A Mommy Project

My alarm went off this morning at 6:45am. As much as I wanted to stay in my soft comfortable bed, I got kids up, packed lunches, and drove two of my three boys to their first day of school. As summer break has come to an end I reminisce about the time I homeschooled my boys.  Let me start by saying that my boys are back in a brick and mortar school not because homeschool didn’t work out, but because my oldest was who started 6th grade, last year, wanted to experience being in middle school. My middle son also transitioned to brick and mortar this year as well. He wanted to try it out, but he made it clear that if it didn’t work out, he will return to homeschool. Despite the growth of homeschool over the years, there is still a negative stigma about homeschool. There are those who throw their nose up at it. Some skeptics protest about the lack of social skills and lack of learning. I can tell you that those negative ideas are not true and in fact being able to homescho...

Summer is always a fun time for my boys and I to relax and do summer activities.  As a parent I want my boys to have fun, keep learning and exploring during summer break. Whether it's going to the pool, watching movies, participating in reading programs, or going on vacation, I like to keep my boys busy. Here in Florida our summers bring a lot of rain, which means staying inside a lot.  Today I have an activity for your kids to do when when you get a rainy spell. The folks at Education.com were kind enough to share this exciting activity. The activity is the tracking acidity in rainwater. My son and I worked on a similar science project, last year in homeschool, we had a lot of fun learning how and what changes the acidity of water.   So if you're sick of staying indoors during rainstorms, next time it rains, put away the board games and get outside! Make use of all that water while learning about pH with this fun project. In this experiment, we will e...

When I lived in Louisville, I used to visit a bakery near my home in St. Matthews on Sunday mornings to get freshly baked pastries.  There is something special about bakeries for me, I think they are so cozy and homely. Over the years I've been inspired to, on day, open up my own bakery. I really enjoy cooking and baking, it's special to create beautiful tasty sweets. I think a key to a successful business is loving what you do and being passionate about your product. I recently saw an episode of Fixer Upper where Joanna Gaines opened up her own bakery, a dream she'd had for quite sometime. That's what I want, a cute, quaint bakery here in my town. What was most inspiring about Joanna's bakery, besides the decor of course, was her concept.  All she sells are cupcakes and cookies. It's simple and particle. Speaking of cookies, today I'm sharing a great chocolate chip cookie recipe with you.   It has become my go to recipe in our home....

My relationship with running is truly a love hate relationship. As I’m training for a run I hate it, absolutely hate it and wonder why I do this to myself. The day of the race as I’m all dressed up and ready to run, I love it! There is something special about being in a corral surrounded by people who love to do this. When the gun goes off, still as excited as I can be, I take off. My feelings, however, change as I hit a mile and a half, and once again I hate running. This goes on until the last leg of the race, then as I’m approaching the finish line, I love it again. I am pumped and full of adrenaline, I could run another 3 miles, because running is great! This is my running cycle. I've said it before, I run not because I enjoy it, but because it's something that pushes me  outside of my comfort zone and it feels good to do something that doesn't come easy to me. Two weeks ago I ran the Disney Star Wars Dark Side 5k. This was my first race since having ...

The only thing I hate more than having a dirty home is cleaning. Spring is here and it's that time of year again, time to deep clean and clear out what you don't need. I was recently inspired by Joanna Gaines, in the spring issue of the Magnolia Journal she shares her tips and tricks for spring cleaning, as well as a room-by-room checklist (see below). As I went down the list, I discovered things around that house that I would have never thought to clean, like my washing machine. Another thing that stood out was what Joanna said, " Surrounding yourself with neat, clean spaces can reduce stress and anxiety. It can clear your mind so you can focus and relax." Since my home is where I spend my entire day, this is especially true for me. I do get stressed when things are scattered all over the house, like when toys end up all over the family room, laundry begins to overflow and dishes start piling up. I created 5 tips to help me make cleaning easier and not...

If you haven't yet been to LEGOLAND, I encourage you to go. It's was a fun place to visit. Last year we took our 9 year old son to LEGOLAND Florida for his birthday, he had been waiting forever to go to there.  He is a HUGE Lego fan, so as you can imagine, this trip was a dream come true for him. LEGOLAND is a theme park where everything is LEGO.  It's like walking in a giant display of LEGO's. I was a bit worried that the park would be crowded because it was Labor Day. I'm used to attendance being high at our local theme parks (Disney) during that time of the year. Fortunately, it was not too busy.   I thought the park was laid out in a way that people were spread all over, making easy to get around.  It was so nice to go to a theme park that was not crowded and where we didn't have to wait in long lines. The longest wait was about 15 minutes. The weather was also pretty nice, not too hot and not too cold.   My husband had p...