Mom Hacks, Tips & Tricks

I am notorious for reading books and researching information on how to do...well, anything in life. As soon as I find myself not knowing the answer to something, I quickly revert to the internet or to my bookshelf to find it. The process of searching, reading, analyzing, synthesizing, and arriving at a well-thought-out conclusion is so comforting to me.  This logical way-of-life doesn’t always work with parenting, because kids simply aren’t logical, nor is the process of parenting. Many times I have said to myself, “this doesn’t make any sense,” or “the book says I should be doing this,” or “the article I read explained this will happen if I do this.” It makes me want to curl into the fetal...

Disclosure :: This post was sponsored by Party Time and all opinions expressed in my post are my own. Party Time, Chocolate Making and Some Inspiring Holiday Chocolate Recipes Can you believe the Christmas holiday is officially upon us? Knowing this has me already running around making sure I have all those last minute gifts and holiday plans set. One thing that I am certain of is that making chocolate candy this holiday season has never been so easy, thanks to Party Time! Party Time & Candy Making Did you know that Party Time's owner, Donna Travis, has been making homemade chocolate candies around the holiday season for more than 30 years?  It continues to be a family tradition, even within Party...

School lunches! Whether you’re packing because you have to or because your picky eater just can’t handle school lunch, packing lunch can be a daunting task! How does one keep from packing PB&J every dang day?! We’ve got a little hack at my house! I’ve seen the awesome moms that have buckets of lunch approved items & the kids (or parents grab something from each basket for a well balanced meal. And it’s awesome, but our tiny cabinetry doesn’t allow for such a set up. BUT we have found keeping a list of each kids food preferences helps. Our lists are broken down into categories: veggies, fruit, grains, dairy, protein, sandwiches, snacks, & dips. Our kids eat a pretty good...

I never wore red lipstick. Over the years, I tried different shades and I always felt I looked ridiculous. I stuck with more neutral colors or no lipstick at all. Until 2014. I don’t know if it was the fact that I was finding my own with fashion, makeup and hair (finally at the age of 32) or because I was feeling fearless as we went through our first round of IVF … But I wore the red lipstick. And I loved it. Back Story… The company I work for was participating in the local university’s homecoming events, including a business skit competition. The script written by our fearless leader that year included a spoof appearance by Snow White. I am more...

TRADITIONS! I LOVE a good tradition, especially since I’ve become a mom- I want my kids to have some rad memories! A birthday only comes around once a year and I want these memories to be something my children remember in their adulthood. So at our house, we make a big fuss for each of my children’s birthdays. I’ve compiled a list of birthday traditions that we have done in the past and a few ideas that I would like to add this year! BIRTHDAY BALLOONS Every birthday morning, we start the day off with a fun surprise! I fill the crib (or floor for older kids) with balloons! You could also do a doorway avalanche with balloons so when...