Snow/Rain Day Activities...

I know on these snowy, ice cold days the kids get stuck in the house. That leaves you to fill in the gaps. What do you do when the kids holler at you "I'M BORED!" Well the next time the kids say this you, you will be prepared. I always like to have a variety of things especially for the younger crowd, say 5 and younger.


 I will get you set up for the rainy, snowy, ice cold days! You need to have a variety of activities, especially for younger little ones who have a smaller attention span. Its always great to have back up plans for the little ones!

Puzzles- they are a great QUIET thing to do inside. I get my puzzles from the dollar store. I make sure they are puzzles that the kids are into. For example Adyson is into the Ninja Turtles, CARs, etc. So I made sure she had puzzles that match up with what she likes. Makes things easier if it interests the child.

Playing Cards- Yes playing cards. There are MANY games you can play. There is Go Fish, Old Maid, or make something up. Have an imagination! Practice Numbers, Memory game. Even 52 pick up, Adyson gets a kick out of throwing the cards up and counting how many land face up. Practice your adding and subtracting.

Craft- You can always pick a simple craft from my Pinterest Adyson Board, Craft Board, Kid Ideas Board
 Most of the crafts require simple items from around your house. Make play dough hand prints, make play dough, water paint. One of my favorites was making soap. Its very simple. The kids had a blast making soap. You can buy soap from most hobby stores. I got 1 set of soap molds for around $3. I also bought soap dye and soap fragrance. Total cost about $15.

Nephew Jackson Soap- With my nephew's soap I went to the dollar store and bought a pack of "sea creatures" and put a sea creature in bottom of the soap molds. He LOVED them!

Halloween Soap- Used orange soap dye. Went to the dollar store and bought a bag of Halloween goodies. Put the goodies in the molds first then slowly poured the soap over. Let them set up over night.

Books- I have a few chapter books that I read to Adyson. I help her imagine the scene, I ask her questions for her comprehension. So she is learning at the same time! She gets it 90% of the time. I let her pick most of the books we read, it seems to hold her attention longer when she picks it out. She starts to guess from the beginning what's going to happen and gets so excited. I can also get her to complete tasks faster when reading a chapter book. For example we get to the end of a chapter, I tell her its bath time. She hurries through bath so I can read the next chapter.
There are TONS of kid books for the iPad, NOOK, Kindle some of them are FREE!!!!

Movie Day-  Pick out your favorite movies. Make a "special" movie treat together, even if its just apple slices and honey. Stay in your pajamas, whats the harm in getting cozy in your favorite pajamas, fuzzy slippers, favorite blanket and curling up and spending some good quality time together.

 "Craft Kits" - in the craft/art section at the retail stores. I bought a few of them. Adyson LOVED being able to make her own bracelet. The kits cost about $2-$4 each. This created 2 HOURS of fun!! Well worth it in my book.

                                  WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN IT SNOWS? RAINS?

My Make Up Table

Since I did the post about Master Closet Clean Up I have had a few emails wanting to know what all the little drawers are for. Most of you know I am OCD about being organized. Everything I own has as spot, its kept in its spot. I go crazy when things are not where they are supposed to be. Since the post I organized just a little bit more, so below is the picture from Master Closet Clean Up! 

When I was searching for  things to help organize my make up I made sure to measure the space. This way I could buy the right size organizer to fit the space. Nothing get more upsetting then bringing home the "perfect" piece only to find its 5 inches too wide. So you exchange that piece and get a piece that is now your "perfect" piece bring it home and find its too tall. So take it from me and measure. Scour the web for the best deals. Typically at you retail stores (Walmart, Target, etc) on their website they have bundle packs so you can get 3-4 pieces for 1 low price. 

I knew I did NOT want cloth drawers or fabric etc. Let me explain why. When you have children there is always a certain level of mess. Messes such as a spilled cup, such as my coffee cup because "Mommy you have to see how fast I can run" turns into a trip/stumble and bumping into my table. There is also the "Mommy see I can dress myself" turns into getting stuck in the shirt and bumping into the make up table. So you see choosing plastic made sense to me I can wipe it up no matter what gets spilled, including make up! If you still want fabric best of luck to you! I do not want make up stains. 

                                                   

Wondering what the white thing with drawers is? Well, my makeup. (the closest thing I could find to what I have 5 drawer 2 pack) I LOVE having these.

Top drawer is foundations, powders.
 2nd - is blushes, bronzers.
 3rd-is eye shadows.
4th -is extras such as cotton balls, extra face lotions, chap sticks etc.

So you are wondering about the gray tub underneath? It's actually holding my summer wardrobe! I waste no space in my closet. I may now have a "designer" closet but it works for me!  

Now I suppose you are wondering about the blue smaller ones. Right??? ( get them here mini drawers)OK so here it goes. The Small blue drawers on the LEFT that is sitting on top of the white dressers. Is my lipsticks, sorted by shades. On the right is all my eyeliners

Left Side Blue Drawers                                                               Right Side Blue Drawers

1- Reds & pinks                                                                         1- eyeliners
2- Nudes                                                                                    2- Waterproof eyeliners
3 -peaches and clear glosses                                                       3-crazy color eyeliners (purples, blues, etc)

On top of the blue drawers are my make up brush holders. I bought fish bowls from the dollar store and colored glass stones. I put the stones in the bottom of the bowls! Smaller brushes on the left and bigger brushes on the right! 

So after a little "Make up Table Clean up" all of my hair stuff is under the table. 

                                                  Oh the little pink, purple & flowered cases are my extra make up cases for traveling. I keep my velcro  hair rollers in them! 

Blue Drawer

Drawer 1- is ALL  my bobby pins.
Drawer 2- is small hair clips and small claws, etc
Drawer 3- is all hair ties, elastic ties, etc

White Drawer

1 - big hair clips, and 1 curling iron
2- brushes, flat iron spray, hair spray, smoothing serum.
3- LOTS of combs, small hair dryer, curling iron.
4- flat iron and curling iron. Yes I have 3 curling irons. They are all different sizes.

               

                                     Hope all of you have had a great week! 

                                         What did you accomplish today? 

Master Closet Clean Up

So we all do it. We make over the entire house before we worry about the master bedroom or the master closet. Well I decided 2014 is going to be about the master bedroom. In 2012 we did Brittany's room. In 2013 we did Adyson's room and finished it about 2 weeks ago. Now its time for me to work on the master!

I LOVE the size of my closet. I LOVE MY CLOSET, did I say that already? I just hate that we didn't have the money to do anything with the master closet. We could not afford a fancy closet organizer. So we put up a wire rack at each end of the closet. Then we shoved dressers in there, and called it a day. So I am making the best of the closet and the space it gives me!  The pictures posted below are so EMBARRASSING!!! I took them to tell the truth about what the closet looked like before the clean up!

BEFORE...

Left Side                                                                                Middle

                
 Oh did you notice all those little boxes on the top shelf? I'm sure you have a few of them hid somewhere you know the ones I'm talking about. The small digital camera that you bought 3 years ago, that you no longer have, but for some reason still have the box? Or the other electronics boxes you have BUT don't even have(use or the warranty has run out) the product anymore. I had 4 of those boxes in my closet.

                                                         Right side...

Yes you see an empty coffee creamer bottle on top of my dresser. You are right again, you do see an empty bottle of Mr. Bubbles in an empty coffee can. The reason for this is well... I'm lazy for not taking them to the recycle where it belongs and I was keeping certain containers so I could reuse them. Why are the dresser drawers not shut? Ummm... because I was lazy? No No No that's not it, I couldn't or wouldn't fold the clothes right and SHOVE them into the drawers. You see when you shove clothes into drawers most of the time you can't close the drawers afterwards. Then I just gave up trying to close them altogether! So you noticed my Bath & Body Works bag huh? Yep I still have 7 candles left from the Semi-Annual Sale in June!!!

So the first thing I did was clean my closet. I actually put stuff where it belongs. The containers in the recycle. Boxes in the recycle, etc.

Then I went through the clothes in the dresser... This was a little time consuming. But I kept the rule in my head. IF IT DOES NOT FIT DO NOT KEEP IT. My problem is I am SUPER skinny, so when I gain weight I'm excited! I was excited to try on clothes to have them be too tight! But if you are one of those who fluctuate in weight then KEEP your clothes! So there is also 1 more rule, IF YOU HAVE NOT WORN IT IN 2 YEARS TOSS IT!!! If you scroll back up and look at the LEFT SIDE picture, in the upper left hand corner there is a rack of office clothes. Since I gained weight 2/3 of this wardrobe went. PLUS since I had not worn any of it in 5 years, I tried on every piece and what didn't fit went.

 Now that all the clothes have been gone through, I tried on EVERYTHING on the hangers next. Keeping the rules in mind.
- If it does not fit, do not keep it.
- If you have not worn it in 2 years, toss it


AFTER...


Left Side...                                                                        Middle...

              



  Right Side...                                                                  Bottom of Right/Middle...

                 

Oh you say something is off about the right side??? You are absolutely right. I cleared out so many clothes that I didn't need the dresser anymore. I hung up everything that stayed. I had so much room left over on the left side after nothing fit...I was able to put what did fit from the dresser on to hangers! So I pulled the dresser out of my closet. To take some clutter out of the master bedroom I pulled my makeup table into the closet! I love having my table in the closet!!! Please keep in mind this took about 3-4 days to complete. I took my time organizing, cleaning, vacuuming, etc.


Questions comments or concerns leave them below! 

I am feeling very accomplished!!!

Adyson's Room Make-Over

OK so last March we decided it was time to give Adyson's room a make over.  We upgraded from the youth bed to a twin. Adyson picked the color of her room. I found TONS of ideas on Pinterest (so you know I created a board on Pinterest for it). I wanted to compile all the ideas and take the best ones and incorporate them into my plans.  (read about the start and curtains of the project here)

THE PROCESS---

Adyson picked a purple that she loved and we painted ALL the walls the same purple. She didn't want to get rid of her flower wall boarder. She insisted on keeping it. So it stayed!


I wanted Adyson to have a coloring area. She loves to color, we already had her favorite Cars table and 2 chairs. I did not want to get rid of the table so I had my husband create a shelf and paint it. We hung it above her table. The shelf holds all of her coloring books! We also screwed in hooks to the bottom of the shelf so she could hang buckets. The buckets hold her crayons, markers, etc.
                                 
                                                     

Next because she had so many book, as you can see from the full bookcase, I wanted her to have a reading area! So... the bean bag on the floor next to the bookcase! (Yes the Cars table gets moved, its also used as her night stand Per Adyson's request its her room!)

 

       BEFORE....                                                        AFTER....

Next I insisted opening up her closet. My husband was not happy about this but Adyson has had a ball with this. 

                                                    BEFORE...

AFTER...

                           

Because we opened the closet we were able to put her play kitchen and her Play tool bench in her closet. We also got rid of the dresser and used the closet organizer and hangers! So now Adyson can reach and get to everything in her room! 

I put her bed on bed raisers so I could utilize that space as well. Her Papa got her a Toy Story Car box that holds ALL of Adysons cars it has wheels on it and Adyson can push/pull it when needed. So that gets pushed under her bed when she is not playing with them! 

Adyson LOVES her room. I tried to keep everything in mind while redoing her room. Can she reach it without my help? Can she push/pull it without my help? Can she get it out with out my help? Can she put it away without my help? What does she play with the most? How long is this room going to be functional for her? Is this going to last? My child is taller then all kids her age. So everything we did was a little bigger/taller then most rooms of kids her age. I wanted her to start learning to be independent so I made sure she could get to everything she needed! 

QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, CONCERNS? LEAVE THEM BELOW IN THE COMMENTS!! 

                                                      

                                                   HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!! 

Half -Homemade Beauty Recipes

                    Over the last year I have found several beauty recipes for face wipes, baby wipes, facial toners, etc. There was trial and error while I made these. Some required expensive ingredients, others required 2-3 days to "set up" before you could use it. There were a few that I absolutely LOVED. To make it a keeper it had to have a few things. They had to be SIMPLE to make. The recipe had to be CHEAPER than the "original" version. The ones I LOVED so much I actually ditched the commercial brand and made them a  permanent part of my beauty drawer. 

RULES OF MAKING WIPES...

-When making wipes ALWAYS use BOUNTY paper towels. The generics do NOT hold up. 
- Always use DISTILLED water, this is not the same as filtered. 
-2-3 drops of Tea Tree oil is good to add to prevent mold/mildew in your wipes
- keep them out of the direct sun. Put them behind a picture frame, throw a towel over them, in a cupboard, etc. The sun heats up the wipes and causes the mold/mildew
- find a container big enough for the wipes. I use a 2qt pitcher, I pull the wipes through the pour spout it works fabulous!!! (At the store-Go to the towels and get a roll, then go to the container isle and try and stuff them into the container, it should be a tight fit.)


BABY WIPES-

1 roll BOUNTY paper towels (cut in half)
2 cups DISTILLED water
2-3 drops tea tree oil
1-2 teaspoon baby shampoo

Put your paper towels CUT SIDE down into your container. Mix all your liquids together by stirring. Do not shake them as this will activate the bubbles and you will have a sudsy mess! Microwave 30-45 seconds. Pour over the paper towels starting on the inside cardboard and work your way out. Let it sit 5-10 minutes, then flip and sit for 5-10 minutes. Pull the cardboard out of the middle, and this should start the roll. If it does not then pull out out of the middle. Do not pull out of the sides, it will not work well! 

FACIAL WIPES/MAKE UP REMOVER WIPES

1 roll BOUNTY paper towels (cut in half)
2 cups DISTILLED water
2-3 drops tea tree oil
2 teaspoon coconut oil *
2 teaspoon of facial soap (do not use the "scrubbing/exfoliating" washes, the "scrubbies" will sit on top of your wipes)

I LOVE this as my facial cleanser. Its very mild and half the chemicals! 

Put your paper towels CUT SIDE down into your container. Mix all your liquids together by stirring. Do not shake them as this will activate the bubbles and you will have a sudsy mess! Microwave 30-45 seconds. *Make sure you melt the coconut oil, so it seeps into the paper towels. Pour over the paper towels starting on the inside cardboard and work your way out. Let it sit 5-10 minutes, then flip and sit for 5-10 minutes. Pull the cardboard out of the middle, and this should start the roll. If it does not then pull out out of the middle. Do not pull out of the sides, it will not work well! 




FACIAL TONER

2 GREEN TEA bags
3/4 cup DISTILLED water
1/4 cup witch hazel
2-3 drops tea tree oil
container to hold 8 oz (I just refilled my empty bottle)

Heat your water in the microwave for 1 minute. Drop in both tea bags. Let them steep until they are at room temp. Pull the bags out. Stir in the tea tree oil and witch hazel. Pour in the container and its ready! Use just like you use your current toner! 

BODY SCRUB

1 cup Olive Oil
1 cup Sugar
2 tablespoons used coffee grounds
2-3 drops Essential Oil/Perfume oil -(When using Essential oils or Perfume oils a little goes a LONG way.) I only use these so the my scrub smells pretty! This is optional.
16 oz bottle

Pour/Mix all together in a reusable bottle 16 oz bottle. Shake the bottle very well to mix everything together. I LOVE this recipe. I use it every time I get in the shower, especially in the winter. I went to Hobby Lobby and bought a soap perfume (which means its safe for skin, do not buy a candle perfume!!) to add to my oil, I bought LoveSpell it smells wonderful. I want to try Orange Blossom Essential Oil next! 

 CAUTION- shower may be slippery after using this, make sure you spray a little cleaner/vinegar afterwards!!!! 

Make sure you choose a bottle with a pea-size spout to pour out of. 

 

The blue spout the right has a squared spout and does not work well with the scrub. You need a spout similar to the gray spout (which is from a reused bottle of V05 hair shampoo)
Follow the recipe, that way you have enough room to shake the bottle to mix everything
. 

I hope you have as much fun making these as I did. Let me know if you have any questions! I would be happy to answer! 

What a week!

It has been a very cold week here in Tennessee! The good thing is everyone and all the animals have survived the freezing temperatures. I'm very proud of my daughter Brittany and I, for helping each other deal with the animals all week.  We have carried 5 gallon buckets of water down to feed the animals every night,  because the water hose down to the animals has been frozen! 

Adyson has enjoyed the weather too! She got out there on Monday and made snow angels on the deck! She was so proud of herself. 

I'm still working on goal number 2. (So I have found an app "Meal Board" in the App Store. I LOVE this app. It has a pantry, shopping list, recipes, the works!!!! You can also go and get recipes from websites (there is about 15 websites connected to this app) I am going to be using this app a lot in 2014! I am very excited about it. MEAL PLAN BETTER) I'm going to be hitting this one hot and heavy this weekend.  The freeze and the kids being out of school extra time through me all off! 

Glad the temperatures are back to normal! The kids are enjoying not have to bundle up like Eskimos to go to the car! Now time to hit the normal routine!

What did you get accomplished today? 

Winter prepping on a farm!

Tennessee is due to have an extremely cold spell over the next 2 to 3 days.  To prepare for it, we went and got hay for the animals.  Made sure their stalls were clean and put down fresh bedding. Today was also family day so everybody joined in to help. 

 

The cows always try to overpower us when we feed them! 

Poor Brittany trying to hide behind a tree and fool the animals.... It didn't work. 

The water buckets have been emptied cleaned and refilled. The heated water bucket has been plugged up. Hoses have been disconnected from the pipes. All the animals have been fed. The hay has been covered. 

We went yesterday and got groceries. We bought five cases of water, had to get eggs and bread. I made sure I had 10 gallons of water out in the garage. We checked our propane tanks and our grill out on the back deck. 

Now it's time to start on the inside stuff. I'm doing loads of laundry in case my pipes freeze tonight and tomorrow. All the dishes have been washed everybody's taking showers. All in all it's been a very successful Sunday afternoon! 

WHAT DID YOU GET ACCOMPLISHED TODAY?