My Shameful Hiding Place

For those of you that don't know me personally, this is where I live:

Yes, I live in a trailer. My first shame I've been working on getting over for the past 2 1/2 years. We moved here very quickly and this was the most affordable and easiest place for us to move into. It's surprisingly nice inside with 3 bedrooms, 2 baths and a large step-down living room and was a great fit for our family…at first. Since we moved in we've had another child and we quickly found out that these things don't come with any extra storage space. We put a shed in and have packed that to the brim and now we're busting at the seams in this small space. No closet left unturned, no space underneath beds are unused! 

Now this brings me to my next shameful admittance in this blog piece. I have now resorted to storing things here:

Yes, that is a bath tub. That is the bathtub in my kids' bathroom! I'm so ashamed! We are so running out of space! It all started with storing items from a function I was in charge of, then my work stuff got put in there and now, Easter and birthday presents are being hidden in there. Our kids take baths in our bathroom in the spacious garden tub so this tub has been sitting empty for a while. It was a quick fix at first to get things off our dining room table but now… I just can't think of (or find) a new place to put all this stuff. 

I'm not this person! I have organized, re-organized, eliminated, garage sale-ed, given away everything that I could and still this is what I have resorted to. I try to run a nice, organized home but we've never lived anywhere I really feel like we could stretch out and really make it our home. We're always busting at the seams and that doesn't make me feel like it's our home. I want a place that feels like our home! Not just a house but a HOME for my kids. 

That's not a bad thing to ask for as mom right? and I don't want to keep going crazy organizing and cleaning anymore! Or be ashamed of my storage alternatives ;)

Have a Crazy Eggy Easter!

By Jana

We have spent almost every Easter with my in-laws so truthfully we don’t have that many Easter traditions of our own.  We love decorating Easter eggs and rolling eggs in sand tracks with the family.  We usually have deviled eggs or Egg salad sandwiches. Here is the deviled egg recipe I usually use:

Deviled eggs

6 eggs (Hard boiled)

¼ C Miracle Whip

2 ½ tsp mustard

1/8 tsp salt

Paprika to sprinkle

Peel and have the hard cooked eggs remove yolks and mash with miracle whip, mustard and salt.  Refill egg whites and sprinkle with Paprika

And instead of decorating sugar cookies we have made our own eggs:

PB Easter eggs

6 T butter

¼ C Peanut Butter 

¼ C marshmallow cream

1 ¾ C Powdered Sugar

¾ lb milk Chocolate candy coating

2 T shortening

Cream butter, peanut butter and marshmallow cream together

Beat in powdered sugar drop on wax paper on a cookie sheet and form into egg shape freeze for about 10 minutes.  Microwave chocolate and shortening dip eggs in chocolate place back on wax paper and decorate with sprinkles.

Pretty Headbands!

So, I just bought this group of headbands at the dollar store 2 weeks back and the little pack of rubber bands the other day so I got really excited and revved up to start this little series hairstyle tips for little girls. And since I fell in love with these headbands so much I thought I would start out our little series with them


Now,  I know what your thinking, "Headbands are easy! why would you do a piece on doing hair with headbands?" Well, headbands are easy to put on a head but they are hard to keep them on and looking good. So, here is my way of making the hair look clean and flawless as well as helping keep the headband in all day.

This is what my daughter looks like every morning when she gets out of bed:

I, in no way, changed her hair for this picture. Crazy looking huh! In order to tame this crazy do I use these products:

Spray bottle with water, spray gel (usually this is the cheapest brand), leave-in conditioner (she has very fine, thin hair and we live in a very dry state), plastic hair bands, and I use the roller brush to do her hair but most people use a comb.

Now, in order to get a good look for headbands I put a bit of her hair into a ponytail where the bow is in order for it to look clean and then the ponytail helps keep the headband to stay put. What I usually do is put the headband on her head to gage where the ponytail is to go.

Then I section off the hair and put in the ponytail. NOTE: while making the ponytail hold the hair close to the head when wrapping it with the rubber band.  That way the ponytail will lie close to the head and not point out in a funny way. (If you are wetting the hair and blow-drying it, wet it down before you put the ponytail in and then blow dry after.)

Once you're all done, put the headband back on and this is what it will look like:

And I think that looks better than this:

If you're not wetting and blow drying the hair this little do will only take a couple of minutes. I really like it because with the ponytail in and keeping the headband in place, my daughter is less likely to play with it all day. And this is an easy do to do on any hair length and thickness. All you need to do is just take a small amount of hair from her natural part and hide it behind the bow on the headband. A little effort with a great look for the whole day!

Why My Kids Look FABULOUS! (or at least why I try)

In my opinion my children are a direct reflection of my parenting and home care when we are out in public.  This means that when we step out our front door my kids are dressed well, their hair is done, and I expect for them to be on their best behavior.

From collages

Now, I do realize that when we are out they are likely to misbehave and probably mess up their outfits but at least I try every time we leave our house. I believe that by taking care of them and their appearance I'm also teaching them to take care of themselves, value themselves, and that although appearance isn't everything, it is something. As they grow and learn to take care of their own appearances, they're learning how to appropriately dress for different occasions, their gaining self respect, modesty, and cleanliness. That is my job as a mother to teach them these things.

I don't think throwing on whatever I grab for them first out of the dresser, not brushing their hair and running out the door is teaching them anything good or reflects well on me and my capabilities as a parent, especially as a stay-at-home mom. I should have the time to take care of them and do them up right before I send them out the door.

I know that not all parents have the time or financial means to send kids out at their very best or what is at least your ideal best. I also know that there are some very head strong kids that refuse to wear clothes their parents pick out for them or want to dress themselves in their own outfits. My friend's daughter goes through picky phases. For a couple of months she would only boots no matter what, then she went through a pajama pant phase where even if her mom got her to wear pants out the first thing she would do at home is put pajama pants on. Right now, she's moved on from the pajama pants but refuses to wear jeans. And during all of this she goes in and out of letting her mom do her hair. And I actually think it's cute when I see little girls walking around stores in princess dress up costumes.

 I get that there are kids this way out there and you need to let your kids have room in their lives to explore their style and just have fun with it all, and I'm not counseling you to tackle your kids down and make getting ready in the morning a miserable and dreaded experience for everyone involved, but put in the effort each time enriches everyone. HINT: I will let my daughter pick out whatever she wants to wear on days I know we are not going anywhere and I usually don't really do her hair those days just to give her a break. She usually ends up looking like this:

Then she is happy to wear whatever I want her to on the days we do head out of the house.

Now, I also now that parents feel the burden of financial availability when it comes to buying clothes for their kids. I know this all too well because we don't have a lot of money to spend on clothes, but I have found away around that at least for my family. About 80% of my children's clothing is 2nd hand items. The rest are either bought at Walmart or in the clearance section of Old Navy or given to us as presents from their grandparents. I have a strict policy for buying kids clothes and that is to never spend over $8 for a piece of clothing accept for:

Shoes
A good pair of jeans (my kids have long skinny bodies and short legs so I have to be picky with jeans)
Holiday outfits- We get Easter outfits and Christmas outfits every year avg $16 a piece

There is a way to shop at Walmart and thrift stores and get things that don't look like they came from Walmart or a thrift store. And I will explore that in a later post but every spring and fall I spend about $85 a piece on clothes (excluding the holiday outfits and shoes) for my kids and you would never know it (I think).  So, look for that coming soon!

Also, in upcoming posts, I will showcase different little girl hairstyles for short and long hair that are VERY easy to do and very quick to do, so if you use the excuse, "I just don't know what to do with her hair so that's why she always looks a mess" you will no longer have that excuse!

I know that it would just be easy to let it all go and walk out the door with a family that looked "relaxed" but I realized when my little girl was really young that getting her ready for the day wasn't about the convenience for me, but it's for my daughter and all the lessons and moral obligations that I'm responsible for teaching her and all my children.