Veteran’s Day Craft Idea

Nov 112011
 

November 11 is a day in which Americans honor those who died at war.  Veteran’s Day originally began as a celebration of peace after World War I ended. The date (November 11th) was chosen because on November 11, 1918, the armistice (truce) that ended WW1  was signed.

Did you know that Veterans Day was originally called Armistice Day?  Armistice Day became an official US federal holiday in 1938. The holiday was renamed Veterans’ Day in 1954.

Here is a fun way you can help your kids celebrate the day: 

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More Useful Household Life Hacks

Nov 072011
 

Remember a while back I did a post about all sorts of useful household life hacks (shortcuts)?  I got a lot of positive feedback about it, so I decided to share a few more:

1. If you run your hands under cold water before pressing Rice Krispie treats in the pan, the marshmallow won’t stick to your fingers.  I make a lot of Rice Krispie treats and it works. 
 
2.  You can remove grass stains from your clothing by rubbing Karo corn syrup onto stain.  Then just wash as normal.

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The Many Uses of Duct Tape

Oct 072011
 

If anyone were to ask me what the one essential item that I think every home owner needs to have on hand at all times, my answer would be simple:  duct tape.  Because whenever I have the chance to buy anything in the color pink – I do, so my duct tape is….you guessed it, pink.  I use duct tape all the time for just about anything and everything.

Here are some clever uses for duct tape:

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Pinecone Bird Feeders

Sep 292011
 

Are you ever looking for a quick craft to do with the kids when they’re bored?  I’m always looking out for those kind of ideas and one of the things my boys and I make on a fairly regular basis are pinecone bird feeders.  They are so simple to make, but the kids really seem to love making them.

All you need are some pinecones (which is a non-issue for me since I have two huge pine trees in my front yard and there are hundreds of pinecones out there), some string or ribbon, peanut butter and a bag of bird seed – all of which I usually have on hand.

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Ten Things I Bet You Didn’t Know You Could Do With Toothpaste

Sep 232011
 

We all know that cleaning our teeth is the primary (and obviously the most important) reason for using toothpaste, but did you know that toothpaste has many other uses around the house?  Since my recent post on some useful household life hacks seemed to be pretty popular, I decided to share these great shortcuts – using toothpaste.  Here we go….

1.  Remove crayon marks from walls.

2. Eliminate food odors from your hands (ie onions or fish).

3.  Remove scratches from CD’s.

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6 Tips for Preparing for Back to School

Sep 072011
 

Today is the best day of the year as far as I’m concerned – it’s the day my kids go back to school.  We had a blast traveling, going on day trips and doing all sorts of fun things over the summer, but the time has come to get back into a routine.  Now that the new school year is upon us, so are some big changes to routines and schedules.

Aside from practicing our skills over the summer (reading for my seven year old and alphabet & numbers with my four year old), here are a few things I do to help the transition from summer fun to back to school go smoothly.

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How to Get More Blog Comments

Sep 022011
 

I love getting comments on my blog.  Who doesn’t? It makes my day if I check my WordPress app on my iPhone while I’m out and about and there are a bunch of new comments on my posts.  It’s really, really nice to know that people take the time to read whatever I’m rambling about on any given day and it’s a huge compliment when takes the time to leave a comment.

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Avoiding Meltdowns at Preschool Drop-off

Sep 012011
 

My little man is heading back for his second year of preschool next week and I’m curious to see how he handles it.  Last year he went two days a week (Tuesdays and Thursdays), but in preperation of kindergarten next year, he’ll be attending three days a week this coming year (M/W/F).  Drop-offs last year weren’t always smooth for him and he had a really hard time seperating from me.  I’ve been home with him since the day he was born and he’s a real “mamas boy” (and I mean that in a good way – I love it).

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Useful Household Life Hacks

Aug 312011
 

I don’t know about you, but I’m always on the lookout for little tricks to make life a little bit easier.  Being a busy mom, saving time and money are really important to me.  Over the years, I’ve gained some handy little household tricks to help me cut down on both of those things.  Check ‘em out and let me know what you think.

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How to Color Pasta for Crafts

Aug 232011
 

Towards the end of the school year last year, my three year old son came home with a project in which his name was spelled out in colored pasta.  I remember thinking when he brought it home that day, that colored pasta seemed like a simple, fun project idea with limitless possibilities.

The only problem?  I had absolutely no idea how to dye the pasta.

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Lego Birthday Party

Aug 162011
 

Both of my boy were born in August, so I do a joint party for them every year.  It makes life much easier that way, trust me.  This years party theme was Legos.  Both of my kids love building with Legos as well as playing all the Lego Wii & DS variations, with the newest being Pirates of the Caribbean (Remember my Lego Hell post, which centered around a large Pirates of the Caribbean pirate ship).

First off – here is the cake.  I soooo wish I could take credit for making it, but alas….I didn’t.  I had every intention of making a cake myself, but I’m just not as good of a baker as I am a cook, so it was worth it to me to pay someone to make the cake.  Didn’t it come out great?  Everyone at the party went gaga over it!

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Surprising Uses For Your Dishwasher

Aug 152011
 

Back when I was looking to purchase my first home in 2002, I told the realtor that I had two prerequisites when it came to buying a house:  1.  It had to have two bathrooms and 2.  It had to have a dishwasher.   There’s no logical explaination as to why, but I loathe doing dishes.  It’s just that one crappy chore that I absolutely can’t stand doing.   Now, you should know that I’m not a fan of cleaning in general, but then again – who is, right? 

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How to Survive Driving Through a Rotary

Aug 122011
 

Here in Massachusetts, particularly in my neck of the woods (near Cape Cod), we have a lot of rotaries.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with what a rotary is, let me explain.  It’s a a circular shaped road junction where the traffic moves in one direction around a central island.  I’ve also heard rotaries referred to as traffic circles and roundabouts, but around here, they’re rotaries.  For someone that’s not experienced in driving their way through a rotary, they can be vicious – trust me, I know frirst hand.   I live about 30 seconds from one and drive through it daily.

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Homemade Play-Doh

Jul 282011
 

My kids absolutely love Play-Doh.  They could sit and make Play-Doh creations for hours – and have. Literally.  They love to use cookie cutters/shape makers, etc and just create up a storm.  The only issue is that Play-Doh dries up and gets crusty after a while.

When my son was in Kindergarten, his teacher sent home a recipe for “homemade” play-doh and asked each parent to make a batch & send it in.  When I made her batch, I made one for myself, too and I loved it so much, I’ve been making it ever since.

It’s really simple to make and it lasts much longer than the stuff you buy in the stores.  Plus, it will save you a bundle in the long-run if you’re like me and go through a lot of play-doh.

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How to Make Homemade Crayons

Jul 192011
 

Let me start by saying that I don’t consider myself to be a crafty sort of mom. I just don’t have what it takes to pull it off –  as much as I wish I did. I do a lot of scrapbooking, though, and not to toot my own horn,  I think I do a pretty good job at them.  That is pretty much the extent of my crafting abilities, though.  However, as I started planning my boys Lego themed birthday party, which I’m having in August, I realized that I’d either have to shell out a lot of cash for Lego supplies – or just make them myself.  So my first attempt at being crafty was to make Lego shaped crayons that I plan on putting into the kids goody bags.

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The Trick to Getting Your Kids to Eat More Veggies

Jul 132011
 

Hide them in their food.

No joke.  I buy baby food because I am too lazy to puree vegetables my self (plus I don’t even own a food processor).  It’s so easy to do & the kids literally don’t even know their eating something that’s actually good for them.

My kids are like so many others – they wouldn’t eat veggies if their life depended on it.  Then  one day I was watching Rachael Ray and her guest was Jessica Seinfeld, who talked about a book she wrote called Deceptively Delicious and it was filled with amazing recipes that included, well, you guessed it – pureed vegetables.  Genious.

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July 4th Kids Party Activity Ideas

Jul 042011
 

Happy Independence Day!  As proud Americans many of us are off to celebrate the day with loved ones, by either hosting or attending a cookout – or some form of celebratory bash. I personally absolutely love all the cookouts over the long 4th of July weekend.  It’s such a great time to spend some quality time with the family. 

Obviously, I’m a mom & many of my friends also have kids.  With that being said,  I’ve  found that it’s always enjoyable to plan some special things just for the kids. So if you’re looking for some fun patriotic activities to do with the kids for your 4th of July bash this year, look no further. 

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Handling Criticism

Jun 242011
 
Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do. ~ Benjamin Franklin
 
 

I’m always right.  And now that we’ve cleared that up, let’s carry on – shall we?

I love writing.  I really do.  Sharing my stories, adventures and opinions on things with everyone truly makes me happy.  But when it comes to something like blogging, I’ve come to realize that it just simply isn’t possible to please everyone all of the time.   It’s just not. In real life, I’m the type of person that blurts out what I’m thinking before I have a chance to think about it – it’s just the way I’m wired.  Basically my point is that I get plenty of criticism, both in real life and here online.  Everyone has their own opinions and of course, they are entitled to them. 

Criticism is just a part of life.

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