More Thoughts on Shredding 07/30/2010
Hi friends! Happy Friday!!! I really appreciate all your comments yesterday on shredding paper! They made me smile and laugh LOTS! It is an activity my daughter works very hard at, and I’m sure if she could fully understand she would appreciate all the sentiment and support! If you have any more thoughts or similar ideas to share I’d be honored if you shared them with other Moms and parents under the article on Modern Mom. You can find it here: Keep Your Kid Occupied with One Easy Activity! http://www.modernmom.com/article-7386-keep-your-kid-occupied-with-one-easy-activity/ Amber your idea about paper glued together was awesome! I’m gonna remember that for the next time there is glue left over from breakfast. Seriously I thought it was just for eating! You really opened up my eyes, and I promise if I find a market for such a fantastic craft I will most definitely share the love. Maybe there is good money to be made from it?! Honestly, I do believe there is a real hunger out there for hand-made crafts. Thanks for sharing guys! Have a great weekend! Traveling Pat’s trip comes to an end below – Road Home.  2 Comments Road Home 07/29/2010
Pat’s Home! Thank goodness! Some of those adventures had us on the edge of our seat. Now you can read how this journey concluded, and look forward to what new adventures will come along. Happy reading and a very happy weekend! ♥Wendy Irene P.S. If your new (thanks for stopping by!! :-) or if you have some extra time this weekend and are interested you can read some of Pat’s earlier articles from the trip following this one. Road Home by Patricia Hi again. For those who don’t know this already we are back. When Barb and I arrived back in Delhi I was all wired up again and got an email from Aaron saying something really enlightening like “we will be back in Delhi two days early, I am DONE with India”. Okay great. I also was kind of done. It had become stifling hot and the monsoons were starting to make their presence felt. Hot and sweaty 24/7, tired of curried vegetables, and pretty much sick of packing and unpacking every day I was secretly elated that we would be moving on. Downside … Aaron was sick. He had a bad stomach and had been suffering practically the whole time he was on his trip. As he so delicately put it he left a yellow streak across the Himalayas. Nice visual honey. So what was the plan? I came up with the things I wanted to do. Turkey, Spain or home I said. With a curt I’m not going to Turkey Aaron pared down the choice in a nano second. So we tried to do something to Spain with no luck. Summertime, tons of European families traveling, and no reasonably priced places to stay. We got on the blower for hours to Air Canada and our choices were… the next day fly back home or wait until mid September. Home it was. Back on Canadian soil the word that came immediately to mind was “sterilized”. Gosh it is clean here! We spent a couple of days with our family and swooped through the Okanagan (2 days) then down through Oregon for 2 days wine touring then Vegas to see friends 1 day and after almost 4 months arrived in Tucson yesterday. I am sooooo happy to be home even though I am actually leaving in mid August for England and Ireland for 3 weeks. Can’t keep a good man down as they say. I will miss writing about all the kind of crazy happenings on the road but maybe something interesting will happen in Ireland I can tell you about. Today I take off the St Christopher (not too superstitious!) and have salmon and a big honking salad for dinner. Yippeee! Cheers, Pat  France  St Louis Senegal  Senegal  Village women in Africa  Back in French wine country  India  Aaron fishing in the Himalayas Thank you for sharing Pat! Here is where you can find more of Patricia’s traveling guest posts: Senegal Part I Senegal Part II Senegal Part III – Mini Adventure South of France End of France, Start of India India Question of the Day: Do prefer a rollercoaster or tea-cup ride? Thank you for sharing your thoughts in the comments! Shred 07/28/2010
A Favorite Activity Contrary to what you may be thinking, the title of today’s post is not about Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred, which is great by the way if you’re into home workout videos. Instead it is about my daughter and one of her absolute favorite past times- shredding paper.  The Good vs. the Bad Pros: · Certain days it has the ability to occupy her for a decent amount of time. Cons: · It is not the most environmentally friendly activity. · There is a mess to be picked up after. *Semi-Pro: at least it’s a ‘dry’ mess if you catch my drift ;-) Here is Little Sister partaking in this joyful activity.  A while later – she’s still at it...  Add to the Enjoyment If shredding paper is an activity you think you would be interested in doing with your children, here are some added tips to make it even better. 1. Buy an extra large roll of paper -it really helps with the longevity of the project.  2. Open a window – the breeze works nicely to further spread the paper around the house.  3. When the novelty of shredding paper starts to wear off- give your tot a broom to help clean up. This will ensure the paper is more evenly spread around the house. After all, good habits for helping around the house start young! Great for Stressful Days When you’re having one of those days where you’re losing your hair, either naturally from stress, or just because you are pulling it out  Best Picture EVER! Try giving your little ones some paper to shred. It may be just the miracle you are in need of. On The Go Shredding paper not only works well at home, it is a great travel activity too! Many times when traveling we opt to give Little Sister paper to shred. Make sure you hit those fast food joints in the airport before you board the plane. Remember they’re not just for food. Grab a pile of free napkins! You silly people thought they provided them for wiping your mouth!  Shredding napkins works wonders on the plane, and you barely have to plan ahead for that one. Now that’s a tip worth keeping! You may even get a compliment from the airline attendant or possibly fellow passengers about how well behaved your children are. They won’t even know what was really going on until you’ve already left the plane...Shhhh it’s our secret! ;-) Are You Writing This Down? Do you have a pen and paper? You may want to be jotting these tips down so you don’t forget. They’re really great if I do say so myself! One Last Tip Lastly, I’ll leave you with one more GREAT tip about shredding paper. If you co-parent in your household this is a fantastic activity for your kids do to at the end of a really long day, just when say, I dunno... Daddy is almost home. The paper will be waiting for him on the floor, and when he walks through the door remember that’s your cue to quietly sneak away and be ‘busy’ doing ‘something else’. Share the Love I hope this adds to your family’s enjoyment, and if you don’t have kids of your own be sure to pass this great idea a long (for your convenience there’s a share button below). Your friends will be glad you did, because this idea is definitely a keeper! Happy Shredding! Question of the day: Does anyone want to BUY some hand-shredded paper?! I think my husband may actually be able to quit his job if I could sell the stuff! Thank you for sharing your thoughts in the comments! How Many No's Equal One Yes? 07/27/2010
 Dedication This post is dedicated to Alicia, a wonderfully talented and creative friend who is the heart and soul behind the blog Ag.gray.gate. I’d be honoured if you stop by and check out her site! She wrote a comment on yesterday’s article - Are You Getting What You Want Out of Life? Her comment inspired today’s post. If you follow the link you can check out what she wrote. Letting Go One thing I did not consider when writing yesterday’s article was that sometimes after putting your all into something, giving it your best shot, you have to let go and let the universe take you where it will. Not everything happens the way we plan or imagine in our heads, and there is beauty in that. Believe and Have Faith The key is believing the universe is your friend. When you truly believe the universe has your best interests at heart you’ll be on the right path for you. Put another way, when you let go and believe that good things will come your way, you create exactly that for yourself, whether or not it is what you initially planned or envisioned. The Path Is Not Always Clear I’m willing to bet a lot of people who have experienced great success in their life would have never guessed 1, 2, ... 5 years ahead of time that they’d get to where they are exactly the way they did. When you have put yourself fully into something, given it the best of your ability, there is wisdom in allowing yourself freedom to let go, live life, and have faith knowing you are exactly where you’re supposed to be. Remain Open to Possibility If you have a dream find comfort knowing that there will most likely be many No’s before one great big YES! Don’t get discouraged but always leave yourself OPEN to the possibility that what you initially thought your dream was may not have been what actually is best for you. Trust that you are headed the right way. Embrace changes in perspective and enlightenment along the way. The No’s are only stepping stones on your path which may curve in a direction you never expected. 10 years ago I never would have guessed I’d be living on the west coast, or Canada, but this path has brought me much happiness along the way. Each No is nothing more than one step closer to the right Yes!  Can you recall a time when you experienced “No” as a blessing in disguise? Thank you for sharing your thoughts in the comments!
Are You Getting What You Want Out of Life? 07/26/2010
   Evaluate Your Effort Whenever something is not going quite the way I want or expect it helps me to sit back and ask myself the question – How much energy am I putting in? *Note the best time in my opinion to honestly evaluate the situation is when you are not feeling especially emotional about the subject. For example, if you are evaluating how your marriage is going then you have a much better perspective when you are not in the middle of an argument. Success Is Related to the Energy That Goes In My belief is the successes we have in most aspects of our life are largely correlated with how much effort we are putting into them. Of course, as with everything, I’m sure there are some exceptions to the rule. However, the chances of getting a large return out of something that you put very little effort into are probably about as good as winning the lottery. We do like to hope though, don’t we? J When you are faced with something that you have big hopes for, a lot invested in, or expect a lot out of, ask yourself how many hours of heart, sweat, and tears are you putting in? This is true for relationships, for career aspirations, for health and fitness, and much more. There is a reason the wisdom the more you put in, the more you’ll get out has circulated for ages. Simplify To Your Top Priorities In life it is certainly not always easy to put a lot of effort and valuable time into things. For me it is helpful to pick only the top priorities to focus on. Simplify and scale back on the rest. If you stretch yourself too thin you may feel like you’re going no-where fast! There are lots of things I’m passionate about doing but finding peace in not doing everything at once, and putting more effort into fewer things has really helped me. Doing Too Much Can Be Damaging Life is short and is truly is a gift. Sometimes we feel in a real big hurry to do too much, and we come out worse in the process. Are there certain activities or relationships you are willing to pour thousands (literally thousands!) of hours into to get better at or get what you want out of them? Start there and give yourself permission to lose a couple, maybe only for the meantime, and not do everything all at one time. You’ll have more to put into your top priorities and will get more out of them in return. Things Work Out Best When I Put the Most In In my own life, my marriage, my relationship with my kids, my relationships with those I care about in general, and the activities I’m passionate about, they all go the best when I am putting the most effort in. It’s a lot (did I say A LOT!) of work but immensely rewarding. Remember it is OK if it doesn't happen overnight, it most likely won’t happen that way. Never Stop Believing Put the time in, never stop believing in yourself no matter what comes your way, and I believe you will get there! Is there an area of your life you would like to put more effort into to get more out of? Thank you for sharing your thoughts in the comments!
Christmas in July - Leavenworth, Washington 07/25/2010
Happy Christmas in July! OK, so before you cyber karate chop me for even mentioning Christmas in the month of July when you’re just trying to enjoy your summer, here me out. This is worth it! A few years ago being the huge lover of Christmas that I am my husband planned a surprise trip for me. I do love surprises! Remember Vegas? I had no idea where we were going, just that we were driving to this ‘unknown’ location. To my delight the trip ended up being to Leavenworth, Washington. At the time I was not at all familiar with Leavenworth so I really didn’t know what to expect. The drive there was breathtaking!  I love the tall Pacific Northwest Pines ♥  When we arrived this was the mind blowing beauty that surrounded us.  This place is no joke! A real life Christmas village beyond your wildest dreams. As a child I collected porcelain Christmas village pieces, and walking through Leavenworth was like taking a leap back into my childhood imagination.  Picturesque Snowfall Leavenworth was once a dying timber and rail town. In the hopes of saving their town the villagers banned together and turned Leavenworth into an alpine Bavarian village. That’s right think Bavaria in Washington State!   Back then – December 2007  Sledding This place is truly unbelievable. Not only is Leavenworth a story of inspiration and endurance, traveling to this town feels like experiencing a little slice of heaven here on earth.  Ornately Decorated Storefronts Every December for the first 3 weekends Leavenworth does a Christmas Lighting Ceremony.  The people come out in huge masses to enjoy the festivites. Candles, lanturns, singing, you name it they’ve got it! The special evening ends with a Nativity scene.  If you are looking for a winter wonderland this upcoming holiday season, Leavenworth is the place to go!  The reason Leavenworth’s Christmas festivites are worth mentioning in July is because you have to plan NOW if you want to go! More than 1 million visitors travel to Leavenworth each year. They have gorgeous festivites throughout the year, but without a doubt the Christmas festivies are very sought after. Booking in advance is a must do. Many returning vistors even book 1 year ahead of time upon leaving the previous year. If you ask me planning ahead of time to experience this winter wonderland is well worth it! If our travel budget allowed I’d probably visit Leavenworth most Decembers. Heck, I’d rent a house for a week and revel in the peacuful beauty of the moutains each year! Isn’t the view from our hotel room enticing enough to make the trip?  Whether or not you ever make it to Leavenworth Washinton, I hope knowing a place like this really does exist here on earth brings you a little piece of happiness! Peter Lik,I’d like to see you photograph this! Today’s question: Finish this sentence: When you hear Chrismtas in July it makes you...
2 Great Ideas from Fellow Bloggers 07/22/2010
In the past couple of days I saw two great ideas from fellow bloggers that I would love to share with you. The first idea I loved was from A Lot of Loves by Marilyn.  Painting with Water I don’t know how long this idea has been around for, but who ever first thought of it as an activity for young children deserves a genius award! It is as simple as it sounds. All you need: A bucket of water A paintbrush for each child Big Brother is 4 and Little Sister is 1 ½ and for them this idea was as good as gold- seriously not exaggerating here! I sent them out on the deck with the $1 paintbrushes they got from Santa last year, and in case you are wondering the elves didn’t make these ones, Santa found them at Michael’s, along with their bucket of water.   The kids painted for so long. Everything on our deck is newly painted from the chairs to the railing, the ground, and their very favorite spot to paint- the sliding glass door. Not being really on top of cleaning the outsides of the windows (or who I’m I kidding the insides too) I didn’t mind one bit. The biggest surprise after painting with water outside was they now constantly ask to go outside and paint with water all the time. Seriously all day! Umm...let me think about it...SURE go outside and paint with water to your heart’s content. Love, Love, LOVE the idea! Thanks for writing about it Marilyn! Idea #2 The second great idea I saw this week was from Tina at Carrots-N-Cake. My readers that have been with me for a while know how much I love my sorority sister’s blog. Oh yes I said it...I was in a sorority...try not to laugh too hard ;-) In fact some of the friends I made there have the most fantastic blogs! Tina is a food and healthy living blogger and her idea to help stay on track this summer was to: Skip the Extras If you splurge on good eats this summer enjoy it, but when possible skip the extra things that just add to the calories. The example she gave is if you eat a hamburger skip the cheese and the special sauce. Tina doesn’t believe in depriving yourself of any foods but instead believes in being mindful about your choices and achieving a healthy balance with food. Hopefully these 2 great ideas from a couple of wonderful bloggers are helpful to you this weekend! Question of the Day I was having trouble thinking of a question of the day for today and for some reason was recalling a conversation Big Brother had with his friends recently. The neighbourhood kids were outside playing when one of them goes inside and emerges with giant freezes for each of them. The boy said “Now don’t waste my Mom’s money by spilling these on the ground!” The second boy said “Yeah my Mom needs her money to buy toys for me” and Big Brother said “My Mom has 1 M-I-L-L-I-O-N dollars!” Although this may come as a shock to some of you I in fact do not have a million dollars. ;-) Oh the things kids say! I thought it would make a good question of the day though... If $1million was deposited in your bank account tomorrow what changes would you make in your life? What would stay the same? Please share in the comments. Have a great weekend, my friends!
Make the Most of your Time- Be Productive 07/21/2010
 Here I am Totally Busted – Not Being Productive! That’s what I like to call good posture ;-) Name Your Distractions Most of us feel like we don’t have enough time to accomplish all that we want to in a day. Part of what is keeping our productivity down are distractions. Distractions are EVERYWHERE! Naming those distractions goes a long way for removing as many as possible. Do More in Less Time For example, I only have a certain amount of time that I can allot to accomplishing my blog posts. Being productive in a short amount of time is a must for me. When I went to sit down and get started with today’s post I made a mistake that hindered my productivity. I started out by browsing some of my favorite sites and blogs. Although it is something I enjoy doing, when it’s time to be productive it is essential for me to get rid of as many distractions as possible. Otherwise I could be awake much longer than I anticipated and it is already too late when I hit the hay! Remove Distractions – Shut Down Your Browser The best thing you can do when you want to be productive is clear away the distractions. Close your email, close the social sites, shut down your browser and get to work. Put the distracting snacks away, turn off the TV, maybe the music can stay but try keeping it in the background. For me that's listening to classical or spa music because words distract me. A little cheesy I know! :-P Get Into the Flow – Find Happiness When your concentration is fully on the task at hand you’ll find that your productivity soars. You get into a flow much faster and can crank out your best work in a more timely matter. This can be applied to any project you are working on. The key to being productive is getting into a flow. Many believe happiness can be found when you are doing work that is meaningful to you while in a flow. When there are lots of distractions it is much harder to accomplish anything in a timely manner. The less time it takes the more time we have for doing other activities. Can you imagine a work force where 8 hours of work can actually be done in a very productive 3? I know all jobs are not that flexible, but next time there is work or a project to be done let go of all that is holding you back, slip into the flow, and let your best work come forward. When you’re in the flow super productivity IS possible! Now can anyone teach me how to speed read? There are so many things I'd love to read but when I try to speed read I lose all the important details. Make Time for Other Activities Make the most of your time. The best you can, give it your full concentration and you’ll get it done faster. That’s what I call being super productive with more time for other things you love, like possibly relaxing. J If you had extra time what would you do with it? Please share in the comments.
Baby Proofing – Can It Really Be Done? 07/20/2010
 Whoever Invented Baby Proofing Forgot About Chairs! You’ve successfully removed all dangerous objects out of your baby’s reach when they started to crawl. Congratulations they made it to toddlerhood! Now what? Crawling The baby that could only reach objects within a foot or two of the ground is now standing then walking, and has access to many more things that are potentially harmful or you downright don’t want them to get a hold of. You start to wonder if you should line the tops of the walls in your house with shelves to hold all your worldly possessions. Chairs After baby has learned to crawl, stand, walk, next comes the very intelligent toddler stage. The chairs start getting dragged around the house, and the access they have to all that they shouldn’t becomes infinitely greater. Oh no, now it’s real trouble with a capital T! Butter Baby Before having children my husband expressed how he really wanted a butter baby – meaning an adorable chubby baby with glorious baby fat and rolls. Little did he know that he would literally be blessed with a butter-baby, and I’m not talking about Little Sister’s 9lb 5oz size when she was born! The other day Little Sister successfully pulled a chair twice her size over to the counter to climb and access the butter dish. Meanwhile I was distracted picking up the house. That’s right. You read correctly. She went after the butter that was on the counter because she wanted to eat it. Yummy...a big glob of butter all on its own. Real tasty I’m sure! If you’ve ever cleaned butter off a baby you’ll know how fun that is 8-/ More to Climb Out of desperation when all the chairs have successfully disappeared, and the kids have now moved onto climbing a rocking horse or a pile of stacked toy bins, I’m left asking: Can you ever really baby proof? Please share your thoughts or any advice you have in the comments. I could use it! Did I mention playing row-row your boat with a toilet plunger in the bath-tub? Yuck! Maybe that’s a whole other post about baby proofing! Fun with Bananas 07/19/2010
Every time I do my weekly grocery shopping I buy lots of bananas. In our house we never really know how many we are going to go through each week. Some weeks we eat more than others. Having too many bananas may seem like a waste, but for me it’s a good thing. I love when we get to the end of the week and there are leftover ripe bananas! If I don’t use the bananas right away I freeze them for another day. Here’s a tip: peeling the bananas before you freeze them makes the frozen bananas much easier to work with. Here are 2 ideas for extra bananas. Banana Milk Give chocolate milk a healthy makeover and try making banana milk. This recipe is especially great for kids who don’t like to drink milk. It’s sweet and delicious with an added bonus – this drink contains a serving of fruit! Ingredients: 1 ripe or frozen banana 1 glass of milk Directions: Blend banana and milk together until lumps are gone. Add more milk until desired consistency so the mixture is not overly thick and easy to drink through a straw. Yield: 1 serving   *Smoothies are another good idea but this drink works great if you’re looking for something extra quick and easy. Chocolate-Banana Popsicles As far as desserts go this one is not only easy to make, it contains very few ingredients. With fruit as the star you can let go of the guilt on this indulgence! Ingredients: 2 bananas 1 bar of semi-sweet or dark chocolate Sprinkles (optional) Directions: Cover a baking sheet with a piece of waxed paper. Peel and halve 2 bananas. In the center of each banana half insert a Popsicle stick. Place on baking sheet and freeze for 20 minutes. Meanwhile melt the bar of chocolate either in a double-broiler on the stovetop or in the microwave stirring well. Carefully roll each partially frozen banana one at a time in melted chocolate, afterwards placing it back on baking sheet and topping with optional sprinkles. Refrigerate bananas 5 to 10 minutes until chocolate is fully hardened. Serve and enjoy! Yields: 4 Chocolate- Banana Popsicles What are some of your favorite ways to use bananas? Please share in the comments. | Subscribe to
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