2009 April

Survive Summer With 3 Girls And A Pug. Click HERE for a preview of what’s to come.

Apr 21

Tidy Up Tuesdays: Week No. 3 — Mud Rooms

Growing up in California I’d never heard the term, “mud room.” But in our years spent living in cold weather country I’ve grown to appreciate the purpose of a mud room and believe everyone should have one, even if it’s not actually used for mud.

In case the term “mud room” is new to you, it’s the first room you enter in a home where you remove your muddy boots, coats, and whatever else you feel is too soiled to parade around in the rest of the house wearing. Sometimes you enter a mud room from a side door of a home. These rooms are necessities in rural parts of the country or in areas of extreme weather conditions. In Southern California we have neither of those issues, but I still love my makeshift mud room.

All families come and go numerous times of the day, and finding shoes, coats, backpacks and other needed essentials can be stressful, especially when time is not on your side (which it’s never in our house). For less than $30, I converted a short hallway area close to the garage where the car is parked into our mud room. I hung a decorative coat rack with drywall screws for extra stability on the wall. Each of my children is assigned a peg and their coat and backpack is hung on one of the rungs. We also have a basket of shoes just inside the garage so everyone has easy access to shoes so we can leave in a hurry. It’s also great for arrivals, too. Before the mud room, my children would throw their backpacks and coats on the floor wherever they landed on their way to their fridge for their afterschool snack.

It’s not a perfect system, but it does put everything in one place, and close to our main exit and entry point. We’ll have a rainy day, and then a cold day, and then a mild day and we’ll be piled three coats high on occasion. Periodically I make a coat pile and send the girls upstairs to re-hang the excess coats. Keeping the stockpile of attire down to a minimum helps to keep the walkway functional, but decorative, too.

Look for places in your home that are under-utilized and could be easily transitioned into your mud room. Even if you don’t have children, these spaces may be great places for setting down keys, cell phones, and purses. If you have more space, I’ve seen lots of great ideas for putting a small bench under the coat rack. These benches provide shoe storage or places for extra clothing for extracurricular activities, and they double as a place to sit when you’re gearing up to go out.

Question: What do you do to make coming and going from your home a smoother, more organized process?

Apr 20

Mommy Mondays: 11 Years BC (Before Children) – A three part series on baby-proofing your marriage

Uncategorized 5 Comments »

On Friday night, my husband and I drove off into the sunset (literally) together to head out to our weekly date night. My children were at home playing board games with the babysitter, but in my head all I could hear was the collective noise that they make when they’re all together. It’s not a bad noise, but it is a loud noise. My husband works in a very quiet office building (my kids think it’s a library because it’s so quiet and there are books everywhere.) So, when he’s home on a weekend he struggles to deal with the chorus of sounds that three daughters can make. And our pug adds to the audible commotion, too. (She snorts, snores, howls, barks, and makes plenty of noise of her own.)

The longer I sat in the quiet of the car, the quieter the chatter from home became. After leaving the restaurant I didn’t hear the sounds of home in my head anymore. I felt relaxed and I felt like an adult again. While we’d only been gone about an hour at this point, I felt like it had been hours since we’d left our home.

We traveled to our next destination and I reflected on how much I enjoy our weekly date nights. Most of the time we don’t really do anything that fancy or spectacular, but mostly it provides an opportunity for us to converse without interruption, to identify as a couple, and to remember who we were before children. Sometimes this is no easy feat. Depending on what ongoing stresses we’re battling, leaving home behind for a few hours can be nearly impossible, yet so refreshing and rejuvenating that it has become an institution in our 11 years of marriage.

I love my children. I’d give them anything I could to ensure a happy and healthy future for them. And I firmly believe that one of the best things I can give my children is the example of a happy marriage. Date night for them means taking a nutritional night off. They eat pizza, cereal, or mac-n-cheese for dinner. They play games with the babysitter and actually look forward to us being gone for a bit. (I think it’s a bit like the saying, “While the cats are away the mice will play.”) Maybe they swing from the chandeliers while we’re gone, but they’re always happily asleep when we return. To date, none of our children has ever been seriously injured or lost a limb while we’ve been out on the town.

I’ve actually been criticized over the years for selfishly going on date nights and I’ve heard lots of reasons why people claim they can’t do date nights. Here are a few barriers to overcome before you can step out together for a night out.

Excuse No. 1: “We don’t have time.” Carving out the time may be hard at first but it’s not impossible. Sometimes we have to be creative to get our schedules to coordinate and now that our children are older we’ve got oodles of their activities crammed onto our agenda too. We’ve had breakfast dates, exercise dates, and weeknight dates to squeeze in the together time.

Excuse No. 2: “We don’t have any money.” Of all the excuses I’ve heard over the years, this one is the most legitimate, but it doesn’t have to be a road block. We’ve become masters of finding cheap or free things to do – take a walk on the beach, play tennis at the park, go for a scenic drive. It’s not really about what you do—it’s more about being together. Babysitters—especially the ones that don’t let the kids swing from the chandeliers—can be expensive. We started a babysitters co-op a few years ago that went well by trading babysitting time with friends who have similarly aged children, and we’ve come up with other creative ways to save a buck or two while not compromising our night out together.

Excuse No. 3: “My husband won’t go.” Get a babysitter, make a plan, and invite him to go. If he doesn’t want to go, then go by yourself. I read this suggestion in a book once and the author said it only took a couple weeks before her husband became intrigued and followed along. They’ve been dating each other ever since.

Question: What do you do on your date nights?

Apr 17

Foodie Fridays: Recession-Proof Recipe Websites

Foodie Fridays 2 Comments »

I remember going out to eat once or twice a year as a child. It was a luxury. We went out at Christmas time and maybe one or two other special occasions during the year. In just a few decades, it’s become more commonplace for children to eat out at fine dining establishments. While there is nothing wrong with taking children out for a night on the town, the tough economy has caused more families to opt for cooking at home to trim the fat from their family food budgets.

However, cooking at home can be costly too if you’re not careful about the ingredients you put in your recipes. I’ve discovered a few great websites that have helped me to spend less on food (and eat healthier, too). Check them out and tell us all what you think.

1. www.greatdepressioncooking.com. This website features video recipes by Clara Cannucciari, a 90-something-year-old grandmother who shows viewers what she used to make during the Depression Era. I saw her cooking up great recipes on a morning show a few months ago and was mesmerized. It’s like cooking in the kitchen with my own grandmother. Her ideas are great and her no-nonsense approach is even more impressive.

2. www.abcnews.go.com/gma/recipes. This week “Good Morning America” launched a webpage dedicated to 1,000 recipes they’ve featured on their show, from famous chefs such as Emeril and Rachel Ray to their anchors’ family recipes. They’ve logged recipes for every kind of foodie including penny-pinching and crock pot creations to gourmet meals and restaurant-style desserts.

3. www.safelygatheredin2.blogspot.com. Cooking from your pantry saves you cash and can also save your day if you aren’t able to make it to the store. This blog allows you to search recipes by food items that you may already have in your pantry and gives you tips for preparing your pantry for an emergency. All of the recipes on this blog feature many great pictures to help you along as you test out new recipes in your own home kitchen.

Question: What websites do you use to get recipes from?

Apr 16

Tried and True Thursdays: Pet Products That Save The Day at Home

Tried and True Thursdays 2 Comments »

I’ve been writing about pets for as long as I’ve been a mother and I’ve found a few products that I’ve adapted for use with my non-furry babies. You’d be surprised how a trip to the pet store may just reveal some handy items that you can’t find on the baby aisle.

1. Petrotech spray by SeaYu.This spray, which eliminates urine smells easily, is good for the environment and safe around children and pets. I bought two cans of this spray from my local pet store and the woman at the checkout counter asked, “Do you have a new puppy?” I said, “No. I’m potty-training my two-year-old.” She frowned at me and looked horrified. What difference does it make who dribbled on the carpet? If the product works on dog urine then you can bet it works on kids, too. And it did! I recommend this to anyone who is potty-training a new puppy or a toddler.

2. Solutia Pet Hair Eliminator Brush. I keep this brush in my car (it fits inside the door) and I use it to brush out any crumbs, smooshed Cheerios, sand, leaves, dirt clods from soccer practice, and pretty much anything else that my kids leave behind. It has a compact head that can get in all kinds of knooks and crannies that are hard to get to. It’s great when you need to clean up your car in a hurry and don’t have time to do a full detail.

3. Doggie Walk Bags. Not only are these bags scented, they also come with fashionable holders that clip onto diaper bags or purses or fit inside a glove box. They came in handy in our car when we had kids in diapers (thank goodness that stage is over), and now we use them when someone gets sick in the car, makes a mess, needs a baggie to carry something in, etc. I’m sure you can think of oodles of uses for plastic bags but don’t want to carry grocery sacks in your car for fear of accidental suffocation or because they just take up a lot of space. One compact roll can last a long time and take up little space.

Question: What non-traditional products do you use around the house?

Apr 15

Wildcard Wednesdays: Look Like Rockstars in Your Next Family Photo Shoot

Guest Blogger, Wildcard Wednesdays 3 Comments »

As a professional photographer, one question I hear ALL the time is, “What should we wear for our photo shoot?” Here are my tips for dressing for a photo shoot. However, these are just my suggestions and ultimately these are your photos, so do whatever will make you happy.

1. Don’t match! If you usually make sure everyone is wearing jeans and white button up shirts before walking out the door, go for it. But if you don’t do this “normally,”why do it for a photo? Unless you are looking for a more formal, posed picture…don’t do it.

2. Wear your favorite outfit. If you feel good, your pictures will look good. If you are uncomfortable, it will show. Let your kids pick their outfit. You can give them free reign, or give them some guidelines. The more comfortable they are, the more at ease they will be, and the better the pictures. After all, you want good pictures, right?

3. Leave the busy prints at home. Prints are OK, but coordinating as family can be difficult. If one person is wearing paisley, the other is wearing stripes and someone else is wearing polka-dots, your photos will look like someone threw up a material store on your photos. Not good.

4. Coordinate. Think of what your backdrop will be. Wear something that will pop. If you are going to the beach for photos, brown and sea blue are going to blend into the background, you want to stand out. If you are going to a green pasture and you wear green, you’ll look like a floating head. You want to wear something that will stand out in a photo.

5. Accesorize. Scarves, hats, jewelry, jackets, sweaters, etc. will add so much to your photos.

6. Top Priority. Mos importantly, HAVE FUN!!!!

Guest Blogger: Tara, a mother of 5, is also the owner of Tara Brooks Photography. Check her amazing talent out at www.tarabrooksphotography.blogspot.com. Check back next Wednesday for more blog posts by Tara.

Apr 14

Tidy Up Tuesdays: Week No. 2 — Laundry

Tidy Up Tuesdays 3 Comments »

I had a stay-at-home dad cohort who loved doing laundry because it gave him an excuse to watch ESPN and still productively cross chores off his to-do list. I can’t get that excited about doing laundry. I’m not sure why I hate laundry as much as I do but recently I discovered a few ways to win the battle against the mounds of laundry my family produces. A big key was involving my kids more in the laundry process.

Here’s my three-step system.

1. Keep a tidy laundry room. I love that our new house houses the laundry room upstairs near all of the bedrooms. I bought a three-bin laundry sorter that matches my laundry room and all items go into either darks, brights, or whites.

2. Place laundry baskets in each bedroom. Each bedroom has its own laundry basket so no one has an excuse to put her dirty socks, pants, towels, etc. on the floor. These larger laundry baskets are sorted out once or twice a week into the laundry room sorter. (Even my three-year-old likes to sort laundry. Sorting laundry is also a handy chore for kids who don’t pick up their dirty clothes even though the basket is in their room.)

3. Buy each child her own laundry basket. I bought three small, stackable, cheap laundry baskets from Target (only $1.99 each) and wrote each of my children’s names on them with a Sharpie. Once the laundry is folded, I put their clean clothes in the baskets and then they put them away in their drawers. When they’re empty I stack them inside each other and set them on top of the dryer.

Question: What do you do to make laundry less of a burden?

Apr 13

Mommy Mondays: My Pug Licked my Cheesecake

Mommy Monday 3 Comments »

The 30th Anniversary Chocolate Cake Cheesecake

I shared my body for nine months with each of my children but I have limits on sharing certain chocolate treats with my kids. So as I dove into my half-eaten 30^th Annniversary Chocolate Cake Cheesecake last week, my children knew that my cheesecake was off limits. They didn’t even ask for a bite or a taste. I’d normally feel guilty about this but I seriously share bites of everything else with them. This was $7 of heaven that I was going to happily hoard.

After devouring half of the slice, I set it on the coffee table and closed my eyes for a minute with my 3-year-old snuggled up next to me. A few seconds later I awoke to my daughter shreaking and pointing to my pug, Aggie, who was licking the cheesecake with her 5-inch tongue. I was shocked. Aggie has been well trained to never take anything off of the table. Was my cheesecake that irrestible to her?

I picked up the cheesecake and examined the damage. There was thick doggy slobber all over it. For a minute I thought about flipping it over and just eating it from the bottom up. It’s kind of like that episode of “Friends” where Chandler and Rachel drop the cheesecake on the floor and then rationalize that the parts not touching the floor were still good enough to eat. Before I pondered this rationale too deeply I picked up the container and threw it in the trash. Gross is gross, right?

Needless to say, this experience had me frustrated. I thought dogs were supposed to be loyal supporters, not conspiring ambushers. I thought she and I were on the same team, and then she lay in wait until I closed my eyes to seize the goods. Stealing another woman’s chocolate is the ultimate in female betrayal. After several hours of sad pug faces, I let her out of the figurative doghouse.

Question: Would you have eaten the cheesecake?

Apr 10

Foodie Fridays: Copy Cat Cooking

Foodie Fridays 2 Comments »

I’m a self-professed foodie. I’m really picky about where I go out to eat. It’s not the atmosphere or the name of the restaurant that intrigues me the most. Instead, in my opinion one of the first and most important questions I ask myself when reviewing a menu is: Can I make this at home? My favorite restaurants are those who have menus I can’t seem to replicate no matter how much I try.

Recently, I found a great website, www.cdkitchen.com, which has copycat recipes for many major restaurant chains. The site lists recipes for everything from The Cheesecake Factory’s most popular dish, The Chicken Madeira, to PF Chang’s Lettuce Wraps.

The site rates how difficult the recipe is to make on a scale of one to five and allows readers to comment on how close they thought the copy cat recipe came to being the real deal.

Below is a recipe from the website for Panera Bread’s Broccoli Cheese Soup. Not only was it easy to make, it also tastes like it does at the restaurant. I even bought bread bowls to make it more authentic.

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup flour
2 cups half-and-half
2 cups chicken stock or bouillon
1/2 pound fresh broccoli
1 cup carrots, julienned
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
8 ounces grated sharp cheddar

Directions:

Saute onion in butter. Set aside. Cook melted butter and flour using a whisk over medium heat for 3-5 minutes. Stir constantly and slowly add the half-and-half (this is called making a roux). Add the chicken stock whisking all the time. Simmer for 20 minutes.Add the broccoli, carrots and onions. Cook over low heat until the veggies are tender for 20-25 minutes. Add salt and pepper. The soup should be thickened by now. Pour in batches into blender and puree. Return to pot over low heat and add the grated cheese; stir until well blended. Stir in the nutmeg and serve.

Apr 09

Tried and True Thursdays: Not Your Momma’s Bathing Suit

Tried and True Thursdays 1 Comment »

Sun. Relaxation. Good Food. I can hardly wait for my upcoming Girl’s Weekend in Palm Springs. Except that means I have to find a new bathing suit. After wading through loads of awful suits in stores I turned my despair into delightful online shopping. Now, I just have to narrow it down and pick a suit (or two) for my upcoming getaway.

If you pick one from this bunch you won’t have to ask yourself, ‘Does this look something my mother would buy?’ These are real bathing suits, for real women, that don’t want to skimp on style but don’t want to wear something skimpy.

1. Layersclothing.com. A dozen cute styles of tankinis with lots of wiggle room so that you don’t have to worry about covering up the mid-section.

2. Shadeclothing.com. Known for their modest clothing, they have a lot of great swimwear options. They have several different styles of swim bottoms to choose from and matching skirts too.

3. Diviine ModesTee.com. This website offers lots of styles to mix and match. You actually design your own suit based on your body shape.

4. LimeRicki.com has lots of trendy styles and colors that work for moms and teens alike. They’ve got great retro-looks in both tankini and one-piece styles. This site offers some of the best colors, fabrics and patterns to pick from. They have lots of fresh looks so you don’t have to compromise on style to be modest.

5. Hapari.com has a large selection of suits that you can adjust in several ways to match your body type whether you prefer halters, tanks, or criss-cross straps. They also have spots for “breast inserts” and bottoms pieces that tuck in your tummy. They also offer lots of sizes, to give women of all shapes and sizes, plenty of options.

6. Modbecatalog.com. These stylish suits offer full coverage to keep tummies hidden and have lots of great hip styles to suit just about everyone’s taste. These styles tend to be a little on the rock-and-roll side and less preppy.

Apr 08

Wildcard Wednesdays: Hair-Do Helps (Just in Time For Easter)

Wildcard Wednesdays 2 Comments »

I am the oldest of four girls and I have three girls of my own. Growing up, my mom did our hair just about every day. It was just part of the routine: come in the bathroom, stand on the stool, get your hair done, and have your bangs fluffed. (I was a child of the ‘80s.)

As a mom of girls now, I love it when my girls’ hair is done and beautiful, but sometimes getting there can be hard. Here are four tips that have helped us out in our hair routine:

1) Have the right tools and have them handy. I have two brushes (one for tangles and one to brush hair smooth) and a rat tail comb (for parts) that I use to get everything done. I also have a spray bottle that gives a good amount of water with each spray. Everything beyond that is product and that is determined by preference. I stole my organization from shedoeshair.blogspot.com (my favorite hair blog) and hung a clear shoe organizer on the back of our bathroom door. Everything I need is in reach and visible.

2) Plan ahead. I always have at least an idea of what I’m going to do with the hair before I get the wiggly girl in the bathroom. Once I know what I want to do the rest is easy. The problems come when I hem and haw over how to style the hair. There are so many little girl hair-do blogs out there. Bookmark your favorites and scroll through them every once in a while.

3) K.I.S.S. Keep It Simple, Stupid. There are a few tricks to turn a simple ponytail into something beautiful without it taking all morning long. Once you find something that works and looks great, there’s nothing wrong with sticking to it. I have a few staple hair dos that aren’t hard but look fancy. There is no need to re-create the wheel every morning on your daughter’s head.

4) Work together. I am most successful with doing hair when my girls are excited for it too. This isn’t always the case, but we’ve found some compromises: browse the hair-do blogs together to find something you both like, give your daughter a choice (a bow or a flower clip, a braid or a twist, etc.), or go accessory shopping together. Finally, there’s always tomorrow. If they’re not happy with how I’ve styled their hair, I usually let them choose the style the next day, even if it’s not my favorite.

Guest Blogger: Joy, a mother of three girls who never have a bad hair day. Read Joy’s other guest blog post, “General Conference Idea for Pre-schoolers.”