You all know I call myself the most non-domestic female ever!! While that is true, one thing I am oddly good at - and really enjoy - is coming up with cute, unique ideas for the kids holiday school treats. I have always loved putting together the school treat - regardless if it was for Elijah's birthday, valentines day, Easter, etc.... I admit when I was the head room mom for Elijah I went a little overboard with the class party and take home treats :-) (that's when I was traveling A LOT and I over compensated for my guilt) but the kids loved it!
Now that Cloe is in preschool, I have been reminded how much fun I have putting the classroom treats together. I
thought I would share the Easter treat I made for Cloe's class on Tuesday. They were super easy, inexpensive and the kids loved them (I took them to the babysitters yesterday and they had a blast making and eating them).
This was on the front of the bag. I typed it on the computer and cut it out with jagged edged scissors. Then I just taped it to the front of a Ziploc sandwich bag.
Inside the sandwich bag, you put one of your favorite colored Peep! (we used pink for the girls and blue for the boys), one grahmn cracker broken in half and a mini Hersey bar. We could find mini Hersey bars so I put in two mini Hersey bars - worked just the same!
If you have an upcoming party and need any ideas, let me know - I'm happy to share what I have done in the past or help come up with a new idea. If you have any cute, unique treats you have made and want to share, feel free to comment and send them along.
Have a great weekend everyone.
Happy Easter,
J-
Any suggestions?? I feel like I never know what's going on in the world - how do you keep up?
As women - busy women - I think we all forget how important personal care is to help keep us motivated and feeling good. I have been trying to focus on this more this year (you know the whole 40 thing) and while I am on the right track, I need to prioritize one very important aspect of personal health.
Personal care is more than getting your hair and nails done so you look good. It's physical care, emotional care and mental care. I am trying to prioritize exercise it's not working out very well. I have been successful in losing weight - and I'm down one size :-) - I think my weight loss would be more successful if I stick to my exercise schedule. The hardest part of personal care for me is the emotional / mental aspect. Today is a perfect examples, I am so distracted by everything and I can't focus on what I need to get done - TGIF!!
Does anyone have any emotional / mental care suggestions they would like to share? Lauren, what is the Oprah radio show you were telling me about?
I want to give a quick shout out to Marla who celebrates her 10 year anniversary today - Congrats!! I can't wait to see you tomorrow and help celebrate you and Mike.
Have a great weekend everyone!
How as a busy mom, spouse, women in general do you stay motivated and focused with all the distractions of everyday life?
I start out the week so motivated - if you read my blog on Monday this week was no different. I haven't totally lost my motivation but my weeks seem to have a similar theme to them lately and I need to break the cycle. The beginning of the week I am super motivated and focused. By Wednesday I can see a noticeable difference in motivation and by Thursday and Friday I just want the week to be over.
I have tried to set boundaries for myself to keep focused however so many things intrude on those boundaries. This pattern is exhausting - I'm so exhausted when I go to bed but then I wake up every hour or two (either because my children need something - last night they BOTH wet the bed, Cloe was my fault but Blake leaked through is 12 hour diaper .... seriously how does that happen) or because my mind won't shut down and let me sleep. When I do finally fall asleep when I wake up I have NO energy and feel like I have been hit by a truck.
So, my initial question .... how do you stay motivated and focused with all the distractions of everyday life?
I started back to weight watchers a few months ago, and while my weight loss as been a little slower than I had hoped it would. I am proud of my accomplishments - I have lost 12 pounds - but I had hoped to be a little further along by now. One reason I'm not - and I take full responsibility for it - is my lack of exercise. I try to schedule it into my calendar but it always seems to be the first thing that gets pushed when something else comes up. I have also realized that I prioritize everything but myself and that has got to STOP. I am determined to hit my goal this time (I never hit it the last time I joined weight watchers). and become a lifetime member of weight watchers.
One thing I have realized when I turned 40 is that I have really let time take over our lives and I have let it. It's easier to grab dunkin donuts in the morning on the way to school, go through McDonald's before or after the basketball games for dinner rather than sitting down and eating a cooked dinner. Well this has also STOPPED as of today.
I have planned dinners for the week - and wrote the on the board I bought for the refrigerator and I am going to STICK to them. Elijah made a smoothie this morning - with yogurt, fresh strawberries & banana - and shared it with Cloe & Blake.
I am not traveling this week - and while I have several projects to kick off - my schedule is very open because HIMSS is this week and I am not there. It feels very weird for me professionally because I have not been at a HIMSS or MGMA (except when I was out with the kids) in 6 years. It's very strange not being there but I am going to use this week to get organized at home and put some new - healthier routines in place for my family.
What routines do you have that make getting out the door in the morning or dinner time easier?
As you all know I turned 40 last month. One of my BFF's Marla was sort of right - she told me the three days leading up to 40 are much harder than the day after. My actual birthday and the next couple of days were not that bad - I really didn't even realize it was my birthday. Where the sort of comes in is now that it's been a few weeks it's starting to hit me a little more each day. I really don't want to start out 2013 is a frumpy rut!
Justin took me to St. Peters urgh for my birthday weekend - the weather was so nice and it was so nice to be somewhere where there is stuff to do! We went to an outdoor market (called the Saturday morning market) and it was so cool. They had live music, food, crafts, jewrley, and all sorts of all natural / organic products. It was so refreshing and it put me in such a good mood. Then we return to reality .... shitty Ohio and the bullshit of everyday life.
Ok enough of being a little negative (more like venting) .... While we were in St. Petersburgh we bought three trees and had them shipped home. We bought a banana tree, and avacado tree and a plam tree. We actually bought two palm trees - one for us and one for Justin's mom. The one we is called a pony tail palm and is not very big right now. The problem is going to be me keeping them alive, ha! The banana tree and alvacado tree need compost - I have never had a compost pile before. I'm going to do research but if anyone had any ideas or informaiton PLEASE send them along.
Also - I am on a mission to start recycling. Everytime I start everything piles up and I end up putting it out for the garbage. Any tips / tricks for successful recycling?
Hope everyone is having a happy new year!
J-
Happy Holidays! Well another year has past and in true Jeneen style, I did not keep my resolution that I was going to commit to weekly postings. This is what I wrote last year:
I can't believe another year is gone. It seems the older I get, the faster time goes by. It's not that 2011 was a terrible year, It just wasn't the year i wanted it to be - I take full responsibility for that. The year got away from me and I didn't have my priorities in line.
I started this blog - as an idea with Laura and Angie - after a pampered chef party that I had because we were talking about how hard it is to come up with different ideas for dinner. I thought it would be cool to keep it open to "any" idea, not just dinner because as most of you know I am the most non-domestic female you will EVER meet :-) - yes i can admit it!! It seems like over the last couple of years I have used this blog more of a sounding board to complain about things that are bothering me, especially after Blake was born.
So..... with the new year I am going to reintroduce this blog - as it's true purpose. I am going to commit to weekly postings with a question (like my fall decorating idea posting in September) or a recipe I think everyone will enjoy, a parenting tip or question, etc..
I would really like some suggestions on how to make the blog better - more interesting - so please provide your ideas and feedback.
I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and has a Happy New Year! I am really looking forward to 2012!!
Well this year I am not making resolutions because I seldom achieve them. Instead I am focusing on one thing: HAPPINESS!! I am turning 40 in three days and I am not dealing with it very well. I am not sure why because I have been very blessed in my life. Something is missing and that is what I am going to search for in 2013!
I am going to really try and write a weekly post, but like I said last year if there are any topics or suggestions that would be great.
You are all very special to me and I wish you nothing but the best for the New Year!!
Cheers!
J-
