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We have really struggled with our son’s night time sleep routine. Recently he has been waking up in the middle of the night for hours at a time, refusing to go back to sleep.
Since he was born I have […]
Filed under: Family Life, Health, Kid Stuff | 2 Comments »
I tried the Applesauce Muffin recipe from Deceptively Delicious and they really were delicious! I think I would add a little salt as the recipe does not call for any, but I tend to like things a little more on the salty side, so maybe try it as is first.
The recipe calls for unsweetened […]
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I bought a big bag of carrots from Costco last week after looking through my new cookbook, Deceptively Delicious. There were a few recipes I want to try that call for carrot puree, so today I finally got around to pureeing them. I set aside some for my recipes but most of it I set […]
Filed under: Food | 1 Comment »
I am reading a book called The Ultimate Career by Daryl Hoole and she had some ideas that I’m in love with about organizing time and activities!
One thing that we do in our family is assign each member a color. I’m purple, my husband is brown, and our son is blue. We mark […]
Filed under: Around the House | 2 Comments »
Today is the 50th birthday of the Lego brick! Hip hip HOORAY!!!
Filed under: Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
I am almost finished with The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread, by Kate DiCamillo (Newbery Medal winner in 2004). Put it on your list of books to read! It’s a fun story about a mouse, a rat, a princess, and a servant […]
Filed under: Book Talk | No Comments »
Organizing Tip #1: Plan
Organizing Tip #2: Sort
Organizing Tip #3: Strategize
Organizing Tip #4: Analyze
The third step is to attack. Vicki listed four parts of the attacking step:
De-Junk: get rid of the stuff you don’t use, need, or want
Give everything a home: you’ll more likely put it away […]
Filed under: Around the House | 1 Comment »
Organizing Tip #1: Plan
Organizing Tip #2: Sort
Organizing Tip #3: Strategize
Organizing Tip #5: Attack
As you go through your house, notice where clutter collects and focus on finding a solution for those areas.
We had a mail issue. Paper causes organization problems for most people. We pay our […]
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Organizing Tip #1: Plan
Organizing Tip #2: Sort
Organizing Tip #4: Analyze
Organizing Tip #5: Attack
At this class I went to, the presenter talked about “prime space allocation,” which is the space from your knees to as high as you can reach. When you organize things on shelves or in stacks, […]
Filed under: Around the House | 1 Comment »
Organizing Tip #1: Plan
Organizing Tip #3: Strategize
Organizing Tip #4: Analyze
Organizing Tip #5: Attack
To begin the decluttering process, start with 5 boxes, labeled as follows:
Garbage
Donate
Another Room
Think About
Return
Begin with one small area and make a huge pile of everything on the floor. Take things out of previous containers so you […]
Filed under: Around the House | 1 Comment »
In honor of January being National Get Organized Month, this post about planning is the first in a five part series about getting organized! For more organizational hints after this post, click here:
Organizing Tip #2: Sort
Organizing Tip #3: Strategize
Organizing Tip #4: Analyze
Organizing Tip #5: Attack
PLAN
I went to an […]
Filed under: Around the House | 2 Comments »
Telling you about my favorite things was a lot of fun! There are many many more things that I love, so we’ll do this again. But for now, here’s my Christmas Favorite Things Recap:
1. The Complete Book of Rhymes, Songs, Poems, Fingerplays, and Chants by Jackie Silberg and Pam Schiller
2. Olympus FE-280 Digital Camera
3. Ticket […]
Filed under: Stuff I Love | No Comments »
digg_url = ‘http://www.vanillajoy.com/art-contest.html’;
I got a forward from my sister with pictures of entries submitted to an art contest for the Hirshhorn Modern Art Gallery in Washington, D.C. I don’t know if this contest is for real, you can never trust forwards (look at update at the bottom for artist’s information), but the art is […]
Filed under: Art | 9 Comments »
Kids need to do creative and interactive things each day rather than just watching TV and engaging in only passive recreation. The Toddler’s Busy Book by Trish Kuffner is a great resource for moms, pre-school teachers, day care providers, etc. It has some great ideas for fun activities and games for 1 1/2 - 3 […]
Filed under: Book Talk | 2 Comments »
While I am not an avid TV watcher, I do like movies occasionally. Movies are great for a couple reasons:
no commercials
you can skip the smutty scenes
you can watch the good ones over and over
We got something old and something new: Sense and Sensibility (1995) and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix […]
Filed under: Stuff I Love | 3 Comments »
I don’t know how many times over the last several years that I have thrown up my hands in frustration over a cheap iron. No more. For Christmas this year I got a Rowenta “Effective” iron that is fabulous.
This iron is in the mid-low price range for Rowenta irons, but I think it’s […]
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My mom got my sister and I this cookbook by Jessica Seinfeld, who developed the recipes after enduring constant battles with her children to eat their vegetables. She says in the introduction that the idea for this cookbook came about when she was making a sweet potato puree for the baby and macaroni and cheese […]
Filed under: Stuff I Love | 2 Comments »
We love games in our family. Both my husband and I grew up in game playing families and so we’ve carried that tradition on together.
The newest addition to our collection is Ticket to Ride, which has several different versions. I was only aware of two, but apparently there are four different versions: […]
Filed under: Stuff I Love | 3 Comments »
Tedd Arnold has written a three book series about a little boy who takes a bit too literally all the things he hears people say. The books are about a boy’s misunderstanding of “body-part idioms.” For example, when his dad says, “Give me a hand,” the boy thinks his dad really wants him to give […]
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We also got a digital camera for Christmas. My first digital camera was an Olympus and it took great pictures. This camera is of the same great quality but has a few more features.
This camera has a 2.5″ LCD screen on the back which is HUGE! It’s awesome for both taking and […]
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My first favorite thing is a book I found at the library. I loved it and my husband got it for me for Christmas! It’s The Complete Book of Rhymes, Songs, Poems, Fingerplays, and Chants by Jackie Silberg and Pam Schiller.
The name is pretty self explanatory; It’s a book of rhymes, songs, […]
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I’ve been out of town visiting family for the last three weeks so I feel like my posting has been a little rushed. And I missed a few days! Sorry about that.
I hope to get back to my normal weekday posting schedule although things are getting a little more crazy around my house […]
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This week’s book talk book is Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs. After reading this book, I would have to say that it is in my top ten favorites.
This book is absolutely wonderful. I was enraptured from the very first word. I have watched many different film versions of this […]
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On Black Friday 2007 I only made one stop: Jo-Ann Fabrics & Craft. They had flannel on sale for $.99 a yard, regularly $5.99 per yard. Talk about a steal! I decided a few weeks before that that I wanted to make quilts to donate to humanitarian aid efforts. The […]
Filed under: Crafts | 2 Comments »
I learned a valuable lesson while at Disneyland in December. Our son was not very happy and was crying more than normal, I think because of all the newness and not being able to crawl around on the ground and play like he’s used to. My husband and I were grumpy because our […]
Filed under: Family Fun | 1 Comment »
Happy New Year! Can you believe it’s 2008 already!
Have you made your resolutions yet? I am a fan of goal making, not so much of “New Year’s resolutions.” Perhaps your New Year’s resolution could be to not make any more New Year’s resolutions but to set weekly or monthly goals instead!
I like to make and […]
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