Information Central

With 3 kids and our busy lives, it is often crazy to keep track of everyone's schedules. We have soccer practices, soccer games, tennis lessons, swimming lessons, softball games, tickets to baseball games, etc. It gets insane. So..what's a busy mom to do? I got a GIANT calendar that I hang in my kitchen and it keeps ALL our information. I have found this great calendar really works for me. I am not in any way affiliated with this organization - but just found this great resource at More Organized Mom.


The calendar is BIG. It is 11X17 and hangs on the wall using those big "L" hooks. It is great. There is space for everything we are doing, all the stuff we need to bring to preschool and school that day, and I use it to list what we are having for dinner each night. It is spiral bound and only printed on one side - so it is easy to flip ahead and add all your important dates and events.

I have been using it for 3 years, and it really works for me. For more tips, head on over to "We are That Family".

Talent???

In a month we leave for our annual week at the beach with friends. Yes, 14 adults and 14 kids will soon invade a beach house in Corolla, NC. CANNOT WAIT!

This year, we have decided to start a tradition of a family talent show. I think this could be really fun - but have NO idea where to start. Any ideas? Remember - we have 3 kids ages 7, (almost)5, and 2 1/2. The 2 1/2 year old is the real sticking point. Anyone got any cute ideas of something we can all do? Doesn't have to be long - 3-5 minutes is fine. Rock Band has been ruled not acceptable as family talent (which sucks, cuz we could do that!)

Budget Fashion

I have spoken before about my love for Goodwill and consignment shopping. Well, over at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam, they proposed a challenge to show your stuff. So here we go. This is a $10.99 dress from Goodwill, and some $14.75 shoes from Loemann's clearance. Gotta love it!

The Budget Fashionista shows off more of her finds, here! Check it out!

Pit Stop

Ok, I found out something a week ago that seriously changed my life. Do you ever see those women on the beach (or just wearing sleeveless clothes) that have perfectly shaved arm pits. I mean, it looks like there has never ever been hair under those arms?? It makes me crazy, and wondering what I am doing wrong. I have always assumed they waxed their underarms - something I could never imagine doing. But now I know the secret!!!

Do not shave your underarms in one direction. I have always shaved them from up to down. But if you shave them both up AND down and Side to side you will get rid of all the hair!!! Apparently arm pit hair grows in multiple directions, and so to get it all, you need to shave in all directions. I have done this now for a week, and it really works!! However - warning - I told a friend about it and she cut herself the first time she tried it - so be careful!

But for summer-sweet arms, this is what works for me! For more tips, visit Works for Me Wednesdays at We Are That Family!

Bad News Bears

K plays soccer. She is in the local league, and is still young enough that they are mixed gender and - most importantly - don't keep score. This is good. Except when we play 90% of the other teams in the league - who keep score themselves. and I don't mean the kids- I mean the parents. This is not a travelling league or anything - this is the little fun league you pay like $30 for, and it is simple and relaxing. except for the parents of the other kids. Seriously - this is soccer for 6 and 7 year olds. CHILL OUT!

I will admit, our team sucks. SUCKS. They often kick the ball to their end of the field, nowhere near the net, out of bounds, and cheer as if they scored a goal. We had a game a few weeks ago where only 5 of our players showed up, so instead of fielding 2 teams of 6x6, we had less than one. Last week the opposing team scored 4 goals in the first 5 minutes (not that we were keeping score). So we suck. But our kids are nice, and sweet, and don't knock the other kids down or talk smack (???!!!) to the other team. Who are these kids - more importantly who are the parents of these kids. CHILL OUT people!

But this week was heaven. At first we were nervous, we were playing a team with the same name and uniform as ours. We couldn't figure out how this would work. Luckily, the kids didn't care - and even more miraculously, the parents didn't care. The kids just went out there and had fun! They enjoyed playing with each other. We all cheered for the red team - which was EVERYBODY! The kids applauded each other when they did well. It was really fantastic.

I am all for competition - but these kids are 6-7. Give them a break, let them have fun. And this weekend was awesome. At the end we all (some of us very seriously) considered leaving the league and just having our two teams play each other for the rest of the season!

The Birds and the Bees

So we have yet to have "the talk" with any of the kids. K just turned 7. B is nearly 5 and Big Man is 2 1/2. I am not opposed to giving them information - but they haven't asked. A friend of mine just sat her nearly 7 year old down and told her the basics about sex. I don't feel like I need to do that yet. If K asked, I would tell her, but she hasn't.

Along the same lines, one of the families brought up the idea that this summer on our beach vacation (7 families - 13 kids under the age of 9), we should separate the kids rooms by boy/girl. Average age of the kids is about 6. We had the discussion, and decided it would make too big a thing of it to do it this year, so we are going to wait until next year. Frankly, I couldn't figure a way to tell the kids why we were doing it that didn't give them curiosity they don't currently have.

Am I totally naive? Like I said, if K asked, I would tell her at this point. But she hasn't. Do I need to sit her down and tell her? I was thinking I could wait a year or so. Thoughts?

Blog Readers

So I read a lot of blogs. (current count=136). I read mom blogs, crafting blogs, diet blogs, foodie blogs, a few political blogs, and shopping blogs.

I could NOT do it without a feed reader. Basically, a feed reader keeps track of all your favorite blogs so that you only read ones with new content. That means I can check in with all 136 blogs in about an hour, sometimes less. I love it.

I use Bloglines. It is not perfect - sometimes it has glitches- but I am used to it, and not prepared to have to move all 136 blogs to some other service. Unless someone has a really good one? I love feed readers, its what works for me! For other works for me tips, visit: http://www.wearethatfamily.com/2009/05/wfmw-my-organizing-secret.html