Laundry Made Easy

I don't know about you, but I never felt like I could keep up with the laundry in the house.  Every time I did laundry I felt overwhelmed and like it would take up most of my day, especially the kids' clothes.  I would let two weeks pass sometimes before I washed their clothes, until basically they barely had anything left to wear and then I would be stuck with huge amounts to fold.  And if you've ever folded kids clothes you know what I mean - the basket never empties because their clothes are so little!  It was bad, and I was guilty of not wanting to fold them and most likely living out of a basket until I finally folded them.  Another thing -  my husband used to do his own laundry, which I know - sounds great, but he would wait until the last minute to wash, and his clothes would be piled HIGH in the laundry room - ugh!

I decided that we needed to make a change with our laundry habits and quick!  So I made a schedule and have stuck with it.  The schedule is that I wash, fold and put away one load of laundry per day.  This has made me happy, especially when I walk into the laundry room and don't see mountains of clothes.

How do you handle the laundry in your house?  Do you use a schedule too?  I swear it has been the best time saver!


PS - Don't forget to enter the $125 Amazon gift card giveaway and the Kate Spade giveaway!

This and That

One of my favorite things to do is go to the beach on Tuesday and smell the ocean air, and walk to our favorite taco spot to get their Taco Tuesday special and a beer.  That's what we did this past Tuesday.  I guess one of the perks of it still being warm here is the ability to walk on the beach without freezing :).  It always makes for a fun family outing and the kids love every minute of being on the beach.
             

 

This girl was running the whole way down the beach - probably almost 10 blocks! Where she gets her energy from, I don't know - but I'd like some!

 

At the taco place, there was a man singing and playing a guitar, the kids loved it and were dancing quite a bit, it was pretty adorable.

Lately I've been into cooking a little more.  Usually my husband is the cook in the house - but I've really been enjoying cooking both new recipes and our favorites.  Aside from the pumpkin cheesecake, I've also made Skinnytaste's Crock Pot Carne Guisada (Spanish beef stew), which came out amazing.  If you haven't gone on the Skinnytaste blog, you should - you can never go wrong with her recipes. 

Last night I made one of our favorites and roasted a chicken.  I add all of my favorite seasonings, olive oil, lemon juice and stuff the cavity with lemons.  It comes out delicious, it's one of my favorite comfort foods.

That's all for today - I hope you all have a great day!

    

Thoughts on Thursday: It's Party Time!!

I think I've mentioned before that our 10 year anniversary is coming up.  Our family wants to throw us a party to celebrate, they want me to  let them know what I want because I'm picky (this is true) and they want to make sure I like it.

I'm trying to keep costs down because this year we have two weddings in our immediate family and I know a lot of money is going to that, as it should.  We've secured a small place and plan to have around 50 of our family and closest friends.  I'm keeping things as simple and elegant as I can and also plan to DIY most of the decor.

Here's what I'm thinking:

 

These would be so easy to make, just spray paint wine, beer and small jars and add some pretty blooms.  We also have pieces of wood in our garage that we can cut to sit the center pieces on top, and give a little of a rustic feel.

 

Simple and cute 

 

Love this idea of adding pictures of us through the years hanging on balloons

 

This invitation is the cutest!

Another cute idea for the cake table, I love chalkboards and mason jars!!

Such a beautiful cake!

 
I know this isn't my "Golden" anniversary but I'm crushing on gold lately, so naturally that's the color I want :)  What do you think of the inspiration?  Do you have any other ideas I can do?




PS: don't forget to enter my fun giveaway!

What's in a Blog Name?

Last week Julie posted about how she came up with her blog name, and I thought it was such a great idea!  I loved learning more about her and reading all of the comments on how people came up with their blog names.

I had read blogs for a looong time before I started one.  I never "followed" the blogs with GFC or BlogLovin, I just had them booked marked on my iPad and read them every morning with my coffee in hand.  I always thought of starting a blog, but feared not having anything to write about and not having anyone who would think my blog was interesting enough to read.

One day, August 15th 2013 to be exact (blogiversary is next week, woot woot!) On a whim, I decided to start one.  For the title, I thought of two things that I felt identified me and my personality the most and that of course was mommy-hood "Kids" and one of my favorite things red wine "Cabernet".  Ta-da!

How did you come up with your blog's name?  I'd love to know!

Thoughts on Thursday

Yay to it almost being Friday!  Is it me, or has this week flown by?  I'm linking up with Natalie and Annie for Thoughts on Thursday!

• We got the proofs back from the wedding and all of the pictures came out so pretty!  They took one of our family, and it's a framer!  

 

• Speaking of pictures, am I the only one that takes FOREVER to print any out?  The family pictures we took 5 months ago, I still haven't printed out!  I'm the worst!

• I got some new makeup to try over the weekend.  I've already used it a few times and am loving it.  I'm like a kid in a candy store when it comes to makeup!  I'm not a beauty blogger by any stretch of the means, but I may do a post reviewing what I got.

 

• We've been slowly organizing our 4th bedroom to make it into a playroom - we've been using the bedroom as a guest room/storage/man cave since we moved in 3 years ago.  It also has nothing hung on the walls - it's just a plain room.  While cleaning it out we discovered how many things we've accumulated over the years.  We threw out a lot, and still have organizing to do and figuring out how we're going to store the toys.  I can't wait to get this project done!

• Did you know the iPhone has a parent mode?!  It locks the screen to what your child is playing with.  They aren't able to press the home button or change the volume!  I had no clue about it, read how to do it here.

• Only a couple of days left of my antibiotics (thank goodness!) I miss wine!  I'm counting down the days until I can have a glass, or two! 

 Have a great Thursday!

Getting Crafty With The Kids

About a week or so ago, it was kind of a gloomy day and I wasn't in the mood to go any where.  The kids were getting cabin fever so I went online to figure out something I could do with them.  I found a recipe for "chalk paint".  I had all of the ingredients on hand and knew that they would love helping measure and mix up the paints.

 

Chalk Paint

• Equal parts of cornstarch and water
• Food coloring (I used 10-12 drops) 
• Mix & paint away!

They had a great time mixing the paints and loved painting with the colors!  Once the colors dried, it dried into "chalk" which they thought was fun.

There was a bit of left over paint, the website I read said you can freeze the leftover's and use it as ice chalk paint.  As it melts it turns into the paint and dries into the chalk.  We've yet to use it, but I'm sure the kids will like playing with the ice, especially during the hot Florida summer.

I thought I'd share this easy craft for those mama's (like myself) who often struggle with finding new things to do with the kids.

A Mother's Worry

My whole life I've been a worrier.  As a kid I would worry if we were at the store and my sister would wander away from us, I'd worry if my mom was a few minutes late from work (before the cell phone age), worry as I was riding my bike to school that someone was watching or following me, worried... worried... worried.

As a mother things haven't changed that much, they maybe have gotten a little worse, and I think that just comes with the territory.  For example E was born with a kidney/bladder condition and needed a big surgery when she was two and a half and that was a whole other worry for me - will she be ok? Will her kidney work right?  Would she need another surgery?  Thankfully she's 100% ok, and her kidney and bladder work perfectly.  There are also those times when your babies are small and can't communicate to you what's wrong or what they are feeling, which can send your mama heart into major worry... and then possibly to Web MD to look up symptoms, which totally freaks you out!

My worries became real this week when someone I knew suddenly died.  She was young, around 40 and left behind 2 kids - an infant and a almost two year old.  My heart breaks for her family and her children that will never know her, and her little girl that is almost two, that for now remembers her mom and is most likely longing for her comfort, kisses and snuggles.

I haven't been able to get this family out of my mind and makes me worry about my children and their health and future.  Or if something happened to me and my children had to grow up without me or their dad.  Obviously this all is out of my control, but as a person and a mother you can't help but put yourself in the shoes of others or let your mind worry and wander about what could/can go wrong.

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When my mind wanders or gets consumed with worry I always think of these scriptures, and am sharing them today for any of you who ever feel the same as I do.

1 Peter 5:7 - Throw all of you anxiety on him because he cares for you.

Phillipians 4:6 - Do not be anxious over anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication along with thanksgiving, let your petitions be made known to God.

Matthew 6:34 - So never be anxious about the next day, for the next day will have it's own anxieties.  Each day has enough of its own troubles.
 
Luke 12:25 - Who of you by being anxious can add a cubit to his lifespan?

Revelation 21:4 -  He will wipe out every tear from their eyes and death will be no more, neither morning nor outcry nor pain be anymore.  The former things have passed away.


These scriptures always are a breath of fresh air to me, and help me not worry or be as anxious, because really it gets me no where and it takes me away from fully enjoying the moment and what I have right now.

 

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Thoughts on Thursday!

It's almost Friday, this week for has flown by for sure!  Thank you all who linked up for Wino Wednesday yesterday, I have so much fun each month reading all of your recommendations! Today I'm linking up with Natalie and Annie for Thoughts on Thursday and sharing a mish-mash of what's on my brain this morning.

Today is the day I've been looking forward to - spa day!  I have never been to a spa, and it's been way too long since I've had a mani/pedi professionally done, so I can't wait!

Of course, J seems to be coming down with something right before the wedding - ugggh.  One of my bffs told me to give him elderberry (Sambuccol) and it should really help him.  I read about it online, and it seems like it fights colds/flu and minimizes the amount of congestion.  I'm also giving him Airborne and just hope that whatever he gets his mild.  Have any of you used Sambuccol - do you find it works?

I saw this room on Pinterest yesterday and love it!  I need a girly room like this, with copious amounts of pink and gold!

 

{via} 

I'm still torn what chair to order for our living room.  We have decided to sell our couches, get a couple of chairs and an area rug  and make it more of a "sitting area".  

 

 Here's the living room

 

Here are the chairs options

I love the chair to the right, but not sure if the chair to the left will go better in the room because of the picture, and the table that's going in there (table pictured below), it kinda has a "nature feel", but at the same time I think the charcoal lattice chair will pop in the room.  What do you all think?

That's all for today.  I don't think I will be posting tomorrow since it's going to be a crazy day with wedding stuff going on.  I hope you all have a great weekend!!  I'll be back on Monday with pictures galore!

Thought's on Thursday - Blogging on The Brain

So excited to be co-hosting Thoughts on Thursday today with Natalie and Annie!  Make sure to link your posts up below!

I've been blogging about 10 months now and I can say that I finally feel like I'm getting the hang of things, feeling more comfortable, and have found my "blogging voice", which is the same as my "normal" voice - just typed.  I have met so many wonderful blogging buddies and am loving every moment of writing this blog.  It has been a creative outlet, a cook book, a place to seek advice, my fashion magazine, my wine journal and a place to go to for fun DIY's (other than Pinterest of course). I'm so happy I started this little space!

Lets pretend this is where I blog from, shall we?  (side note:  I usually blog at the dining room table or  couch)

I'm not proclaiming myself to be an expert,  my blog is small - but these are the things that I have learned in my 10 months...

• Write often to give your readers enough material to read
• Read and comment on other blogs
• Ask for help from the bigger blogs when needed.  I can't tell you how many times I wrote bigger bloggers asking questions on how to do things or if they could give me any tips on blogging.  I was a little apprehensive to ask them, but everyone was so nice.  After all, they all were beginners once too!
• Join link parties!  This has been such a fun way to discover new blogs and meet other ladies that blog about similar things.  My favorite linkup is Five on Friday.  There are so many awesome blogs that participate and it's so fun to read everyone's "five".
• Write as you speak.  When I read blogs I relate to those that I feel are speaking natural and sound like they're having fun writing.
• Reply to comments.  If someone takes the time to read what you have written and to comment - you should reply.  It bothers me when I comment on someone's blog and don't get a simple "thank you" from them.  Blogging etiquette people!

Blogging, although fun and exciting is also something that can take up a lot of time, it's so easy to get swept away reading and commenting on everyone's blogs (at least it is for me).  I guess any hobby can take up a lot of time if you allow it.  I'm still learning on how to balance it all.  I don't want blogging consume my life and have my kids and grow up always remembering me on the computer.  Not to mention, my husband who needs attention and my house that unfortunately doesn't clean itself.

I'm trying to set limits where I give myself an hour in the morning to read and comment and then later in the evening answer emails and start on my post for the next day.  So far it has been working and I have been more productive throughout the day.  I also don't feel the need to have to post everyday like I used to. Some weeks I will, and other's I'll only post three times or so.

I'm sure I still have a lot to learn and figure out.  I'm excited to see where this blogging journey takes me and to continue interacting with you all!

What are some things that have worked for you and your blog?  How do you manage your time?

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