Gone Fishin'

Here's a fun snack for small kids!
*Kids under 2 should be supervised with pretzels due to choking hazard*

What you need:

Pretzel Sticks

Cream Cheese

Goldfish Crackers

Blue Food Coloring

Directions:

In a small dish, mix a few drops of food coloring into some cream cheese. Then take a stick pretzel and dip the end into the blue cream cheese. Now using the cream cheese dipped pretzel, go fishin' for some goldfish. Once a fish is caught eat it!!! And eat the cream cheese and pretzel too. No double dipping!!!

Healthier Alternatives For Kids

Here are some healthy snack options for our growing kids.

Fig Newtons instead of Chocolate Chip Cookies

Fruit Leather instead of Fruit Roll-ups

Cheese and Fruit

Smoothies

Raisins

Dried Fruit instead of Fruit Snacks

Dried Veggies instead of Chips

Frozen Yogurt instead of Popsicles

Nutritious Cereals instead of Sugary ones

Graham crackers dipped in applesauce

Mini Rice Cakes

Ants on a log

What healthy snacks do you give your kids?

Picky Eaters

 

It's no secret that kids can be picky eaters, but sometimes it's the parents that make their kids picky. When kids don't want what's for dinner some parents cater to their kids and get them something else to eat. Kids figure out pretty quickly that if they don't want something, Mom will just get them something else and therefore become picky eaters.

I always include something with dinner that I know my daughter will eat. We always have some sort of fruit or bread because those are two things I know I can't go wrong with. However, I make sure not to put any on her plate because I know that's what she'll go for first and then won't touch anything else. I first let her try the rest of the meal and then introduce the things I know she'll eat.

My husband and I have some strong opinions about certain types of food. He'll eat things that I think are awful and I'll eat things that he'd never touch. It's important that we don't put ideas into our child's head about what's good and gross. Although my husband doesn't like ketchup, it's okay for our kids to and just because I'm not a fan of celery doesn't mean our kids shouldn't have the opportunity to try it and maybe even enjoy it. If he says "gross" before she's even tasted ketchup then she already thinks it's going to be gross before her taste buds have a chance to decide.

It's normal for toddlers to only eat a few bites at meals. They still grow healthy and develop the way they should. It's important NOT to tell them they have to eat so many bites before they can get down or before they can have dessert. This can cause eating disorders by the time they're 8 years old. Instead, offer them smaller dessert portions. Say, "since you ate this much of your dinner, you can have this much dessert", but still allow them to have dessert with the rest of the family. And don't serve dessert every night.

Pay attention to how much your child eats across the week rather than per meal. One day they may eat a lot of fruit and not touch anything else, but then another day they may eat a lot of protein. You'll notice that when looking at a whole week, your child gets all the nutrients they need.

Preschool age kids are more likely to eat something if they helped prepare it. When introducing new foods for the kids to eat, let them help make it. They feel a sense of accomplishment when they see the end result of something they helped make. And when they see the whole process from start to finish they're more likely to taste it because they know how it started and what the finished product looks like. Plus kids learn all kinds of things while helping in the kitchen including math skills, vocabulary, science skills, social skills, and so on.

Eat meals together as a family. When your child sees the rest of the family eating it becomes a social gathering and they'll eat because everyone else is.

Provide your kids with choices. Give them two options and let them decide which item they would rather have for dinner. Then when it comes time to eat, remind them that they chose that to be included with dinner so they should eat some!

What are things you do to help your kids not become picky eaters?

How To Feel More Attractive

For those of us that can't run out and buy a new outfit to feel more attractive, here are a few ideas to help spice up your look.

• Start by getting dressed each day to the shoe. It's easy to stay in pj's all day when you're a stay at home mom or wear cumfy clothes, but if you dress to the shoe you're more likely to dress nicer. And I've heard you're more productive when you're fully dressed. (Think about the days you stay in pj's vs. the days you're fully dressed....)

• Mix and match your clothes.Wear things together that you wouldn't normally. Skirt and t-shirt, blouse and jeans, dress and sneakers, tank top as the over-shirt instead of the undershirt, etc.

• Costume jewelry. Dress up an outfit with a necklace, bracelet, earrings, anklet, or toe ring.

• Trim and file your nails, then give them a nice coat of polish.

• Try something new with your hair. Wear it curly, straighten it, curl it under, flip it out, part it down the middle or to the side, whatever is a new do for you, do it!

• Add a headband or a ribbon to an up do.

• Change your makeup. Try a new color of eyeshadow, blush, eyeliner, mascara, or what have you. Go lighter or darker on the eyeliner or mascara and try a whole new color of blush or eyeshadow. If you don't wear some of those things, try them out.

• Put on lip gloss or lipstick.

• Wear a hat with hoop earrings.

• Try a new shampoo or body wash. Catching the scent throughout the day can make you feel more attractive!

• Put on some perfume.

•  Brush your teeth more often than usual.

Any other suggestions to add to the list?

21 Easy Home Tidying Tips

These tips take very little effort, but can help make a home look cleaner than it actually is.

1. Put the toilet lid down. If the toilet bowl is dirty, at least with the lid down you can't see it!

2. Close all cupboards and doors. Even if you have the intention of putting something right back, things happen and you can walk away with the cupboard or door still open. Kitchen cupboards, bathroom cupboards, pantry door, closet doors, laundry door... when all remain closed, the house looks cleaner. (Especially closet doors in the bedrooms.)

3. Pull the shower curtain closed.

4. Make the bed. Even if it's just pulling the top comforter up and not straightening the sheets.

5. Fluff the pillows on the couches.

6. Tuck in all the chairs to the dining table.

7. Clear dishes from the kitchen table. If you don't plan on cleaning the kitchen right away, at least the kitchen table will be cleared, making the dishes seem less daunting when you get around to doing them.

8. Hide dirty laundry in the washing machine. It can make your room seem cleaner if you keep a load of dirty laundry in the washer. Maybe it sounds silly, why not just start the washer, but I'm talking about before it's a full load. Instead of putting the dirty clothes in a hamper, put them in the washer to collect until it's a full load to run.

9. Put dirty dishes in the sink instead of on the counter.

10. Make a dirty/clean sign for the dishwasher. Then load the dishwasher throughout the day/week and switch the sign to clean once you start it. That way you don't forget if you're still loading it with dirty dishes or if they're clean.

11. When all else fails, close the doors to all the rooms in the house.

12. Straighten the Family Room before going to bed. It may not stay clean throughout the day, but at least you can wake up to a clean house in the morning.

13. Get a shoe basket or shelf to have in the family room or near the front door.

14. Keep a small toy box in each room that toys get used. We have 2 family rooms so we keep a toy box in each one, plus one in the little one's bedroom.

15. If you have pets, have a toy box specifically for pet toys.

16. Put things away as soon as you're done using them. Toothpaste, hairbrush, bread, peanut butter, etc.

17. Plug in an air freshener.

18. Rinse dishes while making dinner. It's also a good time to unload the dishwasher and load dishes as you go.

19. Use a mail sorter so mail doesn't stack up on the counter.

20. Put your purse in a closet or cupboard instead of on the counter.

21. Open the blinds. It helps make your house seem bigger and your mess seem smaller. Also, open the windows for some fresh air.

5 Random Cleaning and Organizing Tips

Rinse Your Plate

Cleaning plates is a tough thing if it's kept for some time uncleaned. Rinse your plate after dinner and have all family members do the same and it makes washing plates so easy. It is a small and simple habit but makes a lot of trouble easier.


Cleaning the Microwave

Cleaning a microwave is easy. Fill up a cup of water and put it in there on high for a few minutes. The steam from the cup will loosen any stuck-on food, and then you can just wipe it away. It’s that simple.

Change a Dirty Job into a Clean One

Make trash collection less of a chore. Instead of making one trip to empty all the trash cans that have trash bags, and then making another trip to replace those bags with fresh ones, you can handle both tasks in one trip. Store a few new trash bags at the bottom of each can you use. When you remove a filled trash bag, you can replace it immediately with a bag from your stash of new ones.


Folded Sheets

Place fitted and flat sheet and extra pillow cases inside matching pillow case set and store on closet shelves. 
 

Organize Cards

Store card games inside dollar store soapboxes.

Compliments

My husband gave me a compliment the other day that has made a huge impact on how I view myself now.

First, a little back story...

My whole life I've felt like I'm surrounded by people who do things just a little bit better than I do. In elementary school my handwriting was good, but my friends were better. In Junior High I was in choir and felt like a pretty good singer, but my peers were better. In high school I played softball my freshman year and was pretty good, but my teammates were better. Then when I got married I felt like a pretty good housewife, but listening to comments in church, my ward friends were better. I've always felt like a good writer, but my husband is better. Now I feel like a pretty good mom, but my Facebook and Pinterest friends are better.

Then one day my husband told me he thinks I'm a good singer. I laughed it off and told him he was crazy and he continued to say he thought I was better than certain people (which I won't name, but people I view as good singers). It's hard for me to take a compliment so I just moved onto a new topic, but what he said has really impacted my day to day operations.

First of all, I've always loved to sing, but I've been surrounded by people who are good singers so I've developed some insecurities in my own talents. In church I started singing soft enough that nobody around me could really hear me, but by doing so it made it hard to hit any high notes so I would "mess up" and feel even less capable in my abilities. But, hearing my husband tell me I'm a good singer has given me confidence. Now I project when I sing and I don't care who hears me or who's better than me!

But it's more than that. His simple compliment has changed how I look at myself. I feel more confident about a lot of things because I've realized that it doesn't matter who's better. What matters is who tries. I may not be the best singer, but I try. I may not be the best wife, but I try. I may not be the best mom, but I try. I do what I'm capable of doing to the best of my abilities and at the end of the day that's all that matters. It's not about who packs their husband a lunch everyday for work or who puts together elaborate activities for their kids that they found on Pinterest. It's not about who sings better or who's more athletic...

...It's about how you approach your talents and how they make YOU feel. Nobody else matters when it comes to your own abilities and personal strengths.

So I'm proposing a challenge.

Give someone a compliment, but make it worth while.

I'm not talking, "cute shoes, great haircut, good lesson". Those are nice things to hear, but sometimes they seem meaningless. They're conversation starters or silence fillers.

Instead, compliment someone on their talents. If you liked their cooking, tell them why it was good. If they taught a good lesson in church, tell them what hit home for you. Tell your husband what he's good at and why. My husband could have said he thinks I'm a good singer and left it at that, but he kept going. He gave me a reason to believe what he was saying was true.

Give someone a self-esteem boost because at the end of the day we all have our own insecurities and compliments can go a long way in helping us feel more confident. Even the people who we think are so confident on the outside, have insecurities on the inside. So compliment away. You never know what impact you can have on somebody's life!