Give Your Home a HomeSelfe

*Disclosure: TMC was compensated for this post.  All opinions are 100% my own.  Source: HomeSelfe Our house. It's a very fine house. I'm paraphrasing a song, but it is true. After many years of searching we found a house to make a home that works well for our family.  We want to keep it working well and efficiently too. That meant putting in a new cooling and heating system, make that TWO, into the home before we moved into it. And when we needed some experts who are committed to excellence and excel in delivering superior installations a good company like this air conditioning installation Sydney provided us a team of skilled technicians who are fully equipped to handle any air conditioning project. When it comes to Portland AC installation, the experts from Efficiency Heating … [Read more...]

Why You Should Spoil Yourself This Valentine’s Day

If you think you need to wait around for someone special in your life to buy you something gorgeous this Valentine’s Day, you’re wrong! Give some love to yourself this year - you deserve it. Here are some fantastic ideas for self-pampering and why you SHOULD spoil yourself this Valentine's Day. Get a Makeover Being a mom is a full-time job that doesn’t leave much time for you to spend on beauty and skincare. Valentine’s Day is the perfect day to do it. Ask yourself what makes you feel special when it comes to beauty: is it getting a makeover that boosts your self-confidence, getting a fab new haircut that makes you feel beautiful, or buying yourself a luxurious skincare product? Once you know, go out and do it for yourself! Caring for yourself and looking your best is really … [Read more...]

Great Winter Reads

The cold weather and unusually long series of cloud-filled days has driven us all inside this month. That means we are finding more time to take a seat and find some great winter reads.  Here's what we're reading in our house right now. Do you have a kid obsessed with Stampy Cat in your house?  I have three of them! They spent more than one day of winter break watching his videos. Stampy's Lovely Book by Joseph Garrett (aka Stampy Cat) shares the essence of Stampy’s engaging personality and contagious enthusiasm. Kids are invited to join Stampy on his adventures which includes games, activities, tips, jokes and exclusive information about Stampy and his friends. It's the perfect way to keep them reading while fighting the winter doldrums too. Looking for a little adventure with a … [Read more...]

2016 Work and Life Balance

I'm not one to make resolutions when the clock strikes twelve on New Year's Eve.  No, I prefer to step back a week or so later and reassess what I'm doing, think about where I want to go and try not to freak myself out too much. It's creating a work and life balance and knowing that sometimes things get lopsided but you can always come back to middle ground. What I want from 2016 and for 2016 has a lot to do with turning forty. I have to come clean and admit it.  My focus on fitness is all about facing a new decade of life stronger than the last and keeping stress low.  So easy when you are starting a new business venture with your spouse and raising a family.  It's all about finding the joy in the chaos, right?   I feel like I'm already on the right track too.  This week I … [Read more...]

The American Girl Gift Guide

Every year my girls and I put together a collection of our favorite items to create the American Girl gift guide. This year is no different. Just like I would get into a flurry of excitement when the big Sears catalog would arrive each Christmas, my girls do the same thing with the holiday American Girl doll catalog.  Each one spends hours, sometimes days, looking over each item and deciding if she should mark it with her initial.  This year, the littlest one circled everything and freaked out when anyone else wanted the same toy. She was convinced only one person could have each gift. Our picks for the 2015 holiday season are a mix of accessories and clothing and broken down by age.  This was the first year I noticed a shift in what my oldest daughter daughter wanted and I had to … [Read more...]

Just Eat It

  Just Eat It by victoriamason  I probably say those exact words more than once a day when I'm dealing with my kids.  While I like to cook I often dread making family meals because in a family five with three kids under ten years old you just can't please everyone. And when this time of year rolls around with extra holiday activities and festivities I find that we eat out more and more.  Finding a place that satisfies us all is our next hurdle. Where to Go Source: ElCactus Facebook page We break it down into a category and go from there.  Am I meeting a friend for a girls night?  Then Bistro Du Coin is a good spot.  Is it date night? Mintwood Place offers up some deliciously good American fare that is sure to please both H and I.  Maybe we are meeting a group and kids may or … [Read more...]

October Madness

You guys are well-informed about how much #iloveoctober.  It's an obsession that has me proclaiming, "It's the most wonderful time of the year!" every morning when I walk the girls to the bus stop and breathe in the smells of fresh-cut grass mixed with decaying leaves.  It's the best!  I call it October Madness So, when I got sick last week (hell, I'm still sick) at the very start of the week and just went downhill as the week progressed, I was not pleased.  It also played havoc on my work and any sort of fashion statements I was planning on making.  The fall festival?  I missed it.  Sitting in golden sunshine? Looked at it from a window as I lay in bed watching every episode of 'How to Get Away with Murder'.  All I am going to say is this, whatever it was I had, it was bad.  A mixture … [Read more...]

Diesel Loves His Nutrish Zero Grain

The other night H and I were talking about our family and I told him that one of the best things to happen to us in this last year was getting our rescue dog, Diesel.  Our personalities are so similar to each other and I adore that he likes to sleep at the foot of my side of the bed, run with me, and protect me during a tickle fight attack brought on by H and the girls. He also groans every time H tells a corny joke and that is just pure gold right there. This dog has stolen my heart and it brings me so much joy to make him happy.  While I've already tucked away a few gifts for him for Christmas and we give him his thyroid medication daily we also feed him food that we found he cannot get enough of and devours in seconds.  Nutrish Zero Grain dog food (especially the Zero Grain Beef … [Read more...]

#NoTimeforFlu

The flu, it already hit our house a few weeks back and I was not prepared. The minute I realized that was why my youngest was feeling so low I went into action. As a busy family of five no one wants the flu to spread and Mom and Dad certainly don't have time to waste laying in bed shaking with the chills or burning up with a fever. Life must go on! Here's how we combat the flu in our house. Not sure if it is the flu or a cold?  Here are the flu symptoms and what to do if you or a family member gets sick. While it has already happened in our house, only one person got sick. I was so busy washing my hands, keeping everyone else away and wiping down everything she touched that I think we were saved. Next, WE ALL GET THE FLU VACCINE. We are heading to MinuteClinic this flu … [Read more...]

I’m Obsessed with Fall

It's no secret that I'm obsessed with fall (we are not even going to kid ourselves and put a "kind of obsessed" in there).  I mean, I walk outside my front door and start singing, "It's the most WONDERFUL time of the year...." on a daily basis and I don't even drink SBUX PSL's.  Fall makes me want to craft and I'm not crafty.  It makes me want to fill the house with baked goods and pass them out to friends and it makes me want to SHOP!  Cozy knits, fall boots and booties, ponchos, sweater dresses and new jeans! I WANT IT ALL!  It's like I have to get my own back to school shopping in for myself. Which makes me think of school.  And when I think of school, I always think about how much I loved shopping the J.Crew catalog in high school.  Well, guess what?  J.Crew is having a great sale … [Read more...]