Showing posts with label tips. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tips. Show all posts
Kindle Options
We got a Kindle for Christmas and have been exploring this new-to-us world. Recently we discovered that you can check out books for your Kindle from the local library! How awesome is that? This might be old news to you, but just in case you are like us and new to this type of stuff we thought we would pass it on!

To see if your library offers this option we recommend typing in your county + the word library + books for Kindle into google.

Example: Thurston County Library Books for Kindle

 That was the fastest way to get the check-out page. Once there search for your desired book and place a hold or check it out! Our library sent us an email that then walked us through the steps to placing it on our device. 

Our first check out?
Half The Sky
Reviewed here. Happy Reading!
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This Spring I Will...
...try to make these trends work for me and my wardrobe!

Every season (well most seasons) I try to pick a few fun trends that require little to no shopping on my end. Then I make a list of a few items that can be multi-tasked to the fullest for this season and into the next. It is one of my little tricks to feeling fabulous and on trend while staying in my budget. So without further ado here is my list...

Mixing Textures



(&Tangerine, possibly together...)



City Cowgirl And Big Scarves



Striped and Casual

And....Big Hair!



Soft, romantic, layered, textures galore and attention to detail. 
So we will see how I do and maybe I will post some pictures of my own attempts at being 
"on trend". 
What are you embracing for Spring?
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Printing Nightmare! ~ Resolution


What do you do when this is how you feel?
 You turn to a resourceful friend who can direct you to links like 

 to help prevent this.... 

from happening again. 
Happy Humpday!
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At The Table
We love eating as a family, especially now that Kevin is home more and able to participate. One little conundrum I kept running into however was the fact that Baby Love was still managing to get some food on the tablecloth. And with laundry being in the basement and my FAVORITE thing in the world to do <sarcasm> this made me a little more than annoyed to have to keep switching out the tablecloths.

So....I came up with this solution of using a napkin as his place-mat and letting it hang over the side like so:

Pretty brilliant if I do say so myself! And effective too boot. Hurray for easy fixes!
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Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow

Merry Day After Christmas To You!
We hope your celebration was lovely and we will certainly post about ours shortly, but first we wanted to share with you one of our guinea pig ideas for this year. Now that our oldest is fully aware of most aspects of the Christmas season we realized that parting with all things Christmas, especially the tree, could be a recipe for disaster. So....here is our plan.

This lovely chalkboard hangs in our kitchen and Baby Love looks at it often. For the next four days we will read it aloud at breakfast and talk about the idea that all things Christmas will be leaving soon. Just like our good-bye rituals for the park, church, etc... we will say :
"Christmas will be leaving in __ days,
is there anything you want to do before it leaves?"
 And every night the number will change and hopefully
<fingerscrossed>
the impact will be less devastating for our sweet spirited son.

Any suggestions for how you help your kids transition?
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MYPUBLISHER Coupon Code
In case you are thinking of making a book commemorating this holiday season, 
you can get a Gift Certificate for 40% off! Great deal.

Here is the code:

MERRYGIFT

We love Mypublisher and have used them for the past 5 years. I think a blog post on our deep-rooted affinity for them will follow soon.... Merry Christmas!
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Free Shipping Code
I love a good deal. It is an adrenaline rush and makes me feel like screaming

 "I Win!!!"

well at least most of the time it does. During the holidays I am constantly on the lookout for a way to save when purchasing Christmas Gifts. Often I find just what I have been looking for, but then there is that maddening shipping cost. Sometimes it almost doubles my cost and then I feel like muttering

 "I lost..."

over and over again. Not good. One thing I have noticed however is the similarity in all of those discount codes. The ones for Free Shipping, or 30% off. You know the ones right? In googling :

 <itemdesired> free shipping, or % off
 (which works many times by the way),

 I began to notice that the codes were all so similar. For my next on-line purchase I decided to try out my theory and was successful! Since then I always try some combination of the following:

FREESHIP
<MONTH>FREESHIP (example: DECFREESHIP..)
<MONTH NUMBER>OFF OR FREESHIP (example: 12OFF or 12FREESHIP)
30OFF
50OFF
30FORFRIENDS
30FORFAMILY (or 50)
FREE2YOU
SHIPFREE
  
I hope these help you in your quest for your very own "I Win!!!" moment, and if you have any to add I would love to have a few more for my emergency moments, so please share. Happy on-line deal hunting!
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Now and Later Cookies
Cookie exchanges are good in theory but rarely successful in execution. Think about it, you come home with plates of cookies that need to be delivered ASAP or you put them in the freezer until the time comes to thaw and serve.

The first is hard for us, seeing how delivery of anything is made difficult because of the process of just getting to the car. Being that we live in the heart of the city we usually end up parking at least a block away, if we are lucky. And we live on a hill. So getting out to the car, with a stroller loaded to the gills with "necessary" items (yes I am working on this...) and then adding plates of cookies....Not. Going. To. Happen. 

The second option is again difficult because, well, here is my freezer. 
Yikes, I know. But it is small"ish" and I am currently cooking three separate menus (long story), most from scratch. All of which require having a lot of ingredients on hand. Again, great in theory, poor in execution options.

So what is a girl in the city, with two kiddos, and an active entertaining schedule to do? Well, I will share with you something that I thought everyone did and only recently discovered is more of a
secret.
I make cookie dough, then shape it into a roll and freeze the roll. A tip here is to make the log as long and tall as an ice cube tray, then it will fit in any freezer. When the time comes to bake the cookies I let the roll sit out for 10 maybe 15 minutes, slice the desired amount and cook like normal. As my friend would say
"Easy Peasy".

So in honor of my little secret I threw a "Now and Later" Cookie exchange to kick off the holidays. Everyone was asked to bring a few of their cookies already baked, and the rest already frozen in rolls. I served some savory delights, wine and cider to round out our tasting experience.
 To label the rolls I printed off a blank template for labeling canned goods, printed them onto mailing labels and used my circle punch to complete the look.
 Overall I would say it was a success and we all began our holiday season with four dozen different types of cookies just waiting for guests to pop on by. 

What are your favorite ideas or tips and tricks for entertaining during the holidays?
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Printing Nightmare!

It is that time of year again, time to battle with the printer. Whether you send a family newsletter, make your own cards, or simply use the demon electronic to print your labels, you know what I am talking about. No matter how skilled you are, how many battles you have won with scores of machines, they will still get you. For me it was custom printing inside the our handmade Christmas cards.

Having done this for years at work and home this seemed like an easy, nap-time appropriate event. Two days later I have remembered a little
----  secret ----
 that just saved my holiday spirit and might give yours a boost as well. For some reason my printer has a hard time with unusual sized paper and just defaults, over and over, and over. Now I am sure there is a "quick fix" for this, but trust me, this thing has it in for me. Anyways, while it resists my pleading when I use my own templates, it does however behave brilliantly when other templates are imported. So much like my two year old who hates cheddar but loves Gorgonzola, our printer likes imports. That said I have had FANTASTIC luck using the templates at Gartner Studios. Having used them after purchasing their products in the past this little nugget of information popped into my head right before IT was about to explode.

Over to their site, entered the paper size, selected a wedding invitation with RSVP cards in the same dimensions. Downloaded the template, replaced their blanks with my sentiments, hit print and VOILA! Amazing. Not to mention if you are wanting a basic template for labels, RSVP cards, etc.... it is all there. 

My renewed-holiday-spirit wish for you is that your cards, letters, cookie packages are created with your holiday spirit intact. Hohoho!!!
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Christmas All Year Long
Food and Toddlers seem to be a revolving issue for many people, enough so that most parenting books address it and mothers lament it at playgroups. We have been encountering this in our home lately as it is an easy area for a jealous toddler to assert themselves. In a moment of desperation Abbey sat thinking through everything she had read or heard and remembered a book she came across almost a year ago. 
First Meals Revised: Fast, healthy, and fun foods to tempt infants and toddlers 
Having already purchased and loved Annabel Karmel's Baby Purees Book, this one had been on our "want" list. Lo' and behold a sweet friend gifted it to us shortly after the arrival of Baby D. She had no idea we had our eye on this title, which made the gift even more special. We have just cracked its pages and love what we have read so far. Our favorite little idea that we just had to share with you is the notion, ever popular but forgotten, of sandwiches cut into clever shapes. We pulled out our Christmas cookie cutters and set to making lunch a more festive affair. Our discovery? Baby Love is as much a visual eater as his mom. It has been amazing to see the change in his eating habits since using these:

To make his plate look like this:

While it does take a few more minutes up front, the time it saves on the back end and the peace it brings to meal time more than makes up for the little extra effort. 
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Stylish For $5!
Baby Love is growing so quickly that it is getting difficult to keep him in clothes! We, like many parents these days, love to see our little boys dressed like little men, rather than babies. In pondering our current clothing problem we found a solution that we are so in love with we just had to share it with you guys. 
Hanes - Toddler Boys 5 Pack Crewneck T-Shirts, White, T2145 (Size 2/3)
Hanes toddler tee-shirts that come in a 5 pack and 
are a little over $5 at Wal-Mart! 
They also have:
Hanes Toddler Boys' 5 Pack Tank,(White-2T/3T)
 for a little over $6. 
We love these for the look, the price and the fact that they can be bleached from all of the summer berry and ketchup stains that are inevitable. We must say that they make our little man look like very stylish! 
So pass this tip on, or use it for yourself. After all, that little extra that you saved would like nice spent on something else. Are we right? 
Happy Tuesday!
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I Heart Peonies


No, I really, really do. 
They have to be one of my favorite flower but they are spendy and pretty unavailable most of the year. One thing I don't love about Peonies are the creatures that come with them, ants. It is rare that I don't end up with a tiny colony of these pesky creatures after bringing my favorite flower home from the store or farm. So this last week when I went to pick some from a local farm I spotted the ants, spotted the flowers and cringed. Then I was hit with a brilliant and very "captain obvious" moment: If I only pick those that are still tightly closed, then I can have my Peonies without the crawly pests. So I picked 5 buds at different stages of development and a week later let me tell you they are beautiful and full, but best of all, they are ANT FREE!!! So spread the word, and if you already knew about this trick, shame on you for not telling me sooner! <wink>
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Toddlers and Transitions...
My son has a new-found love of movies and it drives me nuts. Growing up without television was one of the single best decisions my parents made, especially for my personality type. We had a TV, but only had access to movies for special occasions. So there it stood, a big black empty looking box that rarely roared to life, and that is how I liked it, empty looking. Now before I go on some awful rabbit trail about TV and toddlers I will steer myself back on track, transitions. His love of movies has led to a love of the cases and he reads them, rather than  a book. Being that they are (or rather were...) in a drawer that he had access to I decided to strap on my mommy boots and change this dynamic in our home. Given that this was a success (sorry if I spoiled the ending of the story for you) I wanted to share. So often there are many more steps backwards than forwards when dealing with a toddler that I LOVE a successful toddler-parenting story.

Knowing his little heart the way that I do, being sensitive and gradual was going to be the key to success in this transition. So one morning he woke up to "his" movies not being in the drawer. While a bit confused he searched and then moved on to something else. Step two was convincing him that something else being in that drawer was a good thing, and letting him think it was his idea. So the other night he was at the drawer and looking a bit perplexed at the progressing emptiness of it's contents when I suggested he fill it with his books. His SPECIAL books. He got so excited he ran from the room and came back as I hoped, with more books than would fit in that space. I suggested mommy move her movies to make room for his special books and he jumped on that idea. In 5 minutes the problem drawer went from a constant issue to a special "secret" space for his favorite books.

Now his movies are in zippered boxes under the couch, out of sight and hard to pull out and his favorite drawer is filled with mommies favorite-for-him things, beautiful, well-loved books.

This process reminded me of the importance of approaching my toddler as a little person with very real feelings and fears. To deal with him as sensitively as I would a dear friend in a state of her own transition. And to soften my heart to his so that we continue to grow together in communication and respect, rather than apart. To my fellow parents of toddlers I hope you are encouraged.
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