How to make ICE Marbles: A hands on activity for children #CraftsForKids

This is shaping up to be a pretty cold winter here in Illinois and I have been trying to come up with some new things for my kids to do. We have the standard rainy day activities that we can always fall back on if necessary, but I have been trying to embrace winter and incorporate it into some fun new activities for my family to try out. I wanted to do something other than build a snowman or create a snow fort or have a snow fight. So I put on my thinking cap on and started brainstorming in color! A game of hide-and-go-seek with colored ice marbles sounded like something my children could definitely get in to. So the boys and I got busy making ice marbles, and they had just as much fun making them as they did playing with them once they were ready!

Perfect for a Pot Luck: Super Simple Deviled Eggs #Recipe

I know that deviled eggs are a pretty easy thing to make, but since my deviled eggs are something I am almost always asked to bring for social occasions and pot lucks I thought that I would share my recipe with you. It is a pretty simple straight forward recipe, but it is yummy. I never seem to have any left over at the end.

February Monthly Meal Planning #FreePrintable

Last month I created a monthly meal plan for my family and I shared with you the free printable. I created a menu for my family that detailed what we planned on eating for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the whole month. It was really nice not having to come up with a menu each and every week. I simply referred to my monthly meal plan and planned accordingly. Since the January monthly meal plan was so easy to follow I got a head start on my February Monthly Meal plan. I am happy to be able to share that with you today.

Winter Wonderland Of Babies #Giveaway

A Winter Wonderland Of Babies Event Is HERE! 

We get to CELEBRATE all the new babies in our lives!

 

Some great blogging friends of mine have put together an amazing prize package. Joy Of Momma Joyner and Mama On A Green Mission are both welcoming their 3rd babies in the next few weeks! Along with a wonderful group of bloggers, they want to offer ONE WINNER an awesome Prize Package full of great items for Mama, Baby, and even for Siblings!

The Prize Package Includes:

A Very Minnie Mouse Birthday Party #DisneySide

Recently my nice turned three and to celebrate she had a Minnie Mouse themed birthday party. My sister-in-law put on her crafty hat and got to work making decorations and favors and I must say that she did an outstanding job. She had fun games and treats for the children to play and my boys thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

Fitness Friday Building a Fitness Routine #FitMom

Being healthy and getting fit are choices that you make throughout the day and they are not always easy. Will you eat the apple or the potato chips? Will you drink the water or the soda pop? Will you exercise or sit on the coach? Don’t get me wrong, there are days that I would love nothing more than to sit on the sofa with a good book. But eating the potato chips, drinking the soda, and sitting on the couch are not going to help me reach my fitness goals. Building a fitness routine and choosing a healthy active lifestyle will. It is a conscious choice that I make every day.

These choices are not always simple and I am by no means perfect. There are some days that I choose to each a yummy sandwich instead of a salad. I log my calorie intake and work to better myself each day. The goal is to continue to better myself. The only way that I know how to better myself is to keep track of how I am doing and to go from there. One way that I make sure to meet my daily fitness goal is to carve out time each day to workout. By doing this every day I am more likely to successfully complete my workout.

Cleaning House and taking names: Reorganization of the storage room.

Every once in a while I get an itch to clean and organize something. Usually this means that I tackle the children’s playroom or the family room. This need to clean can usually be satisfied with a quick once through of the kitchen or a day spent vacuuming and cleaning carpets. But after spending five minutes in the storage room looking for some craft supplies I decided a serious cleaning/organizing/purging session was in order. It was time to simplify.

Fitness Friday getting the hang of the #FitBit

I have been spending the last few weeks organizing and preparing for the rest of this year. I have been making plans and setting goals for myself, my family, and my blog. I have been taking time to hammer out the details of what I want this year to look like; as a result I have not had the time to really sit down at my computer to write. After Next week that should change. I have given myself a little bloggy vacation to get my house in order and to kick-start my goals for 2014. I am feeling much more prepared and excited about this coming year and all I have planned. I even have a little workout room all set up for myself. 

Indoor time with the children {winter break}

Thanks to a longer than expected winter break and an extremely cold and wet winter thus far I have been spending a great deal of time indoors with my children. We have been hibernating. We have been building a lot of forts and eating a lot of popcorn. Santa was very nice to us this year and dropped off some fun electronics for us to play with as well. We have had a lot of pajama days and enjoyed tons of cuddles… we have also potty trained another child {but that is a whole other post in itself}. I thought that I would share some of our winter break photos with you.

30 Day Fitness Challenge {Full Body Workout}

I enjoy being healthy and active, but it can take a little bit of work and I am still not where I thought I would be 6 months post pregnancy. As a result I am trying something new. No workout “programs” for now. I am planning on taking on challenges instead. The goal is to put together 30 day fitness challenges that I will share with you here. The first one will be a total body workout and will slowly build durability. Then in coming months I may target specific areas of the body to focus on. For me, this is a step in the right direction to physical fitness – a way to get healthy and be active and to reach an attainable goal. While I hope to lose weight, losing weight is not the primary goal for these fitness challenges. The primary goal is to get healthy and get fit.

Taking a Family Photo

Each year my mother-in-law requests that we get together for a professional family photo. She picks out where and when the photo will take place and even plans what everyone should wear. She hires a family friend to come and take our picture and we spend time as a family trying to get all the children to look and smile for the camera at the same time. It is quite entertaining.

Each year I enjoy pouring over the images and picking out my favorites. My absolute favorite pictures are usually the ones of the kids, go figure. But this year the one I was drawn to was the picture of my whole family. I love it!

January Monthly Meal Planning w/ Grocery Template #FreePrintable

Each week I create a menu for my family that details what we will be eating throughout the week. I decided what will be for dinner in advance and I do my grocery shopping accordingly. I have decided that doing this every week has become a bit tedious. In order to avoid getting into a food rut by eating the same thing every week, I would create a monthly meal plan for my family. The monthly meal plan, starting with the January monthly meal plan, will detail what we will be eating for the whole month for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.