Archive for the ‘Getting Organized’ Category
2012: A Year Of Joy And Connecting
Monday, January 9th, 2012
Well, hello there! Happy new year!!! Thanks for sticking around and reading. I’m up early and blogging!! I won’t even go into a long apology about my lack of blogging lately. You guys have heard it all. Jocelyn has been sleeping through the night for two weeks now so hopefully we’ll see some good changes in my blog coming up. Actually, you will see some exciting changes in my blog coming up. More about that coming soon!
I hope you had a great Christmas and new year. We did!
We were abundantly blessed last year with a great Christmas budget. We were able to have a great Christmas with no debt and received some pretty sweet gifts from our our families as well.
We had a fun, family friendly New Year’s Eve party. Lots of fun, good people and lots of good food.
I’m 19 weeks pregnant! Yes, really!!! I find out January 20th if this fourth kid is going to be our first little prince or fourth little princess. I’ll have a pregnancy update once I can announce what we’re having.
So…2012. What will God have in store for us this year?? For starters a new baby! We also have an election this year. Hmm….wonder what that will bring?? I’m praying for God’s will to be done in all areas of our life. We should especially be praying for our country and for God’s hand to be on our election process. He cares about who’s running our government!I always get so emotionally involved in elections. So, you may not see me on Facebook much in the beginning of November until it’s over!!! And then, I may still need a couple of days after that. Ha!
I don’t really have any resolutions this year. I have some basic words that I want to look back on and hope described this year.
Simple. Organized. Joyful. Connected.
The third word was originally “fun” but I realized not all of 2012 is probably going to be “fun”. But, it can be joyful with the joy you can only find in the Lord. The first two words are pretty self explanatory. I think most people want their year to be simple and organized.
My fourth word is “connected”. This year I want to be more connected. Connected to God’s word, to prayer, to my family, to joy, to the present and to people.
I don’t want to go into a long explanation ( maybe in a new blog post. Maybe not) but I’ve struggled for some time to connect and have deep relationships with other women. It’s something I’ve prayed about for a long time. I crave a deep, close relationship with another woman or two. That “BFF ” relationship. I’m purposely praying for a real, deep connection with another woman friend this year.
I do have some Bible verses to share that I want to focus on this year. I can never find just one! These are the ones that embody what I’m praying for and that I’m going to be referring to a lot this year.
Let the saints ( Believers!!) be joyful in glory; Let them sing aloud on their beds. Let the highest praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword ( God’s Word!) in their hand. Psalm 149: 5-6 { Words in parentheses mine} (NKJV)
And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith. Galatians 6:9-10 (NKJV)
Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Ephesians 3:20 (New Living Translation)
Did you make resolutions this year?
Welcome 2012!! Let the joy begin!
19 Kids It’s Not, But Still..
Thursday, April 21st, 2011
Now that I’ve added an extra kid to my days I’ve had to implement some new strategies to help things run more smoothly. Even though it’s just three kids and not 6 or 19 (like the Duggars) things have gotten a little chaotic around here. Laundry is piling up, piles are piling up and so on and so forth. Don’t get me wrong, I DO know I just had a baby and things are going to be like this at the beginning. It doesn’t make me want to come out of my skin any less, however, when things are just a huge mess.
Many of these ideas I’ve implemented are not new. They are just new to me actually using them! And if any of these ideas help any of my readers, all the better!
*Firstly, I wake up each day and write down what absolutely has to be done that day. In the order I need to do them. And then I’ll add things I would like to do. Knowing they probably won’t get done. But, a girl can wish! I also try not to stress or worry about those extra things that probably won’t get done. They’ll get done eventually.
* I’ve had to learn to overlook messiness, unbrushed hair and non matching clothes.
*Even though I stay home, I’ve started laying out everyone’s clothes the night before. And some days I let them pick out their own clothes. Hence the non matching clothing comment above. That way the girls can get up, get dressed right away and not have to wait for me. And If I have an idea of what I’m wearing and what Jocelyn is wearing it saves precious time. Mornings are probably our most hectic times right now. We’re all hungry (or starving. Me.) for breakfast, Jocelyn needs to eat and I need to pump. All first thing.
Not a good combination. I hate making Katelyn and Madelyn wait forever for me to get around to meeting their needs. So, whatever I can do to make breakfast time run more smoothly I will do it.
*One thing my girls are constantly asking for is something to drink and a snack. Doesn’t seem like a big deal, right?
Well, when those things are asked for 10 times a day and you’re constantly saying ” In a minute!!!” and then forgetting to follow through it does become a big deal!! So, I filled several bottles with water and juice, labeled them and put them in the bottom of the fridge. That way if the girls are thirsty they can go get something to drink themselves. They love this and I don’t know why I haven’t done this sooner!
By the way, these colorful bottles are not working out so well. The girls can’t seem to keep track of the lids. So, I’ll be getting different ones. These were on clearance at Target for 40 cents so no huge loss!
I also created a snack shelf in the pantry. I opened every snack box and put the snacks in individual snack baggies, ready to go. This way at snack time, I tell the girls to go grab a snack from the pantry.
I plan on doing this with veggies and fruit in the fridge too. Just this simple step has saved a lot of time!
* I start getting in the van about 10 minutes before we actually have to be pulling out of the driveway. You don’t realize how long it takes to get everyone buckled in and settled in your vehicle until you look at the dashboard clock and see that you should have been pulling out 10 minutes ago. This has helped me get places on time more often now.
* I keep an extra supply of diapers, wipes, formula and bottled water in our van. For Madelyn, I keep extra undies, pants and an emergency pull up for accidents. That way, if I rush out and forget something, I’ll have it in the van. It has definitely saved me a couple of headaches, that’s for sure.
* I keep one of pretty much every cleaning supply and diapering supply on each floor of my house. (We have a two story house and a full basement. We use all floors to the max!!) This saves me from running up and down to get one thing. Which is super annoying!
* One word: Babywearing!
That has kept me “hands free” at the times when I’ve most needed it! I have an Ultimate Baby Wrap (Similar to a Moby) that I didn’t use with Madelyn but now use every day with Jocelyn. She loves loves loves it. She curls right up on my chest, stops fussing, and looks around or goes right to sleep. This has helped during school time and trying to cook dinner. I’ve learned that the trick to it not hurting my back is to wrap the sling around you as tight as you can. It may seem too tight but the fabric is stretchy enough to snuggle to baby in safely against you but not allow them to slowly slide down. The sliding down is what causes extra pulling on your back.,
I still have a few more tricks I need to learn but just these things have helped keep me on track.
Most of all I try to remember to cherish every second with my girls. My house will most likely still be messy when they’re twenty so why stress about it now?? I need to tell myself this MANY times a day!!
Do you have any other time saving or organizing tips? Do share!
Pregnancy Update {19 Weeks}
Thursday, November 4th, 2010
I figured it was time for a pregnancy update. I realized I hadn’t really written any.
Unfortunately I don’t have any pictures! I had planned on having them ready for this post but, alas, I don’t. Next week I’m going to post a Wordful Wednesday post which will have pictures of my pregnant self.
I’m 19 weeks. Almost half way there. Can you believe it? I mean….really? It’s starting to go by faster. The first trimester really felt like it dragged.
How I’m feeling:
I can’t really complain too much about how I’ve felt along the way. I’ve had a little nausea every now and then. Usually, it’s caused by something. (Usually a smell. My sense of smell is super sensitive!!) Mike had to clean out my freezer a few weeks ago because there was a horrid smell that was making me GAG every time I opened it. He threw out all the ice and anything questionable looking in there. What a difference!! I was very thankful he did that.
I napped or rested on the couch for the first three and a half months or so. I got a lot of the “Anne Of Green Gables” series read this way. I’m on the fifth book now!
I’ll have to admit, I did go through several bouts of fear that something was wrong with the baby. Lots of prayer and just “trying not to think about it” got me through that.
After seeing a wonderful ultrasound of our baby GIRL (Jocelyn Abigail) and seeing that she was right on track with her growth I’ve felt a lot better. Plus, I’m consistently feeling little nudges and flutters so that’s reassuring.
My left leg looks deformed. It started turning purple from varicose veins almost from the moment I found out I was pregnant. Mike even pointed out that if there was any doubt that I was really pregnant all I had to do was look at my leg!! This has been typical for me with my other two girls too. It’s pretty painful this time around and the pressure when I first stand up is pretty bad. I’ve been wearing diabetic/compression socks and those DO help. My the veins feel hot and itchy a lot. Some days my left feels like it’s going to explode!
But…enough about that.
**TMI alert!! If you’re man you may not want to read this part.**
Unfortunately, the varicose veins are getting higher up my thighs this time so you pretty much know where they’re headed. It’s making things pretty uncomfortable “down” there. I feel lots of pressure already “down there” and I’m wondering how much worse it’s going to get as time goes on.
**TMI done!!**
Weight Gain:
I’ve only gained 4 pounds so far. ( I think) My scales say I haven’t gained anything when I first weigh in the morning. I always do well in the weight gain department.
Have I exercised AT ALL yet??
Nope!
I was so planning on that too!! I really wanted to make that a regular part of this pregnancy.
Maybe after the holidays…..?
<sheepish grin>
What’ we’ve been up to (You know…while pregnant…)
I have been working hard at getting this house ready for another baby. It’s really gotten pretty cluttered and messy all the time. I hate it, but that’s how it is.
I’ve been getting the third bedroom cleaned out for my family’s visit for Thanksgiving. At least that’s motivating me to get it cleared out a lot quicker.
Here’s an embarrassing picture of what it’s looked like:
Ew.
This is where my sister, her husband and daughter will be staying in about three weeks.
Uh…yeah.
Thankfully it only looks half this bad right now.
The room is very small so I’ll be doing some simple decorating and really pairing down what’s going in Jocy’s room. ( Yeah…about the nickname…the spelling may change frequently. I’m trying out different spellings of the name “Josie” for Jocelyn’s nickname. Long story…)
There will be “after” pictures when it’s ready for Jocelyn!
Homeschooling is going great! We’re keeping up a steady pace. We start our day anywhere between 8:30 and 9:3o and end anywhere from 10:30 and 11:00. I haven’t been on the ball as much with starting at 8:30. But, that’s the joy of flexible homeschooling!
Soccer will be done this coming Sunday for Katelyn. Thankfully. It’s getting really cold! And we would like our Sunday afternoons back.
Dance is going wonderfully! That will be a continuous Saturday morning event until May. Both girls love it.
My Wednesday night Mission Friends class will be done in a couple of weeks for a long break. It will start back up for about eight to ten weeks in January or February.
I’m loving being in choir again. I’m helping direct the skits for our Christmas Dessert Theater in December. Our church does lots of fun Christmas activities which really helps drive home the true meaning of Christmas.
Did I just talk about Christmas? It’s next month already!!!
So….there you have it. In case you were really wondering about all the details of my pregnancy you can now be in the know.
You’re welcome!
A Labor Day Update
Monday, September 6th, 2010
Well, hello there. It’s been awhile. Yes, it’s me…Mel! I’ve come out from under piles of laundry and first trimester haze to wish you a happy (un)Labor Day! I wanted to give you a little update about what’s been going on around here.
Yesterday we had a big church cook out with lots of friends from everywhere. It was a lot of fun! We had close to 50 people come throughout the afternoon and there was pretty competitive volley ball playing going on.
I’m pretty tuckered out today but it was worth it!
I had my first prenatal appointment and ultrasound in the past week or so. Everything looks good!
Here the first picture of my “Sweetie”.
The quality of the picture is not so good but if you were to look at the original photo you’d be able to see the baby’s little head and two teeny arms and legs. We got to see a nice strong heart beat. Everything is exactly as it should be. I’ll be 11 weeks along on Wednesday! Almost past my first trimester! Can I get a what what??
I’ve been having some neck pain that is causing me some pretty bad headaches so I’m hoping a good adjustment and possibly a deep tissue massage will take care of it. I’ve been sleeping in in the mornings(well, until the girls get up anyway) so I haven’t been blogging. I have a hard time blogging after everyone is up. I’m hoping to get back to a semi-normal routine within the next couple of weeks and ramp up my blogging again.
Speaking of routines, ours will be changing soon! Now that we’ll be homeschooling our daily schedule will be changing a bit.
Katelyn’s Kindergarten books have come in and I am SO.EXCITED. I don’t know what public schools teach Kindergarteners but this curriculum seems a bit hard! I am inpressed with everything she will be learning, however, and I’m chomping at the bit to get started.I love how each subject is infused with the God’s word and there are new Bible verses to be learned with practically every subject. In case you’re wondering we’re doing the CLASS system. (Christian Liberty Academy School System.) I’m not at the point where I feel comfortable picking and choosing curriculum from various places. They have a standard Kindergarten curriculum and an advanced Kindergarten curriculum and I trust their judgment on what books should be in each kit! And, as it so happens, we did the CLASS system growing up and it worked great for us!
Here’s a picture of the books and subjects she’ll be doing. I’ll write a more extensive post about what she’s learning, the activities we’ll be doing and the homeschooling schedule we’ll be following once I have it nailed down.
Mike has been busy the past several days creating a nice homeschool room for us in our basement. It’s been the laundry room/guest room/playroom so far. Now the play room/guest room area is turning into the homeschool area too.
This is what the room looked like right before Mike started construction. This is also in the midst of moving things around and organizing toys etc. You can see our walls down there are made of field stone which makes putting anything on the walls impossible. Mike is putting drywall in front of the field stone to make me some nice walls down there. I’m so excited! I’ve wanted “real” walls down there forever!
A different angle….
The walls….ugh.
The progress being made! My poor hubby suffered a two by four blow to the head the other night but thankfully he’s ok!
Last Friday was my birthday (ahem) and we celebrated by going to the beach on Thursday. (Another post in and of itself too!) But here’s a sneak peak at the fun we had…
Katelyn made an impressive (if I do say so myself) sand castle by herself. She worked long and hard at it (which is not always common for her) and did a great job. Future engineer??
So that’s what’s been going on around here! Thanks for reading!
Happy Labor Day!
Saying “No”.
Monday, August 2nd, 2010
I’ll admit it. I have a hard time saying “no”. Whether it be to my kids, fattening foods,church ministries, friends or adding more activities to my schedule. And when I do actually decline something (other than the fattening foods!) I feel sooo guilty! Why say “no”, when it feels so good to say “yes”, right?
What I’ve found, however, is that the guilt is not making up for the stress that is being added into my life every time I say “yes” to something. I’m finding that I’d rather feel guilty than stressed and resentful.
Do you struggle with saying “no” to people, things and activities in your life?
I’m slowly learning that saying “no” is not only a good thing, but sometimes a necessary thing. I’m learning that, in this season of my life, I am even having to say “no” to good things, and even, great things. There is just not enough time or child care! While I have small children (and am growing my family) I’m going to have to wait on certain activities and even church ministries. My focus right now is my children and my home.
Church ministries are like crack to me. I love doing them. I love being part of them. Heck, I like starting them! There’s just something that draws me to that sign up sheet and makes me want to sign my name to yet another activity or Bible study. I get this rush of good feelings and excitement at the thought of being a part of a wonderful Bible study or hosting church cookouts. But after the initial rush wears off and the reality of the commitment sets in I start to get resentful at the time it takes. I start noticing that I’m not at home as much, that my housework is piling up, that I’m snapping at my kids more because I’m busy trying to get caught up on stuff that piled up while I was taking a part in another activity I signed up for. Back before I had children taking a part in all of this stuff was a lot easier. Now that I have children my focus needs to be on raising and mothering them.
For instance, here’s a list of things I’d love to be doing or starting right now:
-Hosting a weekly Bible study at my house.
-Starting a drama group at church.
-Singing monthly at the Christian coffee house close by.
-Starting a mother’s group/ play group.
These are all great things and things I really enjoy. But right now I just have to say “NO” to them! There isn’t enough time. And if I tried to keep up with all of this I’d eventually become stressed and resentful and no fun to live with! Right now my focus needs to be at home. My family needs me. My children need my love and unstressed, undivided attention during this period in their lives.
Ecclesiastes 3:1 says “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven”.
This is not to say I’ve given up on all activities and ministries. I have a pretty full plate as it is! Here’s a list of what I/ we are doing in the fall:
-Driving Katelyn half and hour to school and back every day.
-Soccer for Katelyn (thankfully only once a week!).
- Dance for both girls (also once a week).
- Mission Friends on Wednesday nights. ( We will no longer be doing Awana at the other church. I’m teaching the youngest group of children about missions in our new Wednesday night ministry for kids at our church).
-Choir (The rehearsal happens to conveniently fall after Wednesday night activities so I’m doing two things on one night of the week)
As you can see that is plenty for our family right now. Mike has a couple of new things up sleeve as well but those need to be worked out. His time is mostly taken up with work!
We have a new motto we’re trying to apply to our lives and our home right now (oh, especially our home!!): SIMPLIFY!!!! Sometimes, (not all the time) God can teach us and use us even more when we learn to say ” no” ! ( Not to Him, of course)
Another thing I’m having to learn to say “no” to is PERFECTIONISM. My schedule, my home, my children and myself are not going to look perfect or be perfect. I don’t think I’m EVER going to get my house to look exactly the way I want it to at this point in my life. I have to stop stressing about it and do the best I can. And then MOVE ON!!
How about you? Do you have a problem with saying “no”? C’mon, practice saying it with me : ” NNNOOOOOO”
Feels good, doesn’t it?
(Say “yes” )
New Use For A Toilet Paper Tube
Wednesday, March 10th, 2010
Do you have young daughters? Do you like to fix your daughter’s hair with cute barrettes, bows, clips and hair ties? If so, I’m guessing your house {like mine!} looks like Claire’s Boutique exploded all over it. I’m constantly finding hair elastics all over my house and when I really need them I can’t find one in the right color. And matching ones? Forget it. I was having trouble keeping all those stretchy little circles in one organized spot. Notice how my girls’ hair is unkempt in the pictures below? It’s because I couldn’t find hair elastics!!! Or… maybe it was because I was feeling too lazy to fix their hair that day… or…… whatever.
Enter the toilet paper tube.
I collected a bunch and let my girls paint them. They really enjoyed that.
Then we let them dry and used them to corral those pesky hair elastics.
I have a couple of these upstairs and a couple of them down stairs and in each room. When I see a stray hair elastic I pop it on one of our hair elastic tubes. And then, every now and then, I’ll go through and put all the tubes together in the bin I keep their hair stuff in. I won’t claim to know how to keep their hair clips and bows organized other than throwing them in another plastic container.
But, my toilet paper tube turned hair elastic holder?
It works for me!
This post is linked to Works For Me Wednesday over at Rocks In My Dryer
Whatever Happened To GONSH?
Tuesday, October 6th, 2009
So, you’re all probably wondering what happened to my GONSH(Green/ Organized/Natural/ Simple/Healthy) journey. I just wanted to assure you I’m still on it! I’ve backed off a bit and slowed things down more. I was getting a little overwhelmed and stressed trying to change everything at once so I decided to take it slower. Here’s what I’ve been doing
The Green Part- I’m passionate about recycling! I recycle anything and everything I can. I’m a member of the Freecycle community (www.freecycle.org) and I feel much better about “freecycling” things rather than just throwing them away. I’m big into reusable shopping bags. Unless I’m taking an unplanned stop at the grocery store I always take my canvas/reusable shopping bags to the store when I shop. I actually prefer this now. They can fit more groceries into one bag and the bag is sturdy enough to where it doesn’t rip while I”m lugging groceries into the house. And I feel like I’m doing my part in helping reduce the amount of plastic that is used. I’m in the process of finding reusable lunch items to send in Mike and Katelyn’s lunch, rather than using plastic baggies all the time. I send Katelyn to school with a real spoon, her juice cup, and many times Tupperware containers. I don’t send juice boxes or plastic spoons (usually).
I still have problems with “green” cleaning products. Especially in my tub and toilet! I haven’t found any yet that I feel clean those two very well. My tub( a large, jacuzzi tub) is a beast to clean! I’ve used all natural products to clean it before and I have to use a lot of physical force to do it. By the time I’m done I need a nap. I loathe cleaning my tub so I have been using bleach products to clean it.
I still wash and reuse my plastic baggies as much as possible! You can go ahead and laugh at me. It’s become a habit now. I have saved some money by doing that as I don’t got through boxes of plastic bags nearly as quickly as I used to. The only time I don’t wash and reuse is when there’s been raw meat in the bag. Then it goes right in to the trash.
The cloth diapers are put away for now, as Madelyn has begun potty training. Once we get back from our trip to TX we’re going right to underwear and training pants. We won’t be using Pull-Ups all that much.
The Organized Part- I’ve actually done really well with this part since the last time I wrote about this. We did a lot of work on our house this past summer that has helped us get organized. Now that we have a playroom our living room has stayed pretty clean and organized for the most part. Our new dining room(that used to be the playroom/office) looks good all the time now. There is very rarely piles of anything on it. I’ve really stayed on top of the girls and their toys. It’s been a chore but I keep track of what they are taking out and am constantly telling them to clean up and put something away that I noticed they aren’t playing with. There has been a lot of moaning and groaning and struggling over this. I had gotten to where I dreaded telling them to clean up their toys because it had gotten to be such a huge, long and drawn out process. They don’t get as overwhelmed now that I keep track of what they are taking out and thus are more willing to clean up.
My biggest struggle right now is coming up with a new, efficient and productive schedule now that we’ve added three days of school for Katelyn, Awana/Bible Study and dance. I’ve finally figured out what I need to do is come up with a daily schedule of events for each day and divvy up the major cleaning chores during those days. Dropping Katelyn off and picking her takes up a huge chunk of the day! I know that sounds like complaining but it’s not. I guess I just wasn’t expecting Katelyn going to school to be as much work as it is on my part. I’ve found that one thing that leads to organization is simplicity. That is starting to become my mantra. I used to think simplicity was boring and lazy. Now I know differently! Simplicity is the key to my sanity.
The Natural Living Part- I’m still working on this part. It’s a struggle. I’m still reading labels, trying to eat food as close to it’s natural state as possible(for our family!) and trying to eat…simply. Eating simply has actually helped in the organization part because I found that cooking dinner was taking a huge chunk of the evening each night and then the clean up was a pain. For four people! Most of who didn’t like or eat most of what I was making! I don’t buy all organic right now. I can’t afford it. Right now I stick with buying organic dairy items. Since we drink a lot of milk I want my girls to drink organic, hormone free milk. Once our food budget allows I’ll most likely move up to organic meat. I have given up on organic produce for right now. It’s sooo expensive and the offerings at my grocery store aren’t that great. I try to wash my fruits and vegetables as best as I can and then enjoy them for what they are.
As far as body products go, I don’t use all natural products with everything. I use Suave shampoo ( because it’s so inexpensive) and bar soap. I’ve found we like olive oil ba soap by Kiss My Face. I use that on the girls too. The bar isn’t cheap but since it’s so big it lasts awhile. I do use goat’s milk shampoo on the girls’ hair right now. Makeup, lotions etc are usually what I can find on sale or what I buy from my sister’s Mary Kay business. Again,as time and budget allows I’ll slowly start looking in to more natural body products but it will be a slow process.
The Simple Part- Like I said above, simplicity is becoming my mantra and motto. What’s the easiest, most stream lined way to do this? What will make this task, this room or this job more streamlined and efficient? I used to love knick knacks and decorations around my house. The more the merrier. Ha! Not anymore. The knick knacks are being freecycled and I”m looking at everything I do with fresh eyes. Including relationships that are draining and past their prime. Yes, some relationships and people can be time and energy wasters.Time to move on.
The Healthy Part- We’ve been doing better at this! Or, should I say, Mike has been doing better at this. We recently got an elliptical and Mike has been using it very consistently! I’m so proud of him. He also gave a me a list of fruits and vegetables he likes and ones he’s willing to try. So far he’s started eating grapes, carrot sticks,spinach and celery with almond butter. I’ve been using the elliptical too but not nearly as much as I’d like to. Once we get back from Texas we won’t have any more huge commitments or upcoming events at our house. I plan on focusing my attention on the elliptical more. We started eating fish about 2 or 3 times a month. I make baked haddock and we all like it. I want to try some other types of fish although Mike isn’t crazy about the idea.I’ve been trying to eat my fruits and veggies consistently and offering them to the girls. Those foods are still not my first choice when I’m looking for something to snack on. I have to make myself eat them. I’ve found that if I cut them up(yes, as if I’m giving them to a child!) I eat them better. I have to prepare the fruit or veggie right along with my food. If I plan on eating it later I won’t get to it. I feel like I do throw a lot of veggies away but I feel like it’s worth it in the long run since the girls are being exposed to these healthy foods. I’ve tried to limit the amount of boxed snacks and desserts we keep in the house. The girls know there are certain foods we don’t eat anymore and they are used to it. It’s hard!
So, there you have it. Any comments or suggestions for me? Are you struggling with the same stuff?
