Motherhood

How this Mom Makes Time to Enjoy the Weekend

This morning I woke up with a sense of panic and anxiety that I had to hurry and get ready for something. Every other day I have some important reason to lurch out of bed and get the show on the road. But today there was nothing on the agenda. I literally had no where to be, nothing to do… The whole day was wide open in front of me and I was completely free to enjoy every minute of it.

I’m so used to having a packed schedule that it actually took several hours to adjust to the fact that the day was all my own. Even my husband was surprised that I had nothing planned. For once, I was going to be able to enjoy the weekend.

So what did I do? I drank my coffee in the living room, savoring two whole cups of coffee in one of my favorite mugs. When you’re always on the go, drinking coffee at home instead of in a travel mug in your car is a big deal.

The kids stayed in their jammies until almost lunchtime.

I leisurely braided the girls hair.

I carried Johnny around A LOT. And I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

Find me on Snapchat! —> SimplySweetDay

I went to visit my parents. The little guys spent the first hour there running in mad circles around the house. With at least 12 different spots to sit, they all wanted to sit in Papa’s favorite chair!

I went for a bike ride with my dad. He’s really into electronic bikes, so we took them out for a spin. These things are pretty cool. They have a throttle, like a motorcycle, and have a little motor. It sure was nice not having to struggle up those steep San Diego hills on a hot day!

As soon as it was cool enough to play outback, the kids were in toddler-and preschooler-heaven. Dirt, swings, slides… everything a busy little guy needs to have fun. They ran barefoot through the drought-parched grass until they almost couldn’t stand anymore.

The girls got their dresses so dirty but I don’t care. It’s all about finding ways to enjoy the weekend, right? A little dirt never hurt anyone.

It was such an enjoyable day, and I feel very blessed to have had this chance to slow down. What did you do this weekend?

Rewriting My To-Do List into a Ta-Dah List

Some days it feels like there is so much on your plate. Between all the things you have to do and all the things you want to do, there don’t seem to be enough minutes in the day to do it all. During stressful seasons of life, I’ve been known to write a to-do list that runs the length of an entire sheet of paper. And how much of it did I actually get done? Not much of it!

What if there was a way to make to-do lists more uplifting? There is definitely a time and a place for a traditional to-do list. But every now and then, What if you give yourself a break and skip the to-do list? Instead, look back on what you accomplished that the day and make out a ta-dah list.

How I’m rewriting my to-do list into a ta-dah list

When you think about it, you really do get a lot done in the course of the day. Sometimes what gets done doesn’t seem important because it doesn’t have monetary value or maybe you don’t see immediate results. But spending time with loved ones and taking steps toward your future dreams and goals is just as important as running errands or following up on emails.
Here’s my ta-dah list from last week. Writing it out made me feel much better about my accomplishments.

So why do we let our to-do lists put so much pressure on us?

A to-do list can be overwhelming when you don’t have a lot of available time. Not to mention that there can be a number of things that will interrupt you and derail you from your plan. Urgent emails, phone calls, or sick kids needing to be picked up from school can put a halt on your hopes of a productive day. When it feels like your time is not your own, you can brighten your outlook by thinking about how much you got done, instead of focusing on how much is left to do.

As this Labor Day weekend comes to a close, I am thankful that I spent time connecting with my husband and 4 children. We laughed, played, and (thanks to that extra day off) got a jump on the upcoming week. I’m not saying I’m not a planner. If you’ve seen my printable calendar template or read about my meal planning, you know that I’ve got a bit of Type-A in me. But I still know when it is time to step back and enjoy your surrounding, celebrating your accomplishments no matter how small they may seem.

Do you have a Ta-Dah moment from the last week? Tell me what you are celebrating!

I Stopped Being Mom and Found My Own Adventure

It was 8 a.m. as I stood in the dusty parking lot, the hot summer sun already beating down on my sunscreened arms. I scanned the faces of each hiker as she passed, hoping to recognize any of them as members of my local women’s fitness group. Instead of our regular indoor exercise class, we had planned to meet at the trailhead of a 4-mile mountain hike just outside of town.

But no one else showed up.

The clock was ticking and the sun was rising higher in the sky. I figured the hike just wasn’t meant to happen today. I mean, by the time I got to the top I’d be melting in the heat. Plus, there was so much at home that needed to get done. My kids and husband were good sports about me going out for some exercise but I felt a little guilty about taking off on an adventure by myself. Anyway, I’d never hiked that trail before and it was probably too strenuous for someone as out of shape as myself.

Somewhere in the midst of self-doubt and mom-guilt, a tiny voice inside me began making an argument in favor of the adventure.

So I Stopped Being Mom and went on an Adventure

I took a deep breath and charged onward and upward. There was no knowing if the path ahead was going to be steep or rocky (it was both), or if I was going to be strong enough to make it to the top. But I sure as heck wasn’t going to let this turn into a missed opportunity.

I set a slow, steady pace and stuck with it, hoping to not burn out before reaching the summit.

Without anyone else to talk with, I had two hours alone with my own thoughts. As I plodded up that mountain I evaluated my progress in meeting life goals, how I can pursue my passions, and where I see myself in 5 years. These are things that I believe are important aspects of my identity, yet I never really put much thought into them.

What had started out as a fun fitness outing was also quickly turning into a test of perseverance. I was beginning to feel like Super Woman on a mission. If I could just finish this hike, was there anything I couldn’t do? I know it’s only 4 miles. But for a mom who has really been neglecting her workouts, (and did I mention it was HOT?), this was a big deal.

That’s how my Saturday started. If you want to see the hike, it’s in the Snapchat Saturday video below. You can also watch last week’s Snapchat Saturday video here.

Sometimes you have to stop being Mom, or whatever responsibility it is that defines you, and find your own adventure. Life is too short to miss an opportunity for adventure.

What adventure do you see on the horizon?

Water Table Play Ideas | Super Summer Fun Series

I’m so excited to bring you a fun summer play activity that comes from my friend Erin, owner of LovePeaceBeauty.com. She has a plethora of creative things to do with your kids at home, and today she’s sharing her water table play ideas with us.

Summer is here and it’s the perfect time to get creative outdoors! This year, I finally indulged and bought a water table for my boys and I have no regrets! I will say, we have spent previous summers filling various buckets or plastic tubs with water and that works as well for the following water play ideas!

So if you’ve considered buying a water table, I definitely recommend it! We’ve only used it for water so far but I plan to use it for other sensory play ideas in the future. It is durable and provides so much imaginative play. There are also many opportunities for integrating learning. Recently, we talked about the different objects that sink and float…super fun!

Our water table came with a few toys but I’ve been brainstorming water table play ideas to keep my little guys entertained for a little bit longer.

Here’s the creative water table play ideas we’ve tried:

Reusable Ice Cubes

The plastic ice cubes can be used again and again and come in fun shapes are just perfect to plop in the water. They are cold and give kids an assortment of objects to shuffle about in the water.

Sponges

Squishy, squishy and fun! My boys squish the water into the buckets and sometimes scrub the outside of the house. They are perfect for those tactile sensory seekers like my toddler.

Paintbrushes

Similar to the sponge concept, my boys like to dip the paintbrush into the water and paint the driveway or the house. I picked up our paintbrushes at the dollar store and they’re good for rainy days as well!

Bath Loofah Sponges

I found a package of 4 bath loofah sponges for $1 at our local dollar store. These are great to toss in to keep water table play new and exciting. They are fun to squish and throw around.

Measuring Cups

The novelty of measuring cups amazes me! Such a simple water play tool that comes straight from the kitchen but provides a lot of entertainment as kids measure, pour, and get creative with the water.

Water Toys

Of course, toys designed for the pool or bath are also fun. We’ve ended up with just an assortment of objects and the boys especially like some of the most simple ideas like a shovel and bucket to transfer the water back and forth.

I hope these ideas inspire you to get outside and integrate water play into your summer fun!

Erin is a wife, boy mom times two, and elementary teacher turned stay-at-home mom. She is the creative behind the parenting and lifestyle blog, Love Peace Beauty where she strives to create a positive community for mothers. She can also be found on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest.

Finding Joy When Life is Crazy Busy

As a working mom of 4, I’m becoming quite the expert on how to survive as a busy parent. But while survival is great, if that’s all I’m trying to do is just survive, then I’m selling myself short. The real challenge is to get through each day with a smile on your face and a bounce in your step. That, my friends, was the struggle I found myself in not long ago. I felt like my life was so busy that there was little left of my time or energy to spend on anyone else. It wasn’t easy at first, but I learned to be joyful in spite of a crazy busy schedule. I even managed to find a little time for myself!

4 essential habits for finding joy when life is crazy busy.

Resist the urge to compare.

I often catch myself making the mistake of looking at my life under a microscope, comparing what I’m going through to how my friends and coworkers appear to be living. Besides being a sure-fire way to wallow in discontentment, I’ve learned there is one big reason why you shouldn’t compare your life to someone else’s, and that is because you are not him. Your finances are not his finances. Your talents are not his talents. Each of us have a different skill set which qualifies us for our unique place in life. There is no guarantee that you would be any happier if you were to trade lives with another person anyway. You don’t know what struggles and hardships he may be facing, even though he appears to have it all together. When you start looking at your life in comparison to someone else’s, you’re setting yourself up for discontentment and you are ignoring the truth of how fortunate you really are.

Be laser-focused.

By this I mean stay focused on what is the most important to you. Do you love to exercise but feel like there’s never any time? Take your gym shoes with you in the car so you can get in a quick walk or circuit train while you’re out. Feel like you don’t spend enough time with your family? Make the moments … [read the rest of this post on Empowered Living]

Thanks for taking the time to visit Craig’s blog www.whowillyouempower.com and read my guest post! He is an amazing speaker and I’m honored to have him share my writing.

6 Things I’m Learning as a Twin Parent

With every new transition in life come the opportunity to learn and grow as an individual. My greatest change so far has been when we welcomed our twins Madeline and Emily into our lives. Raising twins was a whole new parenting challenge, full of surprises. I’ll be the first to say that I’m not perfect. Thankfully, being a parent of twins has taught me about myself and has helped to make me a better person.

6 things I’m learning as a twin parent

Patience

There’s nothing like having two newborns crying at the same time to really test your patience. But more than that, raising twins is just plain hard work. It’s twice the little feet to put shoes on, twice the little bottoms to wipe… Caring for babies times two means that everything takes twice as long. I’ve learned not to rush them. To let them be little. I may want them to hurry up now, but in a short time I know I’ll miss these days.

Love

When your children arrive, even when it’s two at once- you’ll be amazed at how much love you feel. Before the girls came I was worried that I wouldn’t have enough time, energy, attention, and love to go around for all my children. But that hasn’t been the case at all. My love for them doesn’t run out. If anything, the more tired I am, the more I love them. Because all I want to do when I’m exhausted and worn down is to cuddle with my little guys.

Innovation

I’ve learned that it helps to be creative. For example, the twins had just turned 2 when baby #4 was born. They still needed me to hold their hands everywhere we went. But if I was carrying the baby, I only had one free hand. One day while I was trying to safely herd the girls across the street, I stuck out the pinky and thumb of my free hand and told each girl to grab on. A year later and we are still using that system for hand-holding.
Another way we’ve had to be creative was when we were dealing with the issue of feeding 2 babies at the same time. When you have to get ready for work, but both babies need to be fed, you just do what you gotta do. I breastfed and supplemented, and got really creative at propping babies and bottles when I was pressed for time.

Humility

I finished putting myself through college as a 24-year-old single mom, which sounds like a great accomplishment. Unfortunately, my greatest achievement made me a very prideful person. I had this idea in my head that I was good at everything. Whatever way I chose to do something, it was the right way. Of course, all of that hot-headedness flew out the window when I had two babies on my hands at no clue what to do with them. It turned out I wasn’t the expert on everything after all. It was very humbling to admit to myself and others that I didn’t know what to do, I couldn’t do it on my own, and I was pretty sure I was messing it all up in the process.

Strength

The last few years have been an exercise in my strength both physically and emotionally. Carrying two babies, pushing two babies in a stroller, lugging all the extra stuff you need to bring to leave the house with two babies… And then adding a third baby to the mix 2 years later. I tell you, it’s been an exhausting, wild ride. I’ve adapted to living on very little sleep. I’ve lifted and buckled and supported and held tight babies and toddlers for the last 3 years. Through it all I’ve also grown stronger in my faith.
And every second of it has been worth it.

Dependence

I was the oldest of six kids in my family and I was homeschooled. Those two factors created an incredibly independent, driven, personality in me. As a parent I’ve had to learn to let go of a lot of that. I’m simply not capable of doing everything. I work full-time, we have sports and church and birthday parties and family get-togethers that, while they are a lot of fun, take up much of my free time. Along with admitting to myself that I just can’t do everything, I’ve also had to learn to rely on others. I’ve had to learn to recognize when I need help, and then go out and ask for it. That aspect of releasing control, allowing others to step in and take over, has probably been the hardest thing for me to learn.

The journey of parenting and maturing as an adult is such a serious one, isn’t it? Raising twins, or any other life change for that matter, is a great opportunity to examine how we’ve grown and changed as individual. For me, becoming a mother of twins has been my greatest life change so far.

So what about you? What life changes have you experienced that have made you a better person?

Turning Grouchiness into Gratitude

Last week I was all prepared to do a “day in the life” post, where I would show pictures of what a typical day looks like in the Rushed Mommy household. Unfortunately, right off the bat, I realized that my heart was not in the right place. When I should be taking this as a chance to share our day with my readers in a reality-TV sort of way, I could see my inner desires pushing me to making it into a “look how hard my life is” kind of thing. Who wants to read that sort of stuff? Not me! And I’m sure you don’t want to read about it either. So instead of sharing the whole day (you can thank me now because it was a long one!), I decided instead to share with you the times when I realized how truly blessed I am.

Turning grouchiness into gratitude: Mornings are hard but things could be a lot worse

Even though it put me behind a little bit, I left for work fully prepared with everything the little guys would need for after daycare. I made their fave pasta and even snuck in some whole-wheat noodles to make it a tad bit healthier. I sorted through all of our “pouches” for three of the flavor that they love. I brought along a big jug of milk and some sippy cups so they’d have something to eat and drink later that evening at their brother’s baseball game. And, as a last-minute thought, I threw a big playground ball in my bag so they’d also have something to play with.

This all went with me to work. It included my breakfast, plus a bunch of snacks for the little guys!

I’m pretty lucky because, since I leave for work before daycare opens, I don’t have to get all the kids ready and out the door in the morning. Daddy gets to do all that.

PLUS I went through Starbucks and got a special treat just for me. 😉

Work is crazy but I am appreciated

The Mother’s Day craft my class made for their moms

From then on it was easy to keep the positivity going.

At lunch the PTO had planned a decadent catered meal for the entire staff (secretaries and supervision aides included) in honor of Teacher Appreciation Week. They laid out a beautiful table and gave us each a canvas bag with “It takes a big heart to teach little minds” printed on the back, plus several other goodies. By the end of lunch we all felt refreshed, happy, and best of all FULL!

After work it took TWO trips to get all my teacher appreciation gifts and flowers into the car. No joke! I drove back to our hometown, grabbed the little guys from daycare and the oldest from home, and we all piled in the car to go to Logan’s out-of-town baseball game. And, let me tell you, he rocked it. He got a hit every at-bat and, even though his team lost, they are all a bunch of great kids and their spirits were high the whole game. It was a lot of fun to watch them play.

Baby John Cheering on his big brother

Evening activities give me more time to enjoy with my kids

The little guys loved the pouches and pasta. I had a deeeelicious Yerba Mate tea in the car, which gave me the energy I needed to keep up with everyone. The girls found a friend in a sweet, sweet girl who is about 7 or 8 years old. The three of them played the whole time and I got to spend most of the game cuddling and playing with Baby John. On the way home I got Logan a hamburger, which he was stoked about because we never eat out. I enjoyed leftovers on the couch with a glass of wine once everyone was in bed.

With that, Thursday came to a close.

I’m really glad I didn’t do a “day in the life” post after all. I don’t think that kind of sharing is good for me because I already struggle with putting a positive spin on things. I want to encourage you, the next time you feel that your thoughts are going down a negative path, to find 3 things to be thankful for. It’s amazing the change you will feel when your start turning grouchiness into gratitude.

9 Ways to Spoil Yourself for Mother’s Day

Let’s face it: not all moms are going to get the royal treatment on Mother’s Day. I spent many years as a single mom. Of course I lovingly treasured the sweet gifts my son made for me every year at school, but sometimes I yearned to be just downright spoiled. If you don’t have someone to spoil you, there are plenty of things you can do to spoil yourself for Mother’s Day.

Nine ways to spoil yourself for Mother’s Day

Take back the remote

On your day, give yourself a break from cartoons. Relax, pick up the remote, and put on a show that Mom likes.

Enjoy a hot bath

Give yourself a spa treatment, complete with a tub full of bubbles and a facial. Or try a DIY lavender milk bath. You will emerge from the suds feeling refreshed and silky-smooth.

Buy yourself something nice

What is it that you been longing for? A new purse, bra, pair of running shoes? While homemade paper floral arrangements that your kid made in class are cute gifts that you will treasure for years to come, maybe this Mother’s Day you could get yourself a present you’ve had your eye on.

Grab the colored pencils and start drawing

Via Amazon.com

Have you tried those adult coloring books yet? It’s a proven fact that artistic expression relaxes you and lightens your mood. Are you one of those moms (like me) who isn’t going to get time away from your kids this Mother’s Day? Great! Everybody can color, enjoy some togetherness, and get creative at the same time.

Let somebody else take care of dinner

The kids will likely be thrilled to have pizza or take out for Mother’s Day. Use paper plates and plastic silverware so nobody has to do any dishes either!

Spend the day in your PJs

I know this is what I’ll be doing. After church, the dressy clothes are coming off and pajamas are going on. Yoga pants for the win!

Connect with nature

Maybe you’d be more interested in some quiet time out of the glorious sunshine? In this fast-paced world, it’s important to take some time for solitude and peaceful reflection. Feeling the fresh air on your face and looking at the beauty of nature is relaxing. It helps to loosen those muscles that tense up after too many jam-packed days.

Leave the cleaning for someone else

Mother’s Day is the perfect opportunity to hire a cleaning service. With the nitty-gritty cleaning stuff taken care of, you’ll have more time to spend with your family. Hand over the broom, Mama. This is your day off!

Dress up nicely just for fun

If staying in your PJs all day would make you cringe, use this day as a chance to strut your stuff in your Sunday best. Put on that dress you’ve only worn to a New Year’s Eve party or the Marine Corps Ball. Add some fancy jewelry and you’ll be looking like a princess in no time!

By no means should you feel the need to make excuses. When you’re spending your time and energy caring for others 364 days a year, nobody could argue that you don’t deserve a nice day. So, go ahead. You have my permission. Do something you enjoy and spoil yourself for Mother’s Day.

The Little Things I Can’t Live Without

It’s truth-telling time: I’m a recovered shopaholic. For real. In my early twenties I went a little nuts with credit cards and spending and, well… things got out of control.

Since then I’ve had to learn to live without the things I really want but can’t actually afford. And, let me tell you, that took some getting used to. After several years of trying to focus on what I have instead of what I want, I’ve come to appreciate the little things that I can’t live without. I know these may sound silly, but they make me one happy {busy} girl!

Disclaimer: Some links may be affiliate.

Reuseable Shopping Bags

I’m not kidding, I couldn’t live without these things! We are a family what is always on the go, and this is how we get from point A to point B with all our stuff. We could never fit everything into one regular diaper bag. I use reusable shopping bags to carry my work stuff in, to bring snacks and drinks to the beach, to heft books back to the library… You get the picture. I even wrote a post in my beginning days of blogging about how reusable shopping bags help you save time and money! I know I’m not the only one who lugs around everything but the kitchen sink when she leaves the house. Any other “bag ladies” out there? 😉

Coffee

I tried giving up coffee once and it was pretty scary. For one thing, I get up at 4:30 for work. Also, I have no brain cells before my first cup of coffee. It’s a miracle I can get myself showered before I’ve had my caffeine fix. Although, I’m not gonna lie, I often forget to wash my face and at least once a week I’m pretty sure I condition my hair twice because I can’t remember if I did it already so I condition it again. I’m basically a morning zombie that is cured by coffee.

Morning Quiet Time

So, technically I could sleep in an extra 15 minutes if my morning quiet time wasn’t so darn necessary. It only takes a few minutes to read my devotional and reset my brain to a positive mode for the day, which I think is totally worth it. I’m a whole different (and nicer) person on the days when I’ve taken those extra moments to myself before starting the day.

Chocolate

Back in my early days of blogging I actually wrote a blog post about chocolate. How dorky is that?! I can’t help it. I’m in love with the stuff. And then after my awesome Christmas Teacher Gift haul I discovered salted caramel chocolates from Trader Joe’s. This is the stuff of heaven, I tell you.

Friends

Oh boy, would I be lost without my friends. I’ve got a fantastic network of encouraging, supportive ladies both online and in real life who are the only reason I’m halfway sane today. This busy mama doesn’t have a lot of time to go out and do fun things, but that’s ok. Because one day my kids will be gone, I’ll have tons of time to myself, and my friends will still be there. They’re that good of friends.

Want to make my day? Be a friend, share some chocolate and coffee with me (or better yet-put ’em together and let’s make a café mocha!), don’t judge me for all the bags I carry around, and know that if I’m in a “not-complainy” kind of mood it’s probably because I got my morning quiet time in.

Those are my simple, can’t-live-without things. What are yours?

How do You Measure Your Worth?

This is something that I personally struggle with. In high school I wanted so badly to be noticed, to be popular. I guess a piece of that never went away because even now, as a mid-thirties adult, I have to keep reminding myself that I am special and it doesn’t matter what other people think of me. I may not have it all together but it’s what’s inside that counts, right?

Teens these days, and especially teen girls, cling to the number of likes on their Instagram or Facebook posts as a “public barometer of popularity”. They use likes to measure how many friends they have and to see who has more friends. It may sound irrational but I’ve found myself in the same mindset more than once.

As a blogger I sometimes make the mistake of attaching personal worth to the number of interactions a post gets. My blog is literally my heart poured out into words on a page, so it’s hard to separate that expression of myself from my feelings about myself. I have to consciously ignore my feelings when the number of page views or email subscribers for my blog goes up or down.

My value doesn’t lie in how many people “like” the thing I have to say. I’m a Christian, so I find my worth in whose I am, not who I am. This blog is something I do as a hobby, and how successful it is has nothing to do with how “good” I am as a person.

A friend shared a sweet story with me that I’d like to share with you. She said there was a very timid woman, we’ll call her Gloria, who had been coming to volunteer in her classroom for a while. Gloria wanted to be a help to the class but she didn’t feel like she was smart enough to be working with children. Still, she kept coming and doing busywork and supporting the teacher without actually interacting with the children very much. Then one day Gloria, who is a native Spanish speaker, was sitting near a little boy who spoke mostly Spanish. As she observed the child struggling to understand the lesson she quietly leaned in and began translating for him. And just like that she found her purpose in that classroom.

We are so fortunate to live in a day and age when we can own nice, expensive things. But it’s not just our stuff that we attach value to. Sometimes it’s also the college degree we hold, the number of organizations we belong to, our job, our level of fitness, or where we travel to. Can any of these things truly make you feel valuable?

There is something special inside each and every one of us. You just have to have the courage to dig that gem up out of your soul and share it with the world.

What is that inner quality that makes you precious? How do you measure your worth?

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