place...
12:30- Nap time for MacKenzie (if she goes down on time, and then I clean up a little and if I have time left I may actually get some rest for myself or time to work on a project I need to work on- Could I make a phone call during this time? Yes, of course! Do I always want to? NO! I have less than 2 hours a day to myself whether it be to rest, watch tv, read a book, do laundry it's MY TIME! I'm lucky to even get it some days!
2:30 - Snack Time
3:00 - Outside Play
4:00- Music & Movement Time for MacKenzie

Okay now when it's 4pm here it's already 10pm on the East Coast so I do not need to explain the rest of my day...once it comes to a close there isn't time to make phone calls to family and friends since their days are over.

This post isn't about me not wanting to talk to family or friends but it's about the comments I've received from people. I will call when I have time I WANT TO SPARE but often I don't. I enjoy getting phone calls periodically from friends and family to catch up and shoot the breeze but I don't enjoy getting tons of RUDE messages about me not answering the phone again... I wonder how many stay at home moms experience stuff like this.

 So from all that I posted here Do you think I have time to talk for over an hour every other day to anyone? Nope, sure don't...now skype is a different story, that is much easier to use with a toddler running around...I can actually have her involved in the conversation and she loves it too! She gets to talk to her grandparents that way all the time and we love it!

Briefly this is the rest of Kenzie's day:

4:30 Storytime/floor activities/table toys-art

5:30 Free Play

6:00 Dinner

6:30 Bath

6:45 Free Play

7:30 Story Time/ Cuddle time with Mommy and Daddy

8:00 Bedtime

 From 8pm-10pm I catch up on chores, relax if I can, and I blog sometimes...oh and I go to bed early if MacKenzie has been sick and may be waking up during the night etc. (this isn't a rare thing...)

I know for some of you reading this you must be thinking wow she's upset at someone but after months and months of staying home with your child and hearing stuff like this it just starts to make you a little more than irritated!