SOS the kids wont stop snacking

I've received a call from my niece the other day. Don't worry it was not an emergency call she just wanted to have a play date with me. Of course I said yes. I have been so busy that I've missed being with her and her little brother.

As soon as I walked in  the house I witnessed something only a mother will truly understand. It was the argument about snack time. All I heard was my sister telling them that they already had a snack 10 min ago.... I thought to myself what is the big fuss? All you have to do is feed them every time they ask  right? 

As I watched the famous talk about the snack between the three, I realized my sister needed a little help.I walked to the pantry and handed them each an apple sauce. Problem solved!! As the kids ran out to the play area and  I reached to HI 5 my sister I realized I did something terribly wrong. I gave her up in the battle when all she needed from me was support.

We started talking and she told me how this snack problem was driving her insane. She was running out of ideas for snacks. She was shopping for food every other day. It was to much for her. After analyzing the situation we came up with a solution. All they needed was some TIME MANAGEMENT .  I gave her an idea that may work here is my logic.

My niece is 6 and she is learning how to read time. She has been very excited about it, and this has helped her understanding more  of her daily schedule. From knowing what time she is going to meet her friends for play date, to knowing what time swimming lessons starts. This has helped her so much on being patient, getting ready faster and being on time. Having a set time helps keeping up with the daily routine  

We went to her home office grabbed a paper and worked on their snack schedule. The kids get a snack time at school at 10:30 am. They come home from school at 2:00 pm.  My sister said the kids come back from school very hungry, so we schedule the 2nd snack at 2:30 pm.  In the afternoon, they go to the park or play at home. We decided to schedule the next snack at 4:30 pm, and then dinner will be at 6:00 pm.

Write on the paper "Snack Time". It doesn't need to be fancy, It just has to be clear for them to read.

Note: *Make sure you include the snack time during school.* This schedule can be used for the whole week.

She informed my niece and nephew of the new snack time. They loved the idea all we needed to see if it was going to work and it did. My sister told me it took a couple of days for them to get in the routine, but now they are the ones reminding her about the time. They are in an eating routine and both the kids and mommy are happy. It worked!!!

Go ahead and try it and why not add yourself to the snack time. 

Side note: Compromise! You choose the time and they choose the kind of snack.
Listen to them they have lots to say

3 STEPS FOR A SUSTAINABLE CHRISTMAS TREE

Christmas was near and I was still without a tree. Between December flying by and a little....a lot of procrastination I was in a dilemma.  

This story started one cold day okay it was not that cold we do live in Florida, but my husband and I decided to go out and start looking for the perfect tree. Our hunting soon became shocking not because we couldn't find any trees, but because the tree prices were insane...insane I say. 

We drove to different spots and the places were packed. I was amazed to see how many people did not mind paying those high prices..it is Christmas and we all go wild right?  

Something caught my eyes in all the places we stopped. It was the system. You pick a tree, you walk to the front, they trim the tree for you, they wrap it and put it on top of your car and off you go. Everybody is happy and with a big smile on their faces, it was a picture perfect. Here I was on the other side of that picture perfect moment without a tree, however I did have a great idea. At each tree farm there are piles of trimmings left over. Some where half of a tree and some where just simple branches It look like they were trash.

 I picked one up and said to my husband "This is going to be our tree". He looked at me funny, so I explain to him the whole plan that i had in my head. Like always he was on board with my plan. We walked to the front and asked the guys  if we could take some of the left over trimmings. We offered to pay for them but he insisted they where Free...FREE?????? DONE!!!  we bundled up loads of them and put them in our car. Like I said before, it was an idea, but I wasn't sure it was going to work, Fortunately it did. 

Here is how a bunch of trimmings became a tree again. My sustainable Christmas Tree

STEP ONE

We sorted the pieces on the floor by size. The larger fan shaped pieces would be the body while the smaller trimmings would be used to fill in after.

STEP TWO

Find a frame like this to use as an anchor for the large pieces. Start from the middle. Insert the pieces so that the branches curl up and back towards the tree. Fill in to cover the frame as much as you can. You can tie any of the pieces to ensure they are stable. Use the smaller pieces to fill in. Lastly find a base trimming to slide in underneath.

STEP THREE

Decorate! Your framed tree has been reborn and is ready to decorate.

 

Merry Christmas !!

5 MINUTE PROJECT, PLUS EXTRA TIME

       Its so nice when you see  a home project can take you just 5 minutes. The truth is this project will take you 20 min; at least it did to me. I don't want to give excuses, but I want to explain. 

I just moved, so to find the things I needed I had to go through boxes, that took 5 min. Then I was stopped by my phone buzzing, yes it was my Facebook, I decided to respond to one comment and all of the sudden I was looking through the live feed and clicking LIKE LIKE LIKE. I know its addicting. This took me 5 more minutes..oops. I decided to put the phone down and walk away. I kept telling myself, even if it buzzes again I wont pick it up. 5 minutes later I put the phone down and decided  to move on and start my project that took 5 minutes, so  there you go lesson learned. There are always distractions, but if you really focus this project will be easy and fast.

Now here is the project.

I had this small organizer from Ikea. It comes with a black board to cover the back. For me it was to dark and boring.

I went around the house and found:

I chose the colors that go with my living room, Its okay if you mix and match




                                                     FINAL RESULT;

        TADAA!!! thanks to the scrapbook paper I gave this organizer shelve a new look.
See, I told you it would only take 5 minutes.

7 TIPS TO ENJOY YOUR COOKING EVERYDAY

Have you found yourself in the kitchen creating a beautiful dish? Your kids are waiting quietly in the dinning room. Your partner tells you how beautiful you look. Everything is going just how you imagine, with the only difference is that your are dreaming. AHHHHHH  you don't want to wake up....( don't wake up, don't wake up) ..too late.

What a beautiful dream you say. The reality is you don't like to cook, your kids are screaming cause they are hungry, you are rushing thru the process, and you think you will never pull it off. You turn around and you see yourself in a big kitchen mess, so you start to panic, you tell yourself that this is the last  time you cook, and to top it off you get stuck with the dirty dishes.

These feelings and scenarios are more likely to be an everyday thing. Cooking can give joy and relaxation, for some people, but for others it's not that much fun.

There are many reasons why people don't like to cook, but I'm not here to judge . I'm here to help you look at cooking as a fun and easy task. 

What we are going to do together is get organized, before, during and after you cook.The french term is called "Mis en Plas", or "everything in it's place."  I figured out that a lot of people get overwhelm the moment they step into the kitchen, and mostly it's because the don’t know what to cook and how to relax and enjoy the process.

***Keep this in mind the next time you walk in your kitchen YOU ARE NOT A CHEF, so don't be so hard on yourself.***

1^st. Don’t Rush:

 When you get home, get into comfortable clothes. 

Okay, okay you might think I'm crazy if you want to look like this everyday, but you also don't want to receive your love one in sweat pants everyday right?. Try this once in a while it would built your self steam and why not add some spice to your love life.   

2^nd Pick a tune: 

Chose your favorite I Tunes or , Pandora channel. Music will change your mood and put you in a happy place.

3rd. Clean your work station:

 Before you start cooking, your kitchen should be free of clutter and clear of anything else not being used for the meal. 

No clutter =  more space for an open mind and for so many activities!

4^th Chose the recipe of the day.  

Thanks to YouTube or Google you are able to find recipes you will love. I love ABC's  The Chew, they have fun an easy recipes for couples and families. If you don't have all the ingredients don't worry you can always replace some ingredients, have fun with it! 

Extra tip: it's always easier to have a weekly menu set up. Chose the week menu, and write them down in your weekly board.

5^th. Prep: Organize anything that needs to be cut first.

Cut all the vegetables needed and place them in small bowls, pick all the spices and other ingredients required. Place them in your working area, so you don’t have to go back and forward looking for things (think like if you were in a cooking show everything is ready for the show to go on)

6^th Clean as you go:  

This is the most IMPORTANT step you need to follow. Cleaning as you go will make this experience a lot more enjoyable. Wash everything you used so far and start putting away the things you don’t need anymore. If you want to continue enjoying your family meal times this is an absolute must. All time is lost when you are knee deep in the sink washing everything afterwards. 

7^th Pop the cork: 

After everything is cooking and under control, open a bottle of wine or have a nice cold beer; you deserve it. You can do this as your second step if you want. (just have one glass you don't want to be tipsy before everything is cooked. 

      SALUD!! CHEERS!!

Meanwhile, work on the perfection of this art, because  "Eating is a necessity, but cooking is an art". let  someone else take care of the dirty dishes. 

You, Kids, and Toys

     


      Who would of thought  toys could give you some of the most amazing, fun memories of your childhood?Toys were there when we  needed company, when we needed to laugh, when we wanted to create a beautiful story. They were part of us and our room.

Having lots of toys is every kid's dream. For sure, it was mine as well. I was the little girl in love with dolls, tea sets, pink dresses and lots of stuffed animals. 

I'm the 3rd of four kids. Imagine all those toys, and my poor mother dealing with them and us. Having spent some time with my nieces and nephew, I understand the feeling my mom had. All those toys laying on the floor, some picking up dust in a box or closet.

All my mom wanted to do was get ride of them, but she couldn't. Why make us suffer?  Why put her kids through that?

Dear parents, kids love their toys and some more than others, but with all the toys and the few hours they have left of the day,  they don't have enough time to play with all them. Remember they will always get new toys, but until then you need to:

* Get your kids to pick the toys they are going to give away. Always do it with them, so they don't grow up thinking the dog ate the barbies.

* If they have 2 or more sets of the same toys, make them pick one for donation and one for the Rotation Box

* Make a Rotation Toy Plan. Switch toys every 6 months. That way the toys won't get destroyed and you have less clutter at home.

As a parent you might be holding to stuff as a memory of your kids, just remember that who ever gets your kids toys are going to create new dreams, new stories, a new best friend.

 Here are some places you can donate or you can always go back to the good old fashion Yard Sale.




BETACenter  Beta Center

KIDS Donation Kids Donation

Goodwill Goodwill

Donation Town Donation Town

Check for Charity or Donation places close to you.

AUTUMN THE SEASON OF COLORS

"October is here and the rain is my background music. I’m missing something, I’m missing autumn". (MF)

   Having lived in Virginia, I experienced the best season out of the four. Nature has created the fall to bring the beauty of colors in a cold, rainy, weather. 

I still remember watching through my window and admiring the colors of the trees.  Those colors were the last breath of happiness before they would become a pile of leaves. The weather starts to get chili, but refreshing. The cold and rainy weather may make you feel down, but when you look outside and see the ever changing colors  you can't help but feel happiness.

   Our bodies react towards the changing of the season. We start to crave hot teas and spiced coffees. Seeded vegetables become harvest and all you can think off is a nice hot chicken soup and a slice of pie.

The scents of apple and cinnamon becomes a signature smell, and the thought of a fire and a glass of wine will put you in the zone of relaxation.

Put together your feelings and memories and make this a perfect fall season. 
If you are ready to get inspired by autumn here are my favorite color pallets chose one and add it to your home decor.

    

                                                      Source PINTREST

BATHING WITH A NEW VIEW

When you think about relaxing the first thing that pops to your head is a nice glass of wine, having a massage, soaking in a bubble bath and watching the sun set,but have you though about having all of that outside your home?  People have forgotten the beauty that mother earth has giving us and they have enclosed themselves inside 4 walls. 


Bathing and showering outside might not be one of the top things to do or have at your home, maybe because people might see you, the weather, the bugs, and the list can go on. What people haven't realized is having an outside shower or bath can be a great addition to your home and it can also bring you health benefits. 

GETTING IN CONTACT WITH NATURE, THE VIEW CAN BRING YOUR MIND SOME PEACE, AND.....

                                       
                               

                   BOOST IMMUNE SYSTEM

LOWER BLOOD PRESSURE

FIGHT DEPRESSION,BEAT BACK STRESS

 PLUS IT'S JUST BEAUTIFUL!!!

 IF YOU ARE READY TO IMPROVE YOUR MOOD