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Suncatcher Valentines
With Valentine’s Day in just a few days, I wanted to get the girls’ valentines figured out this past weekend. They go to a school where valentines need to be homemade, if they are brought in. After talking with my first grader, we decided to make some suncatchers by dripping candle wax onto a clear sheet of adhesive paper. My fifth grader walked in while we were doing this and immediately wanted in on the action. She, however, decided she was going to turn hers into bookmarks. This is how they turned out. Disclaimer: This is not a project for children to do on their own as a lit candle is…
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Happy 2019?
Be Careful What You Wish For 2019 is not off to the start I was expecting. Granted, my house is clean, as I was forced to clean it in an attempt to keep a lovely stomach virus from spreading. Apparently, my cleaning skills are lacking, or my cleaning products. Let’s say it’s the latter. I, unfortunately, have no one else to blame but myself though. As I was updating our white-board calendar in the kitchen for the first week of January 2019, I was amazed to find that every day until school starts again was filled. Granted, I was looking forward to the things as they involved seeing friends, ice…
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What do you do with all the candy?
If you’re like my family, who loves Halloween—dressing up and trick-or-treating with friends—but doesn’t love all the candy and sickness that invariably follows, you might want to try what our family does. After trick-or-treating, we let our girls eat some candy. (If you’re going to trick-or-treat, you have to at least have some! If you want to make sure your kids only eat certain types of candy though, say made with organic ingredients, you can always buy the candy you approve of beforehand and switch their candy once you get home before they eat any. We have friends who do this and it works great for their family.) Whatever is…
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Why Self-Care Is So Important
We all want to be the best parents we can be. It’s all too easy, though, to get lost along the way, running from one activity to another, cooking dinner, washing laundry, cleaning the house, working, and spending time with your family. We can easily forget who we are as a person and what we need in this daily rush. I know I fell into this after having kids. I became a mother, and only a mother, for more years than I’d like to admit, and nothing else. Worst of all, forgetting who I was started affecting how I parented. I found myself yelling more and having less patience. I…
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Easy Valentines to Make with the kids
Happy Valentine’s Day! My kids go to a school that likes homemade valentines to be brought in, so I thought I’d share what we made. They are super simple and the kids love them. They also use up old crayons that no one wants to color with anymore and gives them new life. A win-win if you ask me. Collect all of your broken, half used crayon pieces and remove the paper wrapping. (This is a great step for kids to do) Break them into smaller pieces if they are not already small. Fill the heart shaped molds (or whatever molds you have). My kids love this step and get very…
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Gifting Books During the Christmas Countdown Can Earn You a Free Book!
The countdown to Christmas has begun in my family. Each morning, my girls eagerly enter our living room to add another ornament to our Advent Tree and to move the snowflake to show just how many days remain until that magical day. For children, Christmas is full of magic, joy, and excitement. For parents/grandparents/friends, we have that too, at least I do, but it also comes with the job of finding just the right gifts. With this in mind, I thought I would share some Barefoot Book gift ideas that children will love to receive and adults will feel good about giving. With everything that is going on in the…
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A lot to be thankful for
Jelly Bellys (for my girls) and champagne (for my husband and I) were pulled out in August to celebrate a publishing contract with Saguaro Books. A publishing contract! I’m now a published author! From there, it’s been a whirlwind. Author picture, bio, back of book blurb, revisions, website, dedication, acknowledgements and finally reading through the proof copy to catch any remaining errors brings us to the end of October when my book was released. Three months from signing to publication. Crazy! I know. I’m happy to say, my middle-grade fantasy, The Gardenia Curse, is now on sale on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and on my author website. Pop on over to…
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Handmade Thumbprint Bookmarks
Looking for a Father’s Day gift idea? Does your husband or Father read? What goes better with a book than a bookmark? This Sunday, my husband will be getting a father-child themed book from our girls with these handmade thumbprint bookmarks. The girls had a blast making them and loved being able to
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Exhausted Mama goes Barefoot
UPDATE: As of April 2019, I am no longer a Barefoot Books Ambassador. I still highly recommend them though. I love books. I love becoming absorbed in a story and being taken to another place. But most of all, I love that my daughters love books too. My seven year old is a confident reader and consumes books. She goes through them quicker than I can find them for her. Age appropriate books that will keep her engaged are not easy to find though. She is constantly picking books at the library that I feel are not appropriate for her age. Being a writer and a mother of two, I am…
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Mother’s Day Gift Idea
I hope all the mamas out there, exhausted or otherwise, had a Happy Mother’s Day. In honor of today, I thought I would share the gift I made for my mom (and I plan on making for my dad as well, for Father’s Day). I’m sure you’ve seen the pictures on Pinterest of the cute little
An exhausted mom's journey to finding balance
