What Do Ice Cream and Sex Have in Common?

May 4, 2013 By 1 Comment

I thought it would be fun to tell you all today about my top 10 favorite eBooks from the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle.

So if you are wondering what ice cream and sex have in common the answer is…they both made it to the list! Read on to see all 10 of my favorites.

My Top 10 eBook Picks from the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle

(in no particular order!)

1. Just Making Ice Cream eBook

Over 70 ice cream recipes made with wholesome ingredients? Um, yes please! With recipes like Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Dough, Cinnamon Toffee Snickerdoodle, Carrot Spice Cake, and Buttery Vanilla Butterscotch, this just might end up being my most used book from the entire bundle!

2. Confessions of a Cloth Diaper Convert

I have successfully cloth-diapered one child through potty-training and I’m working on my second! Even though I have experience with cloth-diapering, this book is still such a go-to resource for me when I have questions or run into a problem. Whether you are just curious about cloth-diapering, just getting started, or are experienced with using cloth, this book will be a great resource for you!

3. Handmade Walls

This. Book. Is. Awesome! I have been slack in my decorating over the past several years since we are renting, but this book has given me all new inspiration! I’m already working on my first project from the book and I can’t wait to show you all what I’ve made once it is done. Every DIY picture frame, plaque, and wall art in this book is simply stunning.

4. Embracing Beauty

I have only had a chance to skim over this book so far, and I can’t wait to dig in further. For almost the past 3 years I have been either pregnant or nursing, and at many times I have been more than frustrated with my wardrobe. I’m currently 13 weeks post-partum, and right now everything in my closet is either too big or too small. Ugh…I need this book to teach me how to embrace my ever changing body during these child-bearing years. Trina shows you how to dress your body and embrace it’s beauty every day.

5. How to Have Your Cake and Eat it Too

This book holds a special place in my heart because it is what gave me the courage to start my own design business. What a blessing this business has been for me and my family, and I doubt I would have ever taken the plunge without reading this awesome and motivating book written by a mom who knows what it’s like to have big dreams.

6. My Pregnancy Journey

This one also holds a special place in my heart, because it was compiled, designed, and put together by yours truly! I have always been bad about preserving memories and that’s why I came up with the pregnancy journal/planner. I can’t wait to use it during my next pregnancy (Lord willing). It is full of printables to help you document your pregnancy and stay organized, and it’s also pretty darn cute, if I do say so myself ;)

7. Pulling Yourself Together

This book is full of very practical advice and some very useful printables to help with getting into a cleaning routine that works for you. I can’t wait to start putting the principles in this book into use. I’m not a clean-freak by nature, but I love printables and I love having a plan! So this book is something really needed and helpful for me!

8. Hula Hoop Girl

Okay, I have not had a chance to read this one yet, but I am so looking forward to doing so.

A quote about the book…

 Hula Hoop Girl is an oasis of encouragement for the overworked, overwrought, overcommitted woman who is just trying to figure out who she really is.

Overworked? Check. Overwrought? Yep. Overcommitted? Uh-huh. I think I need this book!

9. Plan a Fabulous Party

The full title to this book is “Plan a Fabulous Party (without losing your mind)”. Um, I’m pretty sure that would be a first for me, because I tend to stress out over things like throwing parties. That’s kind of why I never do it! But this book makes me realize I just need to plan a little better and it shows me exactly how to do it complete with some handy-dandy checklists and printables in the back of the book. We just might have to be throwing a little party here real soon ;)

10. 31 Days to Great Sex

Do I really need to say any more about this one? ;)

The cost for all 10 of these books adds up to $87.86, but until midnight tonight (May 4, 2013) you can get all of them PLUS 87 other great ebooks for only $29.97.

That’s 95% off! This Ultimate Homemaking eBook Bundle is not something that will be offered again, so if you’re interested in getting all of these great resources for this unbelievable price, don’t wait until it’s too late. I don’t want you to miss out on this deal! If you would like to see the rest of the books (and freebies) included in the bundle click here.

Please note that this bundle sale is no longer available for purchase. However, the individual books in this list are, and I highly recommend each one!

What book would you pick to read first from this list?

Disclosure: I have included affiliate links in this post, which means that I will receive a percentage of the sale if you purchase the books through my link. As always, all opinions are 100% mine. I am a woman after all. ;) Thank you so much for your support!
Filed Under: Home Management, In the Kitchen, Motherhood, Wellness

So…What in the World is all the Hoopla About?

May 2, 2013 By Leave a Comment

If you have been reading many blogs this week around the internet, chances are you have seen a lot of images like this floating around…

or maybe like this…

or maybe these…

Wow, what in the world is all of this?!

Well, simply put it is the Ultimate Homemaking eBook Bundle sale. What exactly does that mean though?

If you are anything like me the first time I saw a “bundle sale” being advertised you might be a little confused and definitely a little overwhelmed.

When I saw a bundle sale advertised for the first time on a blog several years ago, I thought all week about purchasing it, but I didn’t. I was just so overwhelmed and confused during the sale that I didn’t feel like I should buy it, even though there were so many books in it that I personally wanted. I really regretted it once the sale was over, because I had missed an opportunity to get a lot of really great resources for a price that I could actually afford.

What is a “Bundle Sale”

An eBook bundle sale is simply a chance for you to buy a lot of eBooks altogether (in a “bundle”) for one very low price.

For this particular bundle sale that is going on (through Saturday only) you get

  • 92 eBooks
  • 5 eCourses and…
  • $140 worth of bonuses from different companies participating in the sale

All of this adds up to over $600 worth of products that you can get for only $29.97.

If you would like to see the list of books, courses, and products included with this bundle sale click here.

Okay that seems to good to be true. What is the catch?

Yes, it is not very often where you see a deal this good. It does seem like there has to be some sort of catch, doesn’t there! If you were to buy all of these books, courses, and products individually you would be paying well over $600.

The thing is though, that you probably wouldn’t choose to purchase each of these items individually. So you have to look at it in terms of what items in the “bundle” you personally think you would benefit from and would consider purchasing even if they weren’t a part of this sale.

Just because something is marked down 95% does not necessarily mean that it is a good deal for you. Good deal? Yes. Absolutely. Good deal for you? That depends.

How I personally decide if I’m going to purchase during “Bundle Sales”.

Bundle sales have become increasingly popular over the past few years. As they become more popular, I have come up with a process to help me decide whether purchasing the bundle would be a good choice for me or not. Here’s what I do:

  1. I go through the list of books, courses, products…whatever is being offered, and I make a quick mental list of what I am interested in. Some things I know right away I will never use, and some things I know I will love digging into.
  2. After I have a good idea of what products in the bundle I will use, I figure out approximately how much it would cost me to buy all of them individually. If the price of the bundle is significantly less than that price then I purchase the bundle.

That’s it! Pretty simple, but it helps me to see if the bundle is actually going to be a good deal for me or not.

For example…

In this Ultimate Homemaking eBook Bundle, as I looked through the list of products I saw several items that I would love to purchase. A lot of the books have been on my wishlist for a little while, so I was leaning towards this being a good purchase for me. I knew that some of the books I would never use, but it seemed like the value of the ones that I would use was going to make this purchase worth it.

But then…in the eCourse section, I saw Vibrant Living Strategies for Moms by Lisa Grace Byrne. I have been wanting to take one of her courses FOREVER. The cost of this course is $59. The cost of the bundle is $29.97. So immediately I knew that purchasing this bundle was a no-brainer for me!

I would pay less than $30 and get access to a course that if I purchased on it’s own would be almost $60. And it was a course that I had looked at purchasing many times before, but just didn’t have that much money to spend on!

So now I get access to the course for half the price that it would usually cost me, PLUS a ton of books that I have been wanting to get. In addition to that I get a free 2-month membership to the online workout studio that I already know I love (Fit2B), a free 3-month membership to Plan to Eat which I have been wanting to try, and a free 3-month membership to ListPlanIt which I have also really been wanting to try. (I am not sure about the rest of the freebies offered with this sale yet, because all of the others require you to pay shipping and I’m not sure which ones, if any, I will be using.)

So yes, this bundle was a no-brainer for me to buy.

And that is how I determine whether I will buy a “bundle” when these bundle sales roll around.

Click here to see all of the details of this Ultimate Homemaking eBook Bundle, and to determine whether it is a good deal for YOU!

So there you have it folks! That is what all the hoopla is about, and that is how to determine whether it is a good deal for you or not.

Disclaimer: I am an affiliate for this sale and make a percentage of each sale made through my site. I would not tell you about this offer if I didn’t think it was an incredible deal. I have purchased a bundle for myself, and can’t wait to take the Vibrant Living Strategies Course or to dig into some of the eBooks. If you think that this “bundle” of books, courses, and freebies will benefit you, thank you so much for supporting me, this site, and my family through your purchase. I hope you enjoy your books!!!

 
Filed Under: Home Management, In the Kitchen, Miscellaneous, Motherhood, Natural Beauty, Wellness

10 Ways I Fail at Homemaking (and 97 effective ways to improve)

April 29, 2013 By 4 Comments

When I was a little girl, I used to dream about having my own home to take care of. I was going to be a homemaker, and I was going to be a darn good one! Or so that is what I thought.

Like mothering, homemaking has turned out to be much different that what I expected. As romantic and exciting as I used to dream it would be, the simple truth is that homemaking has proved to be a challenge to me.

I spent 12 years in grade school and then another 4 years at college learning about all kinds of things. Math, science, music, literature, history…on and on the list goes. I was supposed to be getting an education that would put me ahead once I was out in the real world.

Ironically, in all that time of education, I learned very little about how to practically run and manage a household. You know the life skills that women actually need to survive in this world!

Whether you are a woman who works outside the home, a woman who works from home, or a woman who stays home and takes care of her children (or any combination of these!), the truth is that you are a homemaker. If you are anything like me, then you were less than prepared for managing all that keeping a home actually entails.

As modern day homemakers, we are met with unique challenges of the day and age in which we live. This is a fast-paced world, and we are faced with more responsibilities than ever before!

You might say that as modern-day homemakers we are faced daily with a juggling act that leaves us exhausted and wishing we were better prepared for all that life throws our way.

(This is NOT an exhaustive list, and these challenges are not limited to things pertaining to the house. They include things that I face in all areas of my life as a homemaker)

  • Keeping the house picked up and uncluttered
  • Implementing a cleaning/laundry schedule that I can stick to
  • Planning our menus and not rushing to figure out what to make for dinner every night at 5:00pm
  • Being intentional with fun learning and play time with my toddler
  • Budgeting my time wisely
  • Figuring out the balance of running a small business and working from home while still making my family my first priority
  • Spending intentional time investing in my marriage and loving my husband
  • Taking care of my appearance daily. My family deserves the best from me, and although I think it’s fine to wear sweats some days, I want to show my family I love them by dressing as well for them as I would for others.
  • Using my decorating talents to make my house a home.
  • Taking time to nurture myself physically, mentally, and spiritually. Taking time to rest.

These are just a few of the areas that I struggle in as a homemaker. These are just a few of the areas that I would like to improve in!

If you can relate to any of this, then I have something to share with you that I think will be an incredible blessing.

My friends Erin from The Humbled Homemaker and Stephanie from Keeper of the Home have been working like crazy over the past several months to put together an incredible resource for homemakers. It’s called the Ultimate Homemaking eBook Bundle, but to me it is really so much more than that.

To me it is 97 effective ways that I can educate myself and improve as a homemaker.

What is the Ultimate Homemaking eBook Bundle?

This Ultimate Homemaking Bundle is an opportunity for homemakers all over the world to have access to an amazing library of resources that they would never be able to afford otherwise.

Included in this bundle you will get the following:

There are so many items in this bundle that I will help me in learning how to be a better homemaker (in SO many different areas!). The truth is that I simply would not have been able to afford even half of these great resources without this bundle sale.

That is why I am so thankful for all of the hard work these wonderful ladies put in to put this bundle together. It has blessed me in such an incredible way, and I hope that it will be able to bless you and your family also!

 

 

 

What’s Included in the Sale?

When you purchase The Ultimate Homemaking eBook collection, you will get instant access to any of the 97 eBooks and eCourses listed below.

PLUS over $140 of FREE Bonuses

Each Ultimate Homemaking Bundle collection comes with more than $140 of FREE Bonuses from 10 companies that we know you’ll love. More on these bonuses below.

A FREE Two-Month Membership to Fit2B Studio, where their wholesome workouts for the whole family are tummy safe and particularly target Diastasis Recti (split abs). ($19.98 value. No shipping restrictions.)

A $15 store credit to TruKid. With products like their aware-winning sun care, they are dedicated to providing all natural skin and hair care for kids, babies, and now pets. ($15.00 value. Standard shipping applies. International shipping available.)

Your choice of incredible natural products like sea salt and clay for FREE. Choose from the Redmond Trading Earthpaste Bundle ($24.90 value) or the Facial Mud Bundle ($26.90 value). (Standard shipping applies. Continental US only.)

Your choice of a FREE heirloom sourdough starter or FREE yogurt starter from Cultures for Health, the leading supplier of starter cultures and supplies for making cultured and fermented foods ($12.95 value. US & CAN addresses only. Standard shipping applies.)

Your choice of: a FREE 3-Month Subscription (for new accounts) or 30% off a One Year Subscription. Plan to Eat is an online menu planner that uses your recipes, scheduled for the days you want them. ($15.00 value. No shipping restrictions.)

A FREE Culinary Herbs Assorted Seed Pack Check just in time for spring planting from www.wheatgrasskits.com, a living whole foods company. ($11.95 value. Standard shipping applies to all US states and territories- no international shipping for seeds.)

Get $10 off Union28′s original “my husband rocks” tee. Their marriage apparel lets you celebrate your spouse in style. ($10.00 value. Standard shipping rates apply. International shipping available, but free shipping only available within USA.)

A $10 store credit plus 1 FREE lip balm from Bee All Natural. Their whole body products nourish and heal, and are made using only the highest quality, food grade, organic ingredients. ($13.49 value. Standard shipping applies. International shipping available.)

A FREE 2 oz. bottle of your choice of liquid herbal formula from TriLight Health. They specialize in fast acting, great tasting natural herbal remedies. ($12.95 value or more. Standard shipping applies, within the USA only.)

Your choice of 3 FREE ePlanners OR a 3-Month FREE Membership to ListPlanIt, whose mobile lists will help to organize your life. ($15.00 value. No shipping restrictions.)

The fine print:

Bonus Offers

  • Each bonus offer can be redeemed once only per eBook Bundle purchase.
  • For each bonus offer, transaction numbers or proof of purchase may be required at the time of redemption.
  • All bonus offers are free gifts from the bonus sponsors, are their sole responsibility to provide, and are subject to availability.
  • All bonus offers expire at midnight on May 19th, 2013 (2 weeks from the last day of this sale).

General

  • It is your responsibility to download and back-up your purchase within the 1-month download time-frame. With proof of purchase, we can renew download links up until August 1st, 2013. After this date we will no longer have access to the books and will not be able to provide any new links to download.
  • Due to the nature of this sale, there will be no refunds available. However, we would invite you to read our Frequently Asked Questions page to learn more about the file types, the download process, how the bonus offers work, etc.

 

 

 

Please note: This collection is only available from 9 a.m. EST on April 29th to 11:59 p.m. EST on May 4th. There will be no late sales offered, so make sure that you get your bundle right away!

Particularly for those wanting to read these ebooks on their mobile devices (iPhones or iPads, Android, Kindle, etc.) you will want to learn more about the file types, how to download them correctly, and how to transfer them to your device.

This post includes affiliate links, and I make a portion of the sale of each ebook bundle. Thanks for your support of this site!
Filed Under: Faith, Family, Home Management, Motherhood

Our Baby Girl’s Home Birth Story: Part 2

April 21, 2013 By 7 Comments

This is the second and final part of our baby girl’s home birth story. If you’re just joining us, you can read Part 1 here!

After much talking and convincing from my husband, I finally (reluctantly) agreed that he could call our midwife.

After getting off of the phone with her, he told me that she was going to start getting ready and would leave her house in about 30-40 minutes.  That meant that we still had a good solid hour (at least) before she would arrive.

The next hour went by very quickly for me.  My contractions were as intense as ever at this point, and I wasn’t getting much rest in between them at all, except for the occasional one that would give me a 5 minute break instead of 2.  I wasn’t focused on anything, but trying to manage the pain.

Around 2:00 a.m. things seemed to intensify a bit.  I told Husband that I really felt like I wanted to push.  He assuredly and calmly told me that our midwife should be there very soon, but I noticed that he started looking (somewhat nervously) out the window for her car in between every contraction.

2:15 rolled around, and I was having a bit of a hard time managing the pain at this point.  Husband kept telling me to breathe.  I was trying to, but I don’t think I was doing a very good job at it at this point!

“Should we call her again?” he asked.

“No,” I said, somewhat irritated, “I don’t even know if this is really labor or not!” (Ha! I don’t think I was in my right mind!)

After I said that, I remember thinking to myself that if this was false labor, then I wasn’t going to have a home birth after all.  I was having trouble getting through each contraction, and if real labor was going to be even more intense than this, then take me straight to the hospital and sign me up for an epidural!

Luckily for me, our midwife showed up shortly after what I thought was my breaking point. It was 2:30 a.m. when she knocked on the door and Husband went to let her in.

I had been pretty quiet during each contraction up to this point, but when he left our bedroom to go get the door I remember having such an intense contraction that I started crying out loud in prayer:

“Jesus, please help me to get through this! I can’t do this by myself and I need your strength to go on!”

As I was crying out loud, my husband and midwife came through the door to the bedroom, and I could tell immediately that my midwife knew I was in real, intense, and end stages of labor.

We went into the spare bedroom which we had set up for labor. We had cleared a spot in the room for the birthing tub, because that was the plan – to have a water-birth.

The next 20 minutes were pretty much a blur for me. All I really remember is my midwife hurrying as fast as she could to get all of her supplies set up, and apologizing to me that we probably were not going to have time to set the birth tub up.

I could have cared less about the birth tub at this point – I wanted to push!

Without even really comprehending what was going on, I told my husband and midwife that I really wanted to push. She was still setting up and getting her supplies out, but all I knew was that I needed to push and I needed to push now!

She checked me, and sure enough I was 10 cm dilated and 100% effaced. As I stood there in our spare bedroom, leaning over with my arms on the bed holding me up, she gave me some brief instructions for pushing. I remember pushing 1, 2, then 3 times…and the next thing I knew I was holding my sweet, precious, lovely baby girl in my arms.

I cannot explain the feelings that I had in that moment, but it was truly one of the most awesome moments of my whole entire life.

My husband and midwife helped me get into bed while I was holding our brand new baby girl. I remember I kept saying that I felt like I had just been through a whirlwind. My midwife kept smiling at me and saying,

“Well, you kind of were, sweetie!”

Our baby girl was born at 2:50 a.m. just 20 short minutes after our midwife arrived. It was a crazy 20 minutes, and I don’t think I even realized what was happening at the time until my sweet babe was in my arms.

After I was in bed for a while, and the baby had nursed and had some very sweet bonding time with us, my husband cut the cord and we weighed and measured the baby. She was 7 lbs 8 oz of perfection!

As my husband and I laid in bed with our new baby, our midwife went and fixed us a quick snack of peanut butter and apples. It tasted so yummy!

After everything was done, and my midwife had cleaned up, served us a snack, and made sure that everything with me and the baby were fine, it was time for her to go.

She hugged me, told me she loved me, and headed out the door leaving us in our quiet home as a newly formed family of four.

What a wonderful night that was. Words could never convey its beauty.

I will cherish its memory forever – the night our little baby girl was brought into this world.
Filed Under: Motherhood Tagged With: , , , , ,

Write it Down, Mama! {Keeping a Simple Journal to Intentionally Preserve Family Memories}

April 12, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Welcome back to 5 Days of Intentional Living, a series that I’m participating in this week with 15 other bloggers. Head over to Intentional By Grace to see the full line up!

If you are just joining us in this series about preserving family memories, you might want to check out the other posts to get some more great ideas.

So far we have talked about

And today (which is the last day of the series) I want to talk to you about something that everyone can do and should do!

Keeping a Simple Journal to Intentionally Preserve Family Memories

You know all of those cute and funny things that your kids say? The ones that you think you will remember forever?

And you know that adorable thing your son did when he woke up the other day? Surely, you will never forget that, will you?

Well, I am here to tell you that more than likely you will forget these things, mama. Unless…

YOU WRITE THEM DOWN!

There are many ways that you could do this, but the simplest way is to just use a spiral bound notebook to write little things down in every day (or however often you want). You don’t have to spend hours of time journaling every day to have something special to look back on.

Tips for Keeping a Simple Journal to Preserve Family Memories

  • Make it a habit to always have your journal handy. Carry it in your purse when you leave the house.
  • When something cute or funny happens that you want to remember, get out your journal and write it down as soon as possible.
  • Each time you write something down, make sure you date the entry so you can always remember when it happened.

Some Examples of What is in my Simple Memory Journal:

  • Woke up to the sound of (son) singing Jesus Loves Me through the monitor this morning. What a sweet moment that warmed my heart and gave me such a happy start to my day!
  • When we went and got (baby girl) up from her nap this afternoon, (son) gave her a big hug and kiss and said, “Mommy, (baby girl) is soooo pitty!” (pretty!) First time I’ve ever heard him say something was pretty. What a good big brother!
  • I was going to make pancakes for breakfast this morning. I teasingly asked my son, “(Son), would you like to have pancakes or spinach for breakfast this morning?” He replied enthusiastically, “Spinach!” Haha! His dad said, “Son, your mama has you trained way too well.” :)

As you can see, these are just simple things that I write down, but things that I will love to go back and read over the years.

Do you keep any sort of a journal to remember simple things like this? I’d love to hear about it!

 

Be sure to check out the other ladies taking part in this series. There are some awesome topics being discussed in regard to living intentionally. You can see a list of blogs and post topics here: 5 Days of Living Intentionally.
Filed Under: Family, Motherhood Tagged With: , , , , ,

Memory Jars {Intentionally Preserving Family Memories}

April 11, 2013 By 1 Comment

Welcome back to 5 Days of Intentional Living, a series that I’m participating in this week with 15 other bloggers. Head over to Intentional By Grace to see the full line up!

Just joining us? So far in this series about preserving family memories, we have talked about taking lots and lots of pictures, keeping them backed up and organized, and displaying them in creative ways throughout your home. We have also talked about making regular family update videos to capture precious memories.

Today, I have a simple idea to share with you that is a great alternative to scrap-booking.

As much as I would love to be a fancy scrap-booker, the reality is that I am not. I don’t have the time or patience at this point in my life to sit down and scrap book.

That’s why I love the idea of memory jars!

Going to the beach for a day? Of course you’ll probably find some awesome shells and take some beautiful pictures. To remember this day, put a little sand in the bottom of a jar, add your shells, a few pictures, and maybe a quick note with the date and the highlights of the day. Put a lid on the jar, and there you have it! A simple, easy, and beautiful way to capture the memories of your fun day.

You can use this idea for of memory jars for preserving any memory for any occasion. As you collect more and more jars, it would be awesome to store them all on a shelf or on a mantle, displayed for everyone to see. Not only are the jars beautiful and full of memories, but they are great conversation starters as well!

There are so many great examples of memory jars across the web. I want to share some of my favorites with you to give you inspiration to start making memory jars yourself!

Vacation Jar from Always Chasing Life

Beach Jar from Fiskars Craft

Beautiful and Unique Memory Jar from Aussie Scrap Source

Vacation Memory Jars from Martha Stewart

There you have it! Be inspired and make a memory jar to remember your next vacation or fun family outing!

Be sure to check out the other ladies taking part in this series. There are some awesome topics being discussed in regard to living intentionally. You can see a list of blogs and post topics here: 5 Days of Living Intentionally.
Filed Under: Family, Motherhood Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Make Regular Family Update Videos {Intentionally Preserving Family Memories}

April 10, 2013 By 1 Comment

Welcome back to 5 Days of Intentional Living, a series that I’m participating in this week with 15 other bloggers. Head over to Intentional By Grace to see the full line up!

So far in this series about preserving family memories, we have talked about taking lots and lots of pictures, keeping them backed up and organized, and displaying them in creative ways throughout your home.

Today I want to give you an idea for preserving your family memories beyond pictures: Schedule and record regular family update videos.

What is a family update video?

A family update video is simply a video that you take of your whole family together.

What do you include in a family update video?

Whatever you want!

Sit around the camera and chat about the latest happenings and what’s going on in your life. Have your kids show off their latest talents and accomplishments. Ask your kids questions about things that they are into and interested in.

The sky is the limit for what to include in your family update video and it will look different for every family!

How do you take a family update video?

If you don’t have a digital video recorder, most digital cameras have a simple video recording function on them. Just set the camera on a tripod or steady surface and record away.

Alternatively, most computers have webcams on them. You could sit in front of the computer and record your family updates that way. This probably wouldn’t work very well for larger families, but if you have a smaller family this would work just fine.

How often do you record a family update video?

As often as you like. You should try to schedule it for a regular time though or else it will never happen.

You could try to put it on the calendar once a month to get started. Some families might want to do it more often than that, and some families might want to do it less often than that. Whatever works for you and the rhythms of your family!

What do you do with family update videos?

Just like the pictures that you take, you want to keep these videos backed up and organized. At the end of each year you can make a dvd of all of the videos that you took. What an awesome keepsake! How much fun would it be to sit down once a year with the whole family and watch all of the family update videos that you’ve made!

When your children are grown and leave the house you will have a whole collection of memories to send with them as well as to keep and cherish yourself. What a priceless gift for everyone in the family!

We all know that time flies by and children grow up so quickly. How true the saying is that “the days are long but the years are short.” Scheduling regular family update videos is such an awesome idea, and will help you to capture those precious moments of your children growing up before our eyes!

I hope you are as excited about this as I am! Will you take the challenge to start recording a regular family update video?

Be sure to check out the other ladies taking part in this series. There are some awesome topics being discussed in regard to living intentionally. You can see a list of blogs and post topics here: 5 Days of Living Intentionally.
Filed Under: Family, Motherhood Tagged With: , , , , , ,

10 Creative Ways to Display Family Photos {Intentionally Preserving Family Memories}

April 9, 2013 By 1 Comment

Welcome back to 5 Days of Intentional Living, a series that I’m participating in this week with 15 other bloggers. Head over to Intentional By Grace to see the full line up!

Yesterday in part one of this series, I talked about taking lots and lots of pictures (even if you don’t have your dream camera!) and keeping them backed up and organized.

Today I want to motivate myself, er, I mean you to do something with all of those pictures that you are taking! I love each one of these ideas and several of them could be passed down from generation to generation as family heirlooms.

So let’s get our pictures printed out and do something awesome with them!

Here are 10 Creative Ways to Display Family Photos. Click on the link or the photo to read more about each idea.

1. Photo Wall Clock

Photo and Idea by Intentional By Grace

2. Glass Jar Picture Frames

Photo and Idea by Creating Naturally

3. Modge Podge Photo Monogram

Photo and Idea by Transforming Home

4. Family Tree Wreath

Photo and Idea by Rook No. 17

5. DIY Photo Pendants

Photo and Idea by Ginger Snap Crafts

6. Heart Shape Wall Collage

Photo and Idea by Apartment Therapy

7. Chicken Wire Picture Board

Photo and Idea by The Creative Crate

8. Clothes Pin Picture Frame

Photo and Idea by Talia Christine

9. Old Window Picture Frames

Photo and Idea by Cottage Instincts

10. Photo Ladder Gallery

Photo and Idea by A Diamond in the Stuff

Be sure to check out the other ladies taking part in this series. There are some awesome topics being discussed in regard to living intentionally. You can see a list of blogs and post topics here: 5 Days of Living Intentionally.

What are some of your favorite ways to display your family photos?
Filed Under: Family, Motherhood Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Get out that Camera! {5 Days of Preserving Family Memories}

April 8, 2013 By 6 Comments

Welcome to 5 Days of Intentional Living, a series that I’m participating in this week with 15 other bloggers. I’m so honored and excited to be joining up with these awesome bloggers in this series and I can’t wait to read all of their posts about intentional living. Head over to Intentional By Grace to see the full line up!

The topic that I will be talking about this week is “Intentionally Preserving Family Memories”

Honestly, the reason that I chose this topic to blog about this week, is because this is something that I stink at! I want to be more intentional about documenting and preserving all of the memories of our family. So I figured that blogging about it for 5 days straight would be a great way to kick my booty in gear!

So to kick off the series today, let’s talk about something obvious when it comes to preserving those memories of your cute little family…

Take lots of pictures!

I have a tendency to always make excuses about not doing things because I don’t have this or I don’t have that. I am a bit of a perfectionist by nature, and I always think that if the circumstances were just a little bit different (i.e. perfect) then I would be better about doing certain things.

My excuse for not taking as many pictures as I should is that I don’t have the camera that I want.

Really? I feel so dumb writing that out, but it is true. I have a dream to own a nice camera that I can take stunning photos with of my beautiful children, but it just simply hasn’t been in our budget.

So I’ve had to take pictures of them instead with my plain digital camera and smart phone. Poor me, right?!

The truth is, my children look just as beautiful in the pictures that I take with my plain camera and phone as they would in the pictures that I would take if I had a nicer camera. Sure, the picture might not be quite as crisp, and the light balance might be off a little, but do you know what? It really doesn’t matter! Years from now I will just be happy that I have pictures of my children to look back on and reminiscence over.

I LOVE looking at old pictures that my mom and dad took of our family as we were growing up. Interestingly enough, none of those pictures were taken with a fancy camera. They are still so special though, and are full of so many wonderful memories that I am now able to cherish and remember just by looking back at those old pictures.

So if you are like me, and wish that you could have a nicer camera to take pictures of your family, I urge you to start taking lots and lots of pictures anyways! Trust me, you will be glad that you did!

No More Excuses!

We live in the digital age. You can literally take as many pictures as you want for basically free.

So get out that camera (or phone) and start shooting!

Backup and Organize

Please, please, please make sure to regularly put your pictures from your memory cards on your computer. And then after they are on your computer, back them up with some kind of external hard drive or flash drive.

Depending on the size, those little memory cards that you put in your camera can hold a LOT of pictures. Those little memory cards can also break or just stop working for unknown reasons.

Sadly, I lost almost 8GB worth of pictures a few years ago because I had not taken the time to put them on my computer. There were many pictures on that memory card from the first year of my son’s life that I can never get back now.

So please learn from my mistake and ALWAYS back your pictures up on a regular basis.

Once your pictures are on your computer, take the time to organize them as well. Delete the ones that you don’t want, and make folders to store and organize the ones that you do. This will help you to be able to find certain pictures in the future. Plus it’s a lot less overwhelming to open a folder called “Day at the Beach” with 30 pictures in it, than it is to open up a folder called “My Pictures” that contains over 2,000 pictures!

Here is an excellent article with some how-to advice for organizing those digital memories and preserving them for ourselves, our children, and future generations!

Be sure to check out the other ladies taking part in this series. There are some awesome topics being discussed in regard to living intentionally. You can see a list of blogs and post topics here: 5 Days of Living Intentionally.

Are you good about taking a lot of pictures? What are your best tips for taking pictures of your family?
Filed Under: Family, Motherhood Tagged With: , , , , ,

Confessions of a Cloth Diaper Convert {The eBook launch you don’t want to miss!}

March 28, 2013 By Leave a Comment

My friend Erin from The Humbled Homemaker has outdone herself!

She has written an AWESOME eBook all about cloth diapering that I would have done anything to have when I first started cloth diapering almost 3 years ago.

I spent hours and hours searching the web for reliable info on cloth diapers, only to still be confused and not totally sure of the process or what type of diapers I wanted.

If only I had had this amazing resource at my fingertips, I would have saved a lot of time, a lot of money and a lot of cloth diapering mistakes.

(Read my post 10 Reasons I Love My Cloth Diapers to see some of the benefits of cloth diapering.)

The thing is Erin has made cloth diapering mistakes too. A LOT of them, as she readily admits. Since she made these mistakes and learned from them, that means you don’t have to! You can simply buy this book, and save yourself a lot of cloth diapering frustration!

Confessions of a Cloth Diaper Convert is over 200 pages long, and in my opinion is an exhaustive resource on cloth diapering.

Cloth Diaper Guide

Now, for the best part and why I started out by saying that Erin has outdone herself…

For this week only (her launch week), when you buy Confessions of a Cloth Diaper Convert (for only $9.95) you will also get some amazing freebies and discount codes to natural living and cloth diapering stores.

Freebies included with the book purchase (through 3/31/13)

Yes, you really can get all these items for free when you purchase a copy of Confessions of a Cloth Diaper Convert!

(Please note that you do still have to pay shipping for these items to be sent to you.)

I can’t wait to get my sling in the mail! Aren’t those so cute?!

Coupon Codes and Discounts included with the book purchase (through 3/31/13)

Wow! I think that this deal is amazing, and that’s why I am so excited to share it with you all!

If you have any interest in cloth diapering at all, I highly recommend this ebook. Even if it didn’t come with all of these awesome freebies and discounts, I would still recommend it to you. It truly is an invaluable resource for mamas who want to learn more about cloth diapering.

Click here to read more about the book and to purchase your copy (and get all the freebies and discounts!)

*I am an affiliate for this book. All opinions, as always, are 100% mine. I have personally purchased a copy of this book and would recommend it to you whether I was an affiliate or not. 

 


 

 
Filed Under: Motherhood Tagged With: , , , ,
« Older Posts