Fall Decorating Ideas

Anyone have any good, but simple, fall decorating ideas for inside and outside?

Negative vs. Positive

Well, the rush of summer has kicked in, and looking at the schedule it's not going to slow down any.  I don't know about you guys but we have something every weekend (Graduation parties, birthday parties, weddings ..... the list goes on)  up till our vacation - then yes .... a 2 1/2 week vacation!!  I think I am going to need a vacation from our vacation, hahaha!! 

So, what's my point??  The point is, although we are all busy, we still need to find time to enjoy the things that really matter in our lives.  I say this because I am probably the worst person at actually doing this.  I am always going, and never enjoying.  I am always worrying about making everyone else in my life happy and not realizing what I need or doing the things that I need to really be happy.  And when I do, I feel guilty for not being at home or doing the stuff around the house that needs done.

Why is it as women, we try and please everyone besides ourselves?  Is that the way we are suppose to be or is that the way we are made to be?  That is an odd question but one that I have really been thinking about a lot lately.  But really, does it matter?  Does it matter if this is the way we are suppose to be or the way we have been made to be?  Not really - I think as long as you (i.e. I) realize it, then it can be changed so that joy also comes out of making others happy. 

I think this is also dependant on the people that surround you.  If you are around positive people, you will be positive.  If you are around negative people, you will be negative.  So my question is, if you are around negative people - can you still be positive?  And how do you turn the negative into a positive, can that be done?

Anyone???

Philadelphia Cooking Cream

Have you heard of these yet,?  Have you tried them?  If you haven't - go to the store and pick one up this weekend.  I had a coupon (yes I use coupons and that is a topic for another blog) so I bought two different ones, original and santa fe.  I made the recipe on the back of the santa fe container the other night and it was delicious - Creamy Chicken Enchiladas!  Justin even liked them, said he would eat them again - and he did last night as left overs.

Each container comes with a recipe on the back as well as a little recipe booklet that has a couple additional ones in it.  I am going to try Chicken Bruschetta Pasta next week.  I will let you know know how it turns out.

I found this to be a very easy weeknight meal that didn't take a lot of prep or cooking time and turned out really good.  I made Spanish rice and refried beans to have along with the enchiladas - yummo!!

Hope everyone has a good weekend - I am off to change a stinky diaper :-)!!!

Is 21 months to young for a toddler bed?

Cloe has always gone to bed with no problem. We can lay her down and with minimal fussing she just lays there and goes to sleep. Well something has changed .... the last two nights when i put her to bed, she just screams and she has figured out how to climb out of her crib. I am afraid she is going to get hurt but i think she's too young for a toddler bed. I don't remember when I transitioned Elijah into a toddler bed - he didn't sleep in it anyway. He hated his room being upstairs by himself .... but that's a totally different story! BTW, he's 13 today - can you believe it?? Any thoughts?

Fabric softener

who uses it - HOW and when do you use it .... what kind do you use?

I have never used fabric softener but I have recently thought that might help some of the laundry issues I am having. With that said, I alway thought it was something that you had to add after the washer ran for a while .... which would NEVER work for me. I put the laundry in and forget about it till later.

thoughts ... recommendations???

Organizing Bills

OK so .... I can't stand having all this paper around - so I am looking for suggestions on how to organizing and store bills.

How do you track, record payment / confirmation numbers so you can reference payments and do you keep the paper documents? I have files of paper bills that i want to get rid of and keep electronically somehow.

I started using Mint.com for my budget - although I haven't had time to really dig into it yet, but I don't think I can log confirmation numbers on payments that come out of my checking account. I can categorize things so i can run reports on utilities, groceries, etc ....

Any thoughts / recommendations??

New Schedule

I have decided that in order to maximize my time and minimize my stress I am going to set a different schedule for myself. Lately when Justin leaves for work - at 4:30 a.m. - i have been going back to bed until about 6:15 a.m. when it's time to get Elijah up for school. I am not really a morning person - OK I am not a morning person at all :-) - so by the time I wake back up the babies are up and things around here get CRAZY. So I have decided that when Justin leaves for work, MY time begins. I am going to take 4:30 a.m. to 6:15 p.m. for ME - as you can see today I am blogging .... i have been searching for other blogs to become a part of: for moms, weight loss, other things that interest me - any recommendations would be appreciated.

I have not returned many many e-mails to my friends so i might use this time for that - I will also use this time for housework because after all the loading and unloading the dishwasher, endless piles of laundry and baby toys everywhere is what typically puts me in a bad mood when I am working at home during the day.

Now, I am not saying I will never go back to bed after Justin leave :-) but if I do it's OK, because this is now MY TIME!!

The babies have also got a little off schedule so I need to get them back on track. Cloe only naps once a day now - which works out ok because she goes down right after lunch. Blake still takes two naps but it seems like his morning nap has gotten later in the day so his afternoon nap gets pushed back. They use to nap at the same time - right after lunch - which was really nice because then i could get a lot of stuff done or catch up with Justin when he gets home from work. So I am going to start making sure the babies are up by 7:00 a.m. and have breakfast before 8:00 a.m. so Blake will take his morning nap then get up, eat lunch and go back to bed when Cloe is ready to nap.

I am also saying all this when Monday starts a two week travel week for me. The next two weeks are going to be so crazy - I have to leave on Monday for Boston when I will be till Thursday for our national sales meeting. The best part of next week is I will get to spend some time with some of my friends - Lauren I can't wait to spend some time together and catch up, I miss you girl :-) then I leave again Sunday evening for Orlando till Wednesday for HIMSS which is a big hospital IT conference. Typically I would think February in Orlando would be great - I think it's going to be cold there, and I will be inside most of the time. I am looking forward to getting away from the snow - i am REALLY tired of the snow!!

hope everyone has a nice weekend.

stay safe and keep warm!

Valentines Day gift ideas

I don't know why but I find buying gifts for men on Valentines Day very difficult. The first thing that comes to mind is cologne - well that would be easy except my husband has about 50 bottles of cologne so that's not an option.

I am really drawing a blank on this one, anyone have any good ideas?

I figured it out ....

I think I figured out what my problem is. I have been in this funk lately - hence my last posting of winter blues - and I think I have figured out what is wrong. I'M BORED!! Yes, I realize that is a crazy statement considering my schedule is absolutely crazy, but when I look at the different between being busy and having fun, I realize that all it is - my days are full of things that keep my busy but with nothing fun.

My day consists of working (which I am very unmotivated towards right now), changing diapers, feeding and taking care of the babies, picking up toys, making lunch and dinner, laundry, Elijah's activities (which i am going to miss both basketball games this week because of work) .... get my point - busy but not fun!!

I feel like my mind is total mush - when i do get a few minutes to sit down and read the mountain of magazines that have stacked up, I usually either fall asleep reading or my mind is in 1000 places and I can't concentrate on reading an article.

I'm not really looking for advise here - unless you have some - I just needed to vent and get out that I think I have figured out my problem. Now, what do I do about it? How do I turn my busy boring life around so I am enjoying things again?

Winter Blues

anyone besides me have them???

Last year I was so grumpy and I knew this year would be worse, I just didn't realize how much worse. I seriously hate where I live - the weather is SO cold and there is NOTHING to do. We have been stuck inside for weeks. Everyone was sick and the babies still have colds and Blake continues to cough - which has caused me to cancel my get together with Marla AGAIN because he has another trip to the doctor.

Tonight we are going to make homemade pizza and either watch a movie or play wii as a family - i am really looking forward to just having some fun family time. Does anyone have any other ideas for fun inside activities that we can do as a family? Remember I have a big age span - Elijah will be 13 soon (oh my goodness) and the babies are 18 months and 8 months.

also - how are you dealing with the cold weather and winter blues????

Health - Easy lunch ideas

One of the things I do to try and be a "good wife" is pack Justin's lunch each morning. As most of you know, he leaves for work at about 4:30 a.m. and is on the road all day. His eating habits are terrible (fast food everyday) and he has a very long family history of health problems (his dad has had several heart attacks, high blood pressure, high cholesterol .... i could continue).

So I decided that in order to help reduce the amount of fast food he eats, I would start packing his lunch. I need some ideas to mix it up a little bit. I always back him a sandwich - turkey/ham/cheese, some sort of chips (today was sun chips) grapes or an orange. I need some ideas to mix it up a little bit - although I know he eats it what happens now is he eats the lunch I pack as a breakfast then he goes through a drive through on the way home and gets lunch or he eats those aweful roller hot dogs from the truck stop - YUCK!!!

One of the challenges is whatever I pack he has to be able to eat while driving or in the truck. I thought about soup or something but he wouldn't be able to eat that while driving.

any ideas on what i can pack to mix it up a little bit as well as to fill him up throughout the day?

I can't believe it's been so long .....

how fast time flies - I am so glad the holidays are over. This was probably the worst holiday for me as a domestic female, hahaha! We put the tree up with the lights and that is it, can you believe it - not one decoration. I didn't bake, I wrapped gifts on Christmas eve, but you know what ..... i really don't care!! The babies have no idea the tree didn't have decorations this year and Elijah really didn't seem to care - so i am just glad it's over and we have moved into 2011. 2010 was a very hectic year and I have made a promise to myself that 2011 will NOT be that way.

I have realized that I need to slow down and enjoy what is important to me: my children, my husband, my family, my friends .... any myself!! I have forgotten who I am and this year I am going to take the time to figure that out again.

My friend Lauren is helping me out by getting me back on track with working out (hey girl, don't forget to send me that website :-), and I have already started back to weight watchers. My mom and I am going together and although the weight loss is a little slower that I would like, it is happening. I think if I lose this weight and start working out again, I will feel much better about myself and be much happier.

I would love some style tips = any good resources you might know or have as far as what's in, what's out, must haves in the wardrobe, etc....

Also - I am trying to redecorate my house - so I would LOVE any decorating tips and tricks you might have. I am trying to do this on a minimal budget because I am hopeful we will put the house on the market this spring and move into a bigger place. But in the mean time, it's time to make this house a HOME!!

Leah - I also need a recycling plan. We have SO much trash and the neighborhood dogs have decided it is now their feed mill. Our trash is spread out all the way down the street, what white trash we are :-) So I really need to start a plan for recycling some stuff and I would love to start a compost pile (especially for this summer - i WILL have the garden i have been trying to have for the last several years), I just really do not know where to start. any thoughts????

This blog is going to help keep me focused and on track - so you should be seeing more blog entries throughout the year!!

Stay in touch - and stay warm :-)!!!