Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins

Hi everyone, I'm Buffee, from The Truth According to Buffee. Today I'm guest posting for Steph while she's on vacation celebrating her anniversary! At least I think that's why I'm here? Anyway, Steph was looking for guest posters and I volunteered! I made her give me suggestions on what she wanted me to post about. She requested something fall related, maybe a craft or recipe of some sort.

I decided to go with the easy (obvious) choice and post a recipe! I typically post one recipe a week on my blog. Every Thursday I link up with my sissy, Brandee, over at Think Tank Momma for her Share A Spoon.

I love the fall. It's my favorite time of year. I love the changing of the leaves, the colors of fall, football, the smell of spice in the air, the cool temperatures, the festivals, anything and everything to do with the fall! Especially pumpkins! I really enjoy going to the pumpkin patch and carving jack-o-lanterns. I love making and eating pumpkin recipes. There's just so much I love about the fall.

Today's recipe is a simple one. Most all of my recipes are. My mom taught me how to make these. I believe she learned the recipe while attending Weight Watchers. So yes, it's easy, delicious, and healthy! What more could a girl ask for? Chocolate? You got it! I added mini chocolate chips to give it a little something more! (Yes, I'm cool like that, uh huh uh huh)! Mini chocolate chip pumpkin muffins 1 box Spice Cake mix 1 15 oz can of pumpkin 1 6 oz container of vanilla yogurt about 3/4 cup of mini chocolate chips Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl combine cake mix, pumpkin, and yogurt. Stir until completely combined. Fold in chocolate chips ( I never measure them, I just pour some in until it looks like enough). If you don't like chocolate and pumpkin together, just omit them. They're great without them too! Spoon mixture into lined mini muffin tins. (I use a nifty cookie scoop to do this. It makes this job so EASY). Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. That's it! It's that easy! I bake these every fall and take them to work. Everyone always loves them! I hope you'll try them out and enjoy them too! Thanks for having me Steph!

Simple Recipes – Eggplant Turkish Meze

This is a guest post by TwinToddlersDad who blogs about child nutrition on Littlestomaks.

A meze is a small dish, served as a collection of appetizers before the main course in a Mediterranean meal. In Turkey, for example, they keep on bringing plates after plates of these mezes and you get to taste small portions of each with fresh bread. Mezes are an important part of the culinary experience as you sit down with family and friends, enjoy the conversation and of course the delicious food! It’s not that you overeat – even though you are tempted to – because the quantities are small and each meze is shared by everyone on the table. Different types of cheese, olives, pickles and meats are presented in a huge variety of mezes. Eggplant based dishes are quite popular as mezes, they can be made easily and they taste delicious!

Recently, we started a small vegetable garden in our backyard. We planted three Japanese eggplants, and now that they are bearing fruit, we have been making some of our favorite eggplant dishes including mezes. It is amazing to see these eggplants grow starting out from the beautiful purple flowers. Here are a few pictures of these eggplants and the twins having fun with them!

Anyway, here is an eggplant meze recipe one of our friends recently made for a party:

Ingredients

1. 2-3 eggplants, peeled and cut into cubes
2. 2 tomatoes, crushed in a food processor
3. 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4. 2-3 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
5. Salt, black pepper, red pepper to taste
6. 1 cup heavy cream
7. 3-4 olives

Method

Add eggplant cubes to a large pot, cover with water and bring to a boil. Add warm water if needed, until eggplant cubes are soft and cooked well. Remove from the pot and rinse off excess water in a colander. Mash the cooked eggplant in a plate until it turns into a mushy mix.

Add olive oil to a pan on medium heat. Add garlic and crushed tomatoes and mix well. Cook on low-medium heat until soft, stirring occasionally. Add eggplant, salt, pepper and fold in with a spatula to mix well. Add in the heavy cream and allow it to cook a little more until absorbed. Remove from the pan, garnish with olives.

Serve warm or cold.

By the way, did you know that eggplant is actually a fruit, although it is cooked like a vegetable. Check out a few interesting facts about eggplant and another one of our favorite recipe for a grilled eggplant and yogurt salad.

Nursing here, there, and everywhere!

Welcome to the July 2010 Carnival of Nursing in Public


This post was written for inclusion in the Carnival of Nursing in Public hosted by Dionna and Paige at NursingFreedom.org. All week, July 5-9, we will be featuring articles and posts about nursing in public ("NIP"). See the bottom of this post for more information.


***

Breastfeeding is a subject I feel strongly about, as long time readers likely know. I was out of town during the call for posts in this carnival, so I'm excited to get to host a guest post instead. Thanks to Jenny, for sharing her thoughts on nursing in public today!

My body has been nurturing my daughter since conception, (November 11, 2007) my breasts since she was born (August 11, 2008). Why would I want to stop giving her nourishment from my body just because she is no longer in my womb?

I celebrate the fact that my body is still taking care of hers. It certainly did not end on her day of birth. I feel like Sam I Am - I will nurse her in a car, I will nurse her in a tree, I will nurse her on a bus! Thankfully I have never had anyone call me out, perhaps because I (and those i surround myself with) am confident in the knowledge that I am giving her the best of me.

I will embrace the day all mamas feel confidant to nurse in public. After all, we feed our babies inside our womb, we certainly should not feel shame for nurturing them outside of our bodies!







Welcome to the Carnival of Nursing in Public


Please join us all week, July 5-9, as we celebrate and support breastfeeding mothers. And visit NursingFreedom.org any time to connect with other breastfeeding supporters, learn more about your legal right to nurse in public, and read (and contribute!) articles about breastfeeding and N.I.P.


Do you support breastfeeding in public? Grab this badge for your blog or website to show your support and encourage others to educate themselves about the benefits of breastfeeding and the rights of breastfeeding mothers and children.

<center><a href="http://www.nursingfreedom.org/p/carnival-of-nursing-in-public.html" title="Carnival of Nursing in Public"><img src="http://www.babydustdiaries.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/inip1.png" alt="Art by Erika Hastings at http://mudspice.wordpress.com/" border="0" /></a></center>

This post is just one of many being featured as part of the Carnival of Nursing in Public. Please visit our other writers each day of the Carnival. Click on the links below to see each day’s posts - new articles will be posted on the following days:

July 5 - Making Breastfeeding the Norm: Creating a Culture of Breastfeeding in a Hyper-Sexualized World

July 6 – Supporting Breastfeeding Mothers: the New, the Experienced, and the Mothers of More Than One Nursing Child

July 7 – Creating a Supportive Network: Your Stories and Celebrations of N.I.P.

July 8 – Breastfeeding: International and Religious Perspectives

July 9 – Your Legal Right to Nurse in Public, and How to Respond to Anyone Who Questions It

Finding my Bliss

I had an absolutely wonderful time at Blissdom. I will be sharing more throughout the coming weeks. Huge thanks to Beth at RoleMommy.com for helping make my trip a reality! You can read about some of my thoughts and adventures at RoleMommy this week - I'm going to be without internet access for much of this week, but I'll try and update the links as they go live.

The finer things in life...

I'm guest posting about the finer things in life today over at Amy's place! Please stop by and take a peek at some of the things that made me happy this week. I love this carnival, as it's full of the big and small things that make life sweet - and as Amy says, so often the finer things aren't things at all!

What fine things have you enjoyed this week? I'd love to hear about them!

Potty Training Tips - from the trenches!

The following is a guest post from Brooke, who blogs at Dinkypops No More and is currently a mommy in the trenches of potty training.

When it comes to potty training, I'm by far no expert. Nope, not me. I'm one of those moms who wishes she could have hired an expert potty trainer....well that, or at least have sent my daughter off to some sort of potty training boot camp for a few weeks!

I'll start with a little back story. Growing up, I babysat all the time. I babysat for many a kids that were potty training, and I never recall it being a difficult process. The kids seemed to catch on to the concept, and I don't recall having to clean up many accidents.

This is the point where you can call me naive!

Back before we even started trying to potty train, I imagined that my daughter would be potty trained by her second birthday. I imagined it would be a quick, easy little process. I imagined we might have to stick at home for a few days, but I felt like she would catch on in a jiff and we'd be on our way. After all, I always remember hearing that girls were so much easier to potty train than boys, so I thought I had a leg up on the game.

Enter my daughter. Welcome me to my own reality show! I felt I was the only mom to have ever had to train a stubborn almost 2.5 year old toddler! (And why didn't anyone mention to me that being confined to the home for the first few days of potty training could be so lonely?)

I had heard all the methods for potty training. You have the How to Potty Train in One Day, How to Potty Train in One Weekend, and the 3 Day Potty Training methods. You have books, DVDs, reward charts, and many other tools to encourage potty training. I picked some "weapons", and thought we'd give it a try. After all, my daughter had shown many of the signs she was ready to start potty training. And we tried many times!

But I'm here to say we made it through the tough days. We've survived, and there were no casualties. We still have a little ways to go on some things, but we are potty trained!

Like I said before, I'm definitely no expert. We've had our challenges with potty training, and still have a few small hurdles to overcome. But I thought I'd at least share some of the tips I've learned from scouring the web and tricks from friends who have been through the process.

Here's what worked best in our potty training adventure:

• We stayed at home for the first three days or so. This was hard! (And it was a bit lonesome too.) We are always on the go and not used to staying put. But I owed this to her if I wanted her to be successful at potty training. It allowed both of us to focus on the big task at hand without outside distractions.
• The very first day of training, I gave her lots of lemonade. This is something she normally never drink, so she was excited for the sugary treat. And it made her have to pee - a lot! I also set the buzzer on the stove to go off every hour. I told her that when it buzzed, it meant it was time to go sit on the potty. (I had friends who used this method, and it worked really well. We tried it for the first day, and after that we let up on the timer).
• We hid her diapers. I had heard from many people to "throw out all the diapers". What? Gasp! I was not ready to do this, but I did hide them in my daughter's closet. My daughter was one of those kids who cried that she didn't want to wear her super cool, spankin' new "big girl" panties. And as soon as diapers weren't visible, she had an even bigger fit. Within a few days though, she asked for her diapers less and less. Out of sight, out of mind. It somewhat applied here.
• We constantly praised her. I never told her she was a "good girl", but rather always said how proud I was of what a "big girl" she was now that she used the potty. Every time she went, we would give high-fives, and I'd praise her over and over. The way her face would light up when she knew I was so proud of her was priceless.
• We never asked her "Do you need to go potty?" It was always "Let mommy know if you need to go potty. Remember, we need to keep your panties dry." I would say this over and over, several times an hour. I think this was key in her ability to know tell me "Mama, I have to go potty".
• We bribed her with candy. My daughter rarely gets it, so it was a special treat for her every time she used the potty. (She would get one M&M for peeing and five M&Ms for a BM.) In the beginning, she got candy every time she used the potty. After the first week or so of potty training, she asked for candy less and less.
• When she started to "play" in the bathroom or stay in there for extended periods of times, I would set a timer. I would tell her that when the timer would ring, that meant we had to leave the bathroom. I would tell her that her body wasn't ready yet to go potty, and we could come back later when it was ready.
• We got "special" toilet paper for her that has prints on it so she knows where to pull it off so she's not taking too much. She loves that she has her own special "wipee".
• She gets to flush "All by myself!" She loves to do this, and will often say "Bye bye pee" and waves as the toilet flushes. This is just a small, obvious way to incorporate her in the training process.
• We avoided pull-ups. I read a lot of evidence that suggested these could prolong the process. And plain and simple, I really didn't want to have to purchase them! When we did leave the house, I simply lined her car seat with a hospital-type absorbent pad "just in case" there might be an accident. After about a week, I removed it from her car seat.
• We got a travel potty. This helped me get over my fear of running errands and worrying about where we would stop if she had to go potty. I still l have this major fear of public restrooms with my daughter and her insatiable curiosity to touch everything in site, so I'm also more apt to run out to the car and have her use her travel potty versus the pubic restroom at the grocery store.
• We stop liquids about three hours before bedtime. This is a hard one for us, since we usually eat later than most families. But I can definitely tell that if she gets liquids too late into the evening, she will wake the next morning wet. I had a friend suggest waking her in the middle of the night to make her use the potty. We did this for the first week, and it really made a difference with helping her wake up dry.

My daughter's been potty trained now for about three weeks. We had only two accidents the first week, and I think it was two accidents, both on our second day of training. When this happened, I just said "Uh oh. We didn't make it to the bathroom on time. Next time, we need to make sure the pee pee goes in the potty". And that seemed to work for us.

Until I can declare her "officially" potty trained, we still need to work on a few things:

• No diapers at night. We've tried a few nights without diapers, some of those nights were successful, some weren't. Once we can get better with limiting liquids at night, then I think this part will come along as well.. (She's been doing no diapers at nap time since the first week of training).
• Pulling her panties down and back up herself. She can pull them up most the time on her own with some assistance, but she still needs lots of help getting them down quickly.
• Wiping. She can wipe after she pees, but needs help making sure she gets it all. And she always says "Front to back, front to back" although I don't think she quite understands what it means just yet! Wiping after a BM will be a long road ahead of us, as I think it is for most kids.

Potty training is just another perfect example of how each child is so different and develops at their own rate. Sure, I compared myself to others and felt a little guilty that my kid wasn't potty trained when all of her friends the same age were. I just constantly had to remind myself to not get all worked up, and it would happen when it would happen. And it did, finally!

What tips and tricks do you have up your sleeve for those who are about to face the potty training milestone?

Be sure to visit Brooke at Dinkypops No More where she blogs about life with her darling little girl and showcases her beautiful photographs!

Babywearing and the New Baby

The following is a guest post written by Megan from SortaCrunchy - thanks so much for filling in for me, Megan!

Allow me to say a warm hello to readers of Problem Solvin' Mom! I am honored that Steph asked me to fill-in a little for her over here while she is on her babymoon. Our topic today speaks to just that idea - nurturing, snuggling, and carrying a new baby in the ancient art of babywearing.

I didn't begin wearing my oldest daughter until she was five or six months old, so when our second daughter came along, I was unsure of what sort of carrier I would want for carrying a wee one. I did, however, know I would need one as Big Sister was, by then, two and a half and very active. I did plenty of reading in the months leading up to Little Sister's arrival, and I wanted to share with you some of the more popular choices for wearing a new baby.

(First, a PSA of sorts: Please note that a safety concern for newborns in a baby carrier is positional asphyxia which can happen if baby is positioned in a sling in a "chin to chest" position. Please read this article from thebabywearer.com on Correct Positioning for the Safety and Comfort of Your Newborn for more information!)

1. Stretchy Wrap

Many, many mamas are in love with stretchy wraps for new babies. Stretchy wraps include carriers such as The Sleepy Wrap or the Moby Wrap. Although some new babies do enjoy being carried in the cradle carry, there are some who do not. My babies never liked to be worn that way. The stretchy wrap allows the baby wearer to wear the baby in an upright position. Baby is snuggled in close to the warmth and heartbeat of the parent or care giver and can experience sound and motion similar to when he was still tucked into the womb. Additionally, if a baby is having problems with reflux, this upright position can ease his pain.

2. Mei Tai Carrier

My personal favorite for a new baby was our mei tai - probably because a mei tai was the carrier with which I was already the most familiar when LIttle Sister came along. Some parents are not comfortable with the mei tai until baby is a little older and has a little more head control. I think it depends largely on what sort of mei tai you are wearing. I have a Mei Tai Baby carrier with an adjustable bottom that snaps inwards to accommodate wearing little ones. I have a friend who simply swaddles her new babies and then tucks them into her Babyhawk carrier. The mei tai is obviously another carrier that will allow for upright carriers.

3. Pouch Sling

You've probably seen babies worn in a pouch sling because brands like Hotsling are now carried at Target and have become a bit more "mainstream." Pouch slings are fantastic for moms on the go because they are essentially just a tube of fabric. These can be easily rolled up and tucked in a diaper bag. They are also a very chic way to babywear - no straps or excess material hanging off of you. For the new baby who likes to be worn in a cradle carry, a pouch can be a wonderful choice, and a pouch sling can continue to be worn into older babyhood and toddlerhood - they are perfect for hip carries. My very first sling purchase was a Lucky Baby pouch! One caveat - getting the right fit with a pouch sling is imperative. Each pouch maker will have specific sizing information so you'll know which size to purchase for yourself.

4. Ring Sling

Finally, the classic choice for wearing a new baby is the ring sling. Ring slings are wonderful because they can accommodate several types of positions. You can easily wear a baby in a cradle carry, but if baby likes to be upright, you can also wear her in a tummy-to-tummy hold. Ring slings are also adjustable, so sizing isn't an issue and each parent could wear the baby in the same sling. Some people don't care for the extra fabric or "tail" of the ring sling, but others find it makes a great nursing cover. As with all things babywearing, it's really a matter of personal taste. Popular ring slings include Zolowear and Maya Wrap, but if you are handy with a sewing machine, you could also make your own.


I enjoyed wearing my oldest daughter when she was a baby and toddler, but babywearing became an imperative - a way of life, actually - for me once our second daughter came along. Practicing the art of babywearing has many benefits for both mama and baby, including a possible reduction in the risk of SIDS. For me, the biggest benefit was that it allowed me to stay physically connected to my sweet new baby while I cared for, chased after, and shared precious time with my the new Big Sister.

Perhaps this will answer some questions and start some good conversation about your favorite way to wear a new baby!

Megan blogs about faith, motherhood, and natural living at SortaCrunchy.

Looking for a great makeup routine? A Bare Minerals review

My mom and I are big both fans of Bare Minerals. She was nice enough to write up this guest post explaining why she loves the products so much. Without further delay, please give a warm bloggy welcome to Problem Solvin Mom's Mom! :)

Infomercials…..I love to hate them. So how can my absolute favorite of all products be something that peddles itself at 4 am over and over ad naseaum?

I have to admit, I never would have tried it if my daughter hadn’t told me that her buddies at the Y in the morning were telling her how much they love….Bare Minerals.

My daughter and I made a trip to the closest Bare Escentuals store about a year ago to treat ourselves to a makeover; prepared to spend some bucks. And spend we did, but boy did we look good! I will say though, that now that I know what I need, the expense is not too bad and I will NEVER use any other makeup.

I would think the infomercial would scare some ladies off by saying the TV special that you get for $60 is worth $209. I would never spend $209 on makeup. Once you get that starter kit with the brushes, the things you will need to replace are Prime Time (the most amazing of all), the foundation, the Warmth (which lasts for a long time) and the mineral veil finishing powder. I also use I.D. Bare Vitamins before the Prime Time, but I think some people use regular moisturizer. I am worth every penny I spend on BareMinerals.

The reason I am so captured by this product is that my skin has improved so much since I started using it. I am 61 years old, had redness that would start to show immediately after starting my day…until Bare Minerals. It has actually improved my skin so much that it even looks better without makeup than it did before.

I asked for some of my Bare Minerals for Christmas this year; but I did run out of foundation prior to Christmas Day. I stopped in to get a name brand at the drug store; but there was no comparison and I was glad to stop using it!!

You can believe every word spoken in the BareMinerals infomercial. So, besides wanting to tell everyone how wonderful Bare Minerals is, I have to wonder what other infomercials are actually peddling some good products….anyone have a favorite that they were skeptical about at first?

Guest post roundup

I will be posting Organizational Tip Thursday around noon today, due to some crazy long hours at work this week... Until then, I thought I'd point out where I'm guest posting this month in case you are interested in stopping by and checking them out! *pretty please*

On the topic of Organization, did you see my guest post on Monday at JessicaKnows on the subject of organizing? If you have any interest in it at all, I'd suggest you check out her "15 days of Marketing" while you're there.

This month at Sprout it's all about the Earth, and I've posted two articles on recycling. Learn some of the specifics about curbside recycling requirements here, and what to do if you don't have curbside recycling here!


I totally missed out on wordful Wednesday this week, where I was planning to write more about our exciting visit to see my friend. Look for that next week, and in the meantime, here is the *one* and only take to get Sweetpea and Mommy both looking at the camera after her egg hunt. (do you think it's the grip I have around her waist, maybe?!) I love the little ladybug she picked out to have painted on her face!

Happy New Year!

Photo by FreeWine

Wishing you all many blessings in the coming year! Did you have a late night celebrating? Did you go to bed early to celebrate like we did? {blushing} What are you planning for the coming year?

I've wrote yesterday about what resolutions I'll be working on this year. You can read about my strategy for keeping us motivated today on Sprout for Parents!

I have some other exciting things planned for PSMom - for the month of January we'll be featuring products and strategies for organizing your life and finding that mythical work/life balance. As I've written before, balance is all about mindfully choosing what we make time for. That said, it's difficult to stay on track. We'll talk with some pros on how to identify where we are spending our time and how we might want to refocus. We'll review (and give away!) some tools for organizing our clutter, data, photos, plans and dreams. Does that sound like something that interests you? I hope you'll stay tuned and learn with me!

One other resolution related feature for this month that I'm super excited about? Talking with RedBook love expert and author Tina Tessina about her latest book Money Sex & Kids. One of the items on my top 5 list this year is "honor each other". In that vein, I can't wait to gain her insight into strengthening my relationship with EmDee.

Looking for some tools to help identify the things you want to work on this year? Here are a few resources I'm loving right now:

Finding your Family Mission Statement (Simplemom)
Finding your Zingers (Millionaire Mommy Next Door)
Writing your personal commandments (The Happiness Project)
100 blogs that will inspire you to be a better person (Massage Therapy Careers)

What are you planning for 2009? I'd love to hear your resolutions and goals!

Looking back and looking forward

I love this time of year, full of both reflection and planning! In the spirit of looking back, I'll be compiling my favorite blog posts from this year and starting a "favorites" section. I'm also working on a 100 things post to celebrate my 200th post, which went up this week.

On the planning front, I'm guest posting today at Mom's Marbles about New Year's Resolutions and what I have in mind for this year - I'd love it if you'd click over and visit! I'll wait for you to get back and check out the adorable Santa photos below... Okay, on to Santa!

Sweetpea might have been scared to visit Santa at the HolidayFest this year, but there is one Santa she is buds with - my famous grandparent's 58 year old Santa that comes to visit Sweetpea on Christmas Eve! I love the history that goes along with this Santa, and I love documenting how much Sweetpea has grown each year with these adorable photos! Here she is this year:

Sweetpea and Santa 2008

And last year:

Sweetpea and Santa 2007

Just like Sweetpea, Santa also likes to dance:

I hope we continue this tradition of the Santa photo for many years to come!

While we're looking back, I thought I'd include an update on how the Handmade Christmas Challenge turned out.
Here is the scarf I knitted for Sweetpea, my first *actually completed* knitting project. My mom would love for me to tell you about the sweater I've been knitting for some 12 years now...but that's a post for another day.
Here is one of the quick and easy tutus I made for Sweetpea, her cousin, and two of my friend's kiddos.
And here's a glimpse of one of the no sew hat projects from the Crafty Mama book you can find on my lower left sidebar - I made a few slight adjustments to the pattern and added a quick new sew scarf to match! I'll post about this project in more detail soon. There are 2 more adorable hats that I'm planning to make from this fantastic book!

If you haven't already, please visit me at Mom's Marbles! I'm excited to be a part of the weekly Mom with Marbles feature. Mom's Marbles features loads of great ideas to keep your little ones having fun, as well as ideas for helping mom stay sane.

I'd love to hear what you're planning for 2009!

What do you do with all those Christmas cards?

Are you starting to take down your Christmas decorations, or have you already packed everything up? If you're like me, you're just starting the process and wondering what to pack away for next year and what to donate...Brooke from DinkypopsNoMore shared these great ideas with me for putting all the Christmas cards we receive each year to use! I love these ideas and I think you will too.

The majority of Christmas cards we receive each year are still the traditional cards, even though more and more of our friends are sending family photo cards or even super eco-friendly eCards.

Now that the holiday is over, the big question is “What do you do with all of your cards?” Here are a few things that I like to do with mine.

1. Frame a holiday picture. Receive a card that has a great wintry scene? Or receive a card from someone special that you want to display each Christmas? Save the card, place it in a frame, and use it as a Christmas decoration for next year. (Now is the perfect time to pick up holiday picture frames at a discount!)

2. Make Christmas tags. I remember the first year that I went to my future in-laws for Christmas. All of the tags on the presents were so unique! What was the secret? They simply saved Christmas cards they received from the previous year, cut-out items from the cards (wreath, snowman, Santa face), and used them as name tags for the presents. You can use decorative hole punches or scissors for a little extra flair.

3. Send your cards to charity. Tear off the fronts of the cards and send them to the children at St. Jude’s Ranch for Children. They use them for craft projects throughout the year (you can do this with any greeting card). Then simply recycle the backs of the cards at your local recycling center.

St. Jude’s Ranch for Children

Card Recycling Program

100 St. Jude’s Street

P.O Box 985

Boulder City, NV 89005-0985

4. Put them in a photo album. For all the family photo cards we receive, I love to place them in a special Christmas card photo album (or photo box). Year after year, I place friends’ and families’ pictures over the previous year’s pictures. I love to see how much a family has changed in the past year.

What creative ways do you reuse Christmas cards? Brooke blogs about going from dual income, no kids to life with her adorable daughter at DinkypopsNoMore. I love reading about what she's up to, what's inspiring her, and admiring the beautiful photos on her blog!

Avoid the Post Holiday Slump!

Today I'm posting over at Dinkypops No More about avoiding that post holiday slump. I hope you'll stop over and visit, and check out my tips and tricks for keeping things fun and involving your kids in the cleanup after the holidays!

Brooke blogs about transitioning from a dual income/no kids life to family life with an adorable toddler the same age as Sweetpea!

Staying connected, even when things get busy - continued...

The ice storm that sailed into town on Tuesday brought EmDee an unexpected day off on Wednesday. Just so happened I had a vacation day scheduled on Wednesday to be all productive and such. The holiday productivity I had planned went to the wayside, and instead we had a nice, quiet day together at home - just the two of us! This is the second such day in as many months, and at the end of it, we decided we might just have to start scheduling them! I'm already looking forward to our day together in January...

As I promised yesterday, Deb is bringing us her top ten list for staying connected. Deb and her husband are the parents to twins, and Deb's husband travels on a regular basis. As someone who traveled extensively before Sweetpea was born, I can relate to the extra measures needed to stay close with all that time away!

When Steph asked me to contribute to her blog post about staying connected with your spouse through the busy holidays, I thought that would be so easy, because J and I have been doing that as a normal part of our lives—for years! Our relationship started when we lived 200 miles apart—him in the DC area, and me in New York. We had to stay connected to make it work. Now, after we got married and live together, busy travel and family schedules have us continuing to stay tight in many of the same ways. Here’s my list of ways to keep tight with your spouse.

1. If one of you is traveling, have a good conversation on the phone at least once a day. Catch up with your day. Tell work stories. Get to know the people in your spouse’s life.

2. Have a “good morning conversation”, and a “good night conversation”, whether you are together or not.

3. We’ve been lucky enough over the years to have access to mobile email. Keep in touch with emails or texting throughout the day… even if it’s just an “I love you”.

4. You can even email or text your spouse photos of you or your kids. That brings smiles, and keeps the spirit of sharing.

5. Try to have a date night once a week. Date night doesn’t have to mean paying a babysitter to go out to an expensive restaurant. During the winter, and especially during the holiday season, one of our favorite date nights is a glass of wine in front of the fire reviewing our day or just appreciating our lit tree.

6. If your spouse feels distant from you, take a few minutes to figure it out. Usually it’s stress. You may be able to just give him or her a 10-minute back rub to make things lighter—and tighter—between you.

7. Play a game together. We like to play Scrabble. It’s better than distracting, absorbing TV because you get into conversations.

8. Create family photobooks. I make mine on my Mac, but there are several other services that give you the ability to make them. There’s inkubook.com; kodakgallery.com; snapfish.com; and heritagemakers.com, just to name a few. We look through our photobooks together often, and reminisce about our family times.

9. During your “good night” conversations, make sure they aren’t just an overview of how your day went, but also make them intimate. Keep the magic of your marriage alive.

10. This one is very important—flirt with your spouse. So important to remember and to remind your spouse that you love each other, you’re attracted to each other, and that you are fun and flirty.

Keeping romance alive - Staying connected even when things get busy

Things have been so hectic at the problem solvin home lately that I've felt the need to review my bag of tricks for staying connected with hubs. There are so many things that have to be done, that if we don't make the effort, it's easy to let that husband and wife relationship get put on the back burner. With EmDee going on shift work recently, things have gotten even more complicated in our house.

We have some tried and true habits that work well, but I've been wondering what works for other busy families - so of course I hit up some of my blogging friends to see what works for them!

Here are the common themes that came out of Steph, Megan, Deb, Octamom and my staying connected handbooks:

• make couple time with your spouse a priory: whether this is in the form of date night or just some quiet time sans kids, it's important to connect regularly.

• know what is going on in each other's lives: whether it's through email, text messages or regular chats, know what's important to each other and discuss the day to day details of each others lives.

• keep romance in the everyday: love notes, something funny you know your spouse will enjoy, gestures that show how much you care.

Megan came up with a list especially for the Christmas season that I absolutely love -

• Get the sitter to arrive 90 minutes early and go out together for a light dinner or coffee before that big holiday party.
• Put the kids to bed a little early, set up a little floor picnic by the tree (or light some candles), pop Handel's Messiah on the iPod or CD player and soak up the mood and music together.
• Share a beverage in the glow of the Christmas tree every night the month of December.
• One word: Mistletoe!

Octamom has quite a bit of experience in this arena, what with eight kids and 19 years of marriage. And then there's the fact that she can make toilet paper sound elegant...here is what she has to say:

The combined forces of careers, chaos, and kids can tarnish many a couple's connection. We certainly have had our share of conspired craziness keeping us at a running pace in opposite directions. Keeping our couple-hood healthy and happy takes regular care and feeding. For us, there are a few areas that make a lot of difference.

1. Regular Date Nights: We make a concerted effort to go out each week. Sometimes, that means a 30 minute cup of coffee after the smallest kids are in bed. Other times, it means a nice dinner, but regardless of the setting, it's about a time set aside to leave the house and Octamom population and sit enjoying some conversation. And it doesn't mean going out with another couple--it specifically means time for just the two of us.

2. Regular Laughter: M's career is consuming and demanding and stressful--and then he comes home to the nine of us. Real relaxing, don't you think? He often leaves very early in the morning and doesn't get home until long past dark. But when he hits the door, we do spend a fair amount of time cutting up and laughing and wrestling kids. We tell each other the funny things we encountered during the day and often forward each other hilarious sites we find on the web. Laughter has always been one of our love languages.

3. Regular Worship: No, I'm not talking just about church attendance. What I am talking about is the frequent conversations and experiences M and I share in our faith. In the busyness of life, in the car pools and soccer tournaments and business travel and demands of our special need kids and employee issues, it is vital that we are on the same page, that we share a purpose and a vision. The frenetic facets of our lives can often cloud our ultimate mission. We make it a priority to be feeding our souls and to share with each other the insight that comes from that time.

4. Regular Workouts: I'm being very serious here. Yep, even with the eight kids and the homeschooling and the photography and all. M and I are devoted to each other, love each other and are deeply committed to the principal of marriage, and M has loved me through many pregnancies and the resulting physical aftermath. But let's face it, marriage is not just about friendship. While I can't claim to be in peak physical condition, I do make an effort to clean-up my act from time to time. I may be a mom of eight, but I'm gonna give it a shot at being a hot mom of eight (though I'm a little vague on what that template might actually be...) And I appreciate that M also takes care of himself. It's comforting to be very comfortable around each other regardless of wardrobe, but in taking care of myself, I'm also telling M how much I care about him.

5. Regular Forgiveness: Do your marriage connection a favor; get in the habit of getting over relationship trivia quickly. Obviously, couples do face big issues that take time and counsel. But I'm talking about the little stuff, the small irritations that I've seen send marriages into the ditch. While we have seen marriages blow up over things that were very serious, we've seen more marriages disintegrate over white noise that has been allowed to grow into a roar. I have my little (and bigger) things that could make M crazy, and he has a couple of things that could render me a shrew. But in the bigger picture, these issues do not warrant the emotional energy we could give them.

Let's face it, nobody has their act completely together in the marriage game. We certainly have had our times of being completely off page, a unit that is supposed to be a unified team and instead is hunkered down in opposite bunkers, throwing salvos over a field of neglect and lack of appreciation. We've faced our share of difficult times, made all the more complicated by the force of both of our big personalities. But keeping an eye on the ball is what it's all about. And that ball for us is not just keeping a marriage together, but in enjoying it, crafting it, creating a legacy and a template for our children and their children and their children. And for that, you've just got to keep on taking a swing at that ball.

Most of all, I loved how in chatting with each one of these fabulous ladies, I can just hear the love and commitment they have for their relationships. We each recognize how lucky we are and are actively engaging our spouses. I hope you'll stop back tomorrow for Deb's great top ten list of suggestions for staying connected.

As a teaser, I have a great book review and giveaway coming up in the new year from one of RedBook magazine's love doctors!

What are your strategies for staying connected? I'd love to hear them!

Friday Funny Fieldtrip

For today's Friday Funnies, stop over and check out my guest post at Hope 4 Peyton.

The funniest part will be if you stick around for some of Anissa's other posts - she keeps me in stitches for sure. Happy Friday, everyone!

Marathoning part two - Choosing your marathon

Welcome to part two of Deb's marathoning series - how to choose your marathon. If you missed her first post on deciding if marathoning is for you, be sure to check it out!

Once you’ve decided on doing a marathon, your next step is to decide which one. Traditional marathon season is in the fall, with training starting in mid-summer. However, with the explosion of interest in marathoning over recent years, there are marathons in most major cities across the world, and one in every month. My first marathon ended up being the Vermont City Marathon in Burlington, VT. It was one of the only local (local meaning northeastern US) spring marathons at the time. There are many, many more now.

Though the Vermont City Marathon was anything but a flat course, I do recommend a relatively flat course for your first marathon, or at the very least a course similar to the roads and trails that you’ll be training on. The Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, DC is a very good choice for a first marathon, just remember to register as soon as it becomes available, as it is a very popular one, and it closes very quickly.

I have now completed 6 marathons, and I am on to my 7th and 8th in 2009. Here are the ones that I have run:

Key Bank Vermont City Marathon, Burlington, VT
Fairly hilly course that runs through the city center in 4 loops. The scenery is lovely, especially through the last half where there’s a bit of trail running. The crowds are great, but a little sparse, especially when you need them. Water is available every 2 miles.

ING New York City Marathon, New York, NY
Awesome, awesome, awesome!!! I have run this marathon 3 times, and it’s great each time. The course is so interesting, running 26.2 miles through all 5 boroughs of New York City and 5 bridges. It starts on the far side of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge on Staten Island, runs over the bridge (which accounts for the first 2 miles) runs through Brooklyn and Queens, then over the Queensboro Bridge and up First Avenue in Manhattan. Then it crosses over Willis Avenue Bridge into the Bronx, back into Manhattan via the Madison Avenue Bridge, and down Fifth Avenue into Central Park to the finish line at Tavern on the Green. The crowds are great!!!

Marine Corps Marathon, Washington DC
This marathon is one of the fastest, flattest marathons, and is a great first marathon (although not my first, by far my fastest). It starts in Arlington, VA and after winding around many of the DC monuments and government buildings including the capital building, finishes at the Marine Corps War Memorial. The crowds are great (just not quite as good as New York).

Spinx Runfest Greenville Marathon
This was my most recently completed marathon, and it was really great, but I have to say, quite hilly, especially the last 6 miles—it didn’t seem fair! Seriously though, even though the course is absolutely beautiful, and Greenville is a very cute town, this would not be my recommendation for a first marathon, mostly based on the hills, the small group of runners doing the actual marathon, and the fact that it is a double loop (you do the same loop twice. I’d say out of the 1,000 runners, only about 250 were marathoners, the rest were doing the half. I would recommend this as a first marathon for local Greenville and surrounding area residents. Overall, it gets a good review from me, just not for a first.

Feeling adventurous? There is a marathon is virtually every major foreign city. My friend, Jackie has run marathons in Dublin, Ireland and Paris, France

Here are a couple of links to find your perfect marathon:

Marathonguide.com: A pretty good compilation of the marathons out there by month.

Wikipedia List of Marathon Races

Runner’s World Race Finder

THIS WEEK’S HOMEWORK: Browse the various sites available to you to find a marathon that suits you best. Take into consideration the local area, travel time, elevation of the course, and crowds. Decide on what marathon will be best for you.

Questions? Feel free to comment on my site or email me @ fromstilettostosneakers@gmail.com

Freebies and Fun!

I'm over at Freebies 4 Mom today, talking about the many features of Sprout Online. Are you an avid reader of Heather's blog like I am? If not, head over and see what all the buzz is about!

Thanksgiving Fun!

I'm over at Sprout talking about what to do with those Thanksgiving leftovers. I'd love it if you'd stop by and let me know your favorite ideas for "recycling" your leftovers!

Speaking of Thanksgiving, http://frugalupstate.blogspot.com/has a great Thanksgiving Miniseries going this week. The link above is my contribution to today's subject - Leftovers! While you're there, check out the rest of this great series. There are entries for sidedishes, desserts, craft/decorating ideas, and traditions.

Here are my suggestions for desserts, crafts, and traditions...

Marathoning Part 1 - The Decision

I came across this post recently, and was inspired and intrigued to learn more. Luckily for me, my friend Deb at Stilettos to Sneakers is a marathoner, and she graciously agreed to write a guest series on marathoning for us! Are you inspired to run a marathon? Just looking to find your inner runner? She has tips for all of us. I have always wondered what prompts someone to set such a lofty goal. This first post is about the decision, and reasons you might want to run a marathon. Please show her a warm welcome and lots of comment luv!

I have been running for a very long time - at least 26 years qualifies as a long time in my mind. I was 14 when I made that first run around my neighborhood, and running soon became an addiction of sorts. It felt so good to get out in the crisp air and move my body. I continued running even when I became an exchange student in Japan - then through college, multiple moves, a divorce and a marriage. In fact the only time since then that running hasn't been a part of my life was when I was pregnant with twins.

I often get asked the question, "Why a marathon? Why run 26.2 miles?" My answer is always twofold: first, that it feels good to accomplish something as physically and mentally difficult as completing a marathon, and second, that having an endgame or goal keeps me training.

My first marathon coincided with my 30th year. I was ready for an accomplishment in my life. I was a bit unsure of where I was in life, where my career was going, whom I was dating - you name it - it was a very confusing time of my life.

With encouragement from a friend, I started training for a spring marathon. Crossing that finish line was one of the best feelings I've ever had in my life. (right behind holding my children for the first time, falling in love with my husband and eating chocolate!) The feeling of accomplishment when I finally put my foot over the finish line was euphoric.

Another comment I often get is, "Oh I could never run a marathon!" My answer to that is, "No, with that attitude, you never could..." You have to reach down and find your I-can-do-anything attitude. You have to believe in yourself. With the right training, anyone can run a marathon. It may sound a little inspirational-poster-y, but it's completely true.

If you think you might be interested in running a marathon, here is my top ten list for why you should consider it!
Ten Reasons to Run a Marathon:
1. To achieve a goal and to obtain a sense of physical accomplishment in your life
2. To get in shape and lose weight
3. If you can run a marathon, you can do anything
4. To make friends - there is a big marathoning community
5. Run for a cause
6. Get the very cool finisher's medal
7. Get the goodie bag
8. After long training runs, to be able to eat anything you want
9. It's a great resume builder
10. A great way to commit to lifelong fitness

This week's homework: Think about whether marathoning is for you. Is it a goal you would like to accomplish in your life? Would you like that sense of accomplishment? Are you ready to say, "Yes, I can!"?

Questions? Feel free to comment on my site or email me at mommy2twinkies@yahoo.com

A little more about Deb: As a former banker, From Stilettos to Sneakers describes my life. My closet is full of beautiful shoes that I still wear, even though they are not appropriate for my current job: stay-at-home Mommy of my beautiful twins, Angel and Little Man and CEO of our household. My 'sneaers' or running shoes are part of my daily life as a crazy runner! In addition to running, I'm a bit of a foodie and love to cook, love wine (somewhat trained), and speak French and Japanese. I also love to travel.