Organize the Whole Shebang

Summer Delights... fruit-a-dips

Fruit Salad.... Yummy Yummy

Oh no, I'm not subjecting you to the color-coded Wiggles...it's my seven year old turning her fruit salad into fruit kabobs... or as she's fondly named them: fruit-a-dips!

Here's how she did it... I promise you I only added some helpful hints~

 

We cut up the fruit into small pieces...

Tip: Firm fruits like blueberries, apples, grapes work best-the bananas didn't fair well.
Tip: Cut the apples into manageable slices, then lay them flat before kids do the slicing.

 

Making the Kabobs

My daughter recommended creating a pattern (might as well reinforce what she learned this year in math!)

Annie's Tip:
Place the blueberry on first + last to hold the fruit in place.

 

The Dip Ingredients

Plain or vanilla yogurt, then sugar/honey to taste.
The Star Wars spoon to mix is optional ;)

 

 
Adding a little something special.

Sprinkle cinnamon on top of the dip,
then use a toothpick to create a design.

 

More Tips...

Notice I double plated... the bottom plate makes it look cuter (well i think so ;0 ) + provides a place to drop the used toothpicks.

We also added a little rosemary from our herb garden and Annie suggested we place fruit pieces on the plate. ta-da!

Summer Series... Laundry

Welcome to my Summer Series... where I pick + choose my favorite blog posts to re-run because they deserve it ;) and I want a little time off this summer~

*this lil' didy is always in style

original post: January 28, 2008 Laundry- What Lives Together Dries Together

Yes, it's never ending... it's boring, it's all over the floor- it's what you wear and it needs constant attention.  Here's how I deal with laundry.... pick and choose which ideas may work for your lifestyle.  Laundry snobs turn your head and cover your ears because this is the lazy women's guide to staying on top of your dirty laundry.

• I do laundry on Sundays.  Sometimes I slip in a load during the week... but I find that on Sunday's my family is just hanging out and it's easier to ask for folding + put away help when you plop a load in front of the remote control!  I also LOVE that I'm NOT doing laundry EVERY day!
• One kid/room at a time.  I'm really lazy... my son's clothes tend to be all darks so his entire load... white socks and all go in the same load.  Now he's a wearing a larger size so he's up to 2 loads... one jeans, one everything else.  My daughter's clothes can all mix it up and my hubby and I... well I do separate our darks + whites and by texture: t-shirts in one load, jeans in another etc.
• What lives together, dries together.  This is my secret tactic for saving time and space!  When you pull the item out of the dryer- fold it and sort it.  Of course this requires you clear all the crap off the top of your machines... do that before you even hunker down to do laundry.  You'll have fewer piles because you're not sorting for 4 people- just one kid/room at a time. 
• A little accountability.  Here are my self accountability secret steps for keeping laundry from taking over my bed, couch, floor, life.  You've got to put it away immediately.  After folding and sorting, place clean piles in basket. Before you return them to their home base....add next load to the dryer then run the water for the next load. NOW you have to beat the clock!  Dash to put away the clean clothes and make it back in time to add dirty clothes before the swishing sounds begin... you can do it.... just don't get distracted by all the other crap you need to tackle as you wind your way from the laundry room to the closet.

And so the laundry saga continues, week in and week out!

A few more tidbits to satisfy you perfectionista's:

• I typically do linen's on Friday's... since that's the day I change the sheets. 
• I don't fold underwear....as long it's clean that's just fine with me.
• My black socks all match, my children wear white socks in 1 or 2 styles.  This really saves on sorting time.

Questions?  Comments?  Your fabulous little tidbits?  Do Share.....

Summer Series.... Twitter

Welcome to my Summer Series... where I pick + choose my favorite blog posts to re-run because they deserve it ;) and I want a little time off this summer~

original post March 14, 2009  What's Twitter?!

You've heard Anderson Cooper refer to it. The local news and now Ellen. But seriously, you say, I'm just figuring out Facebook! Ok here's the skinny.

Physically it looks like this: http://twitter.com/kristacolvin that's my profile page. Here is an example of a tweet I did.

  i'm doing chores and i don't even mind- take that mundane about 20 hours ago from TweetDeck

  

 

These are the most commonly asked questions I get from my girlfriends.

what is Twitter? It's an online cocktail party. You can listen + jump into a conversation if you'd like.  I say it's where "my present meets my future"... because of the opportunities I have to meet new people.

what is a"Tweet"? It's what you just wrote on twitter. So you "tweet" not "twittered".

what is an @ sign? The "at" sign is used before your twitter name. mine is @kristacolvin . So it's like saying "send this" to krista colvin.

what is a RT?  It stands for reTweet. It's used when sharing what someone else tweeted. It's like adding a by-line. example: I want to share something I read from Rebecca. I will send it out but 1st put the RT in front along with the authors name. RT @RebeccaShapiro {then insert her original tweet here}. Now everyone knows I like this info but am not the original author.

what is a # ? When you see a # "hashtag" like #todaysmom or #anything-written-after-it, It simply means you are tagging it and adding to the conversation on that topic.  Go to www.search.twitter.com input the #theOmyth and see the conversation.

I use the #theOmyth when I'm talking about my blog talk radio show The O Myth. I also use #gidg for "get it done girlfriend" when I'm kicking you in the spanx to knock out a project.

Do you use twitter on your phone?  I do sometimes. Mainly I just pop over to twitter when I'm already on the computer [which is A LOT]. You do not have to have each + every tweet sent to your phone.

Ok Class... any questions?

They Can Do it... with a little help from you

I'm sure my kids could be more self sufficient... how about yours? Summer is a great time to teach them a thing or two ;). How about letting the lil' ones get dressed all by themselves. Here's an easy tip to guide them down the right [matching] path!

• Place their outfits in a hanging bag in their closet. It’s easy to take a pair of pants, t-shirt, socks, and underwear and fold them together. 
• If the kids are bigger... why not teach them how to do their own laundry!

Would love to hear what tricks you're going to teach your kids this summer!

Summer Series... Road Tripping Travel Games

Welcome to my Summer Series... where I pick + choose my favorite blog posts to re-run because they deserve it ;) and I want a little time off this summer~

original post: July 13, 2008 Road Tripping- Travel Games part 3 in series

Part 1: Road Tripping-Survival Tips for Mom click here
Part 2: Traveling with kids click here

 

Clipboards!
Check out this adorable clipboard my neighbor Andrea made!  Andrea has a clipboard for each child that she has personalized with their names.  Each is adorned with blank paper so that they can draw to their little hearts desire.  She also shared with me this website www.puzzlemaker.com where I was able to make a word search puzzle using words of my choosing... now how cool is that?!  I opted for words related to our Lake Tahoe trip.  I added a couple of educational handouts leftover from the school year- wishful thinking... maybe.

What about this super cute Lap Desk... I got the pink striped one for my daughter!  Place a small plastic cup w/ coloring pencils or a few choice crayons in it.  I suggest using a little earthquake goo on the bottom of the cup so that it won't be able to tip over!  Place a couple of coloring books in the pocket in front of them and voila- the kids are good to create up a storm.

Games Galore old school + new school

Old School
Love the old stand-bys...  fyi: The clipboards would come in handy to keep track of your scores.

• Slug Bug
• Alpha order license plates
• Add up license plate numbers
• How many states can you find
• I spy

New School
Kid Chat + Travel Bingo are two fun ideas I discovered from www.TheOrganizedParent.com!  The Travel Bingo has pictures and words to make it easy for little ones to play along.  The Kid Chat would be great to keep in your glove box and whip out every so often when your traveling around town.  The book is little but full of questions to get your kids imagination flowin'.  I liked: "If you could know one thing about your future, what would you want to know?"

I also picked up a Brain Quest game from Target about 1100 things about America... haven't unwrapped it yet though... anyone have it /use it?

Any games you want to add....

Summer Series... function or fabulous?

Welcome to my Summer Series... where I pick + choose my favorite blog posts to re-run because they deserve it ;) and I want a little time off this summer~

original post July 26, 2008
Function or Fabulous... it's your call, they really should meet one another!

Which one of these tootsies belong to me?  Why no, those are not my stripper boots making a splash at the recent Billy Idol Concert at McMenamin's Edgefield....  those belonged to the gal sitting next to me, and WOW get a load of her die-hard fashion sense- it was about 90 that afternoon and I have to imagine she finished up the evening with a nasty rash ;0.  you think?

By now you've noticed my quite sensible choice in footwear.  Truth be told I'm not a shoe junkie- I'm probably one of the more Conservative gals when it comes to footwear.  I'm sure I'm going on summer #4 w/these sandals as I can't even recall where I got them.  I do however recall the pedicure ;)

My point sisters (someday I'll explain why I call you all that) is that

Every now + then we've got to make a choice: Function or Fabulous? 

I hear little voices.. Function sits on my left shoulder and Fabulous, well she whispers or is it whimpers, in my right ear.  Typically I can have the 2 come to an agreement.  Sometimes Function gets the edge especially when it comes to being on my feet (in grass mind you... really those spiky boots on grass-AERATE me baby).  Other times Fabulous dictates my accessories for the event. 

BUT I believe that if my 2-little voices arrive at a decision where FABULOUS MEETS FUNCTION then I'm lookin' and feelin' stylish, comfortable, + down right fabulous. 

OK sisters... weigh in on this one... function or fabulous? 

oh... here's a peek at billy... he was lookin' hot, hot in the city, hot in the city tonight... tonight.  i let out a little rebel yell and rushed the stage, white wedding for the spiky boot gal... monie-monie.  billy so has it going on.  my feet not so much.

Which one of these tootsies belong to me?  Why no, those are not my stripper boots making a splash at the recent Billy Idol Concert at McMenamin's Edgefield....  those belonged to the gal sitting next to me, and WOW get a load of her die-hard fashion sense- it was about 90 that afternoon and I have to imagine she finished up the evening with a nasty rash ;0.  you think?

By now you've noticed my quite sensible choice in footwear.  Truth be told I'm not a shoe junkie- I'm probably one of the more Conservative gals when it comes to footwear.  I'm sure I'm going on summer #4 w/these sandals as I can't even recall where I got them.  I do however recall the pedicure ;)

My point sisters (someday I'll explain why I call you all that) is that

Every now + then we've got to make a choice: Function or Fabulous? 

I hear little voices.. Function sits on my left shoulder and Fabulous, well she whispers or is it whimpers, in my right ear.  Typically I can have the 2 come to an agreement.  Sometimes Function gets the edge especially when it comes to being on my feet (in grass mind you... really those spiky boots on grass-AERATE me baby).  Other times Fabulous dictates my accessories for the event. 

BUT I believe that if my 2-little voices arrive at a decision where FABULOUS MEETS FUNCTION then I'm lookin' and feelin' stylish, comfortable, + down right fabulous. 

OK sisters... weigh in on this one... function or fabulous? 

oh... here's a peek at billy... he was lookin' hot, hot in the city, hot in the city tonight... tonight.  i let out a little rebel yell and rushed the stage, white wedding for the spiky boot gal... monie-monie.  billy so has it going on.  my feet not so much.

Which one of these tootsies belong to me?  Why no, those are not my stripper boots making a splash at the recent Billy Idol Concert at McMenamin's Edgefield....  those belonged to the gal sitting next to me, and WOW get a load of her die-hard fashion sense- it was about 90 that afternoon and I have to imagine she finished up the evening with a nasty rash ;0.  you think?

By now you've noticed my quite sensible choice in footwear.  Truth be told I'm not a shoe junkie- I'm probably one of the more Conservative gals when it comes to footwear.  I'm sure I'm going on summer #4 w/these sandals as I can't even recall where I got them.  I do however recall the pedicure ;)

My point sisters (someday I'll explain why I call you all that) is that

Every now + then we've got to make a choice: Function or Fabulous? 

I hear little voices.. Function sits on my left shoulder and Fabulous, well she whispers or is it whimpers, in my right ear.  Typically I can have the 2 come to an agreement.  Sometimes Function gets the edge especially when it comes to being on my feet (in grass mind you... really those spiky boots on grass-AERATE me baby).  Other times Fabulous dictates my accessories for the event. 

BUT I believe that if my 2-little voices arrive at a decision where FABULOUS MEETS FUNCTION then I'm lookin' and feelin' stylish, comfortable, + down right fabulous. 

OK sisters... weigh in on this one... function or fabulous? 

oh... here's a peek at billy... he was lookin' hot, hot in the city, hot in the city tonight... tonight.  i let out a little rebel yell and rushed the stage, white wedding for the spiky boot gal... monie-monie.  billy so has it going on.  my feet not so much.

Summer time... simple + savvy as it should be

click on the screen to view segment

Girlfriends... getting your summer-on is definitely a priority! I dedicate this one to you ;)

Create a “Function +  Fabulous” list!

FABULOUS:

• Toes in the sand

• Pick Blueberries

• Fresh Flowers

• Entertain

• Play Outside

FUNCTION: [how to make that fabulous happen!]

• Schedule it!

• Do your Research- online, etc.-create your file w/info

• Call your girlfriend

• Schedule it

Or… Be Ready for the impromptu

• Summer SHE bag in the car

• Keep Summer items by the back door: magazines, beach towel, sunscreen

• Grab a lil’ extra while you’re at the farmer’s market so you can easily invite neighbors over to join you on the patio…