Wanna Be Balanced Mom: October 2010

Fun And Balanced Friday~ Week #7

If you're new to Fun and Balanced Fridays, then start HERE.

Click here to print the front.

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Why Do We Judge?

Do you ever wonder WHY we are so critical of one another? Why are we so quick to judge without really taking the time to get to know the person. I've been guilty of this more often than I'd like to admit. I get so mad when it happens to me, but don't even realize how OFTEN I do this myself. If we all just took a little more time to get to know each other, I bet we'd learn some pretty amazing things.

Last weekend I had yet another opportunity to get together with a group of fellow bloggers. It was the same group of girls I got together with last month, plus a few more! We ended up getting to know one another way more than we anticipated. We started playing a little game where one person asked a question, then we went around the room allowing each one of us the opportunity to answer. Some of the questions included, "What is your greatest accomplishment"? and "What is your biggest regret"? It was so much fun getting to know each one of these ladies, and realized I hadn't been doing enough of this kind of stuff... taking the time to REALLY get to know someone. I think sometimes we all get so caught up in ourselves and forget to look outward, truly noticing others and expressing genuine interest and concern in someone other than ourselves. We're all so technologically advanced these days, which means our eyes are constantly glued to our phones checking emails, texting, and updating our own "status updates", instead of taking a look around, seeing people for who they really are and not what we THINK they are.

We all desire true friendships, connecting with others, feeling liked, appreciated, admired, important. It's nice when you have the opportunity to meet people who genuinely and sincerely want to be your friend. I've mentioned before that growing up we moved so much that I barely had the chance to build long lasting friendships with anyone. I remember wanting friends more than anything, and would cry to my dad about it. I'll never forget his wise words, "If you want a friend, you've got to be a friend". This was such great advice for me. It really pushed me to stop whining and DO something about it. It forced me to be more outgoing, and try harder to be the friend I so desperately wanted.
I really love the book How To Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. Here are a few great quotes directly from his book.

Remember that a person's name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.
Make the other person feel important - and do it sincerely.
Let the other person do a great deal of the talking.
The world is full of people who are grabbing and self-seeking. So the rare individual who unselfishly tries to serve others has an enormous advantage. He has little competition.
You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.
If we want to make friends, let's put ourselves out to do things for other people - things that require time, energy, unselfishness and thoughtfulness.

Fun And Balanced Friday~ Week #6

If you're new to Fun and Balanced Friday, start HERE for week 1-5.

Click here to print the front.

Click here to print the back.

Click here to print activities.

Fun And Balanced Friday~ Week #5

This week has been a great week. I've been really lovin having these meal plans. Meal times have been such a breeze! Anyway, we celebrated Lily's birthday this week and I plan to share a little about what we did. I have a GREAT recommendation for little girl parties.

For more meal plans start HERE.

To print front click here.

To print the back click here.

Click here to print activities.

My Craft Room

Today I wanted to show you what my craft room looks like. I'm actually in the process of organizing it, and have been on the search for some cute storage baskets and bins. I've been looking at the CSN Stores website, they have over 200 online stores where you can find everything from stylish handbags, to modern bar stools, or great cookware! They have a great selection of organizational products as well. Here are a few of the things from their website that stood out to me.

Winsome Capri Foldable Fabric Storage Baskets

LaMont Dry Erase 3 Piece Basket Set

Venture Horizon Craft Table w/ Drawer

Now here are the pictures of my craft room, as you can see it's in need of a little organizing :).

If you'd like to see more rooms in my house, click HERE.

*I received a gift card from the CSN stores for mentioning their website.

Tackling House Projects

It's no secret that the list of house projects is NEVER ending. Not only do we have constant dishes and laundry to keep up on, we also have to periodically do things like, organizing drawers and closets, getting rid of old stuff, cleaning out the car and so on. I've made this printable list for you all to use. It's a list of typical house projects. Print it off then add anything else you need in order to personalize it to fit YOU. Then laminate so you can check off items on your list and use over and over again.
The key is to not give yourself TOO much to do on any given day, that's why my goal is to pick only ONE of these projects and work on them over the course of the week. Give yourself an allotted amount of time each day, even if it's only 15 min. Set aside that time to tackle those chores one project at a time.

Click HERE to print this form.

If you're new here and would like more of these kinds of printouts, be sure to check out my weekly meal plans and list of activities to do with your kids. Start HERE.

Fun And Balanced Friday~ Week #4

If you're new to our 52 Weeks of Balance project, then start with week #1 HERE.

Click HERE to print front.

Click HERE to print the back.

Click HERE to print activities.

Oh and by the way, the winner of the giveaway is Sara @ Domestically Challenged!!!

Twins!

No, I'm not pregnant with twins. Actually not pregnant at all, that I know of. If you read my "Thinking Maternity" post, then you'd know that it's very much a possibility for me to be pregnant, not with twins though :). Don't worry I'll keep you all posted AS SOON as it happens :). Anyway, the real reason for this post is to tell you about Lily's new favorite doll.

I got this stuff for her as a back to school gift. Actually we already had the doll, and it's not an American girl doll, we got it from Costco last year for $35. They are selling them again right now for Christmas, you can find them online too. The outfits are from K-Mart and they're called What A Doll Girls. You can buy the dolls there too but I personally didn't think they were as cute as the Costco ones:) The outfit sets are only $25 in stores and $20 online. I just went online and bought her a few more outfits to give to her as birthday gifts. She's turning the big "5" this month, and she's extremely excited about it.

Here are some of the other outfits they have.

These pajama's are only $10

There is another company called My Twin, that sells all kinds of cute stuff like this, but WAY expensive. Here are some of the things I've been eyeing, and MAYBE I'll have to splurge on this adorable doll bunk bed for one of Lily's Christmas presents.

And I just wanted to throw in these recent pictures I took of little Olly and his daddy. I'm pretty proud of the way they turned out, thanks to my wonderful friend Carrie. She's teaching me some of her skills.

Oh, and I would sure love it if you voted for me today on Top Mommy Blogs. The numbers were reset again, gives other bloggers a chance to be in the top 25, so now back to square one for everyone. I really appreciate you all so much!!! It's simple to vote, just click on this icon, then click on the "click to vote" and you're done. You don't have to register or go searching for my blog on their website, it's that easy :)

New Stylish Coat And Cute Skirts!!!

I've done a little more shopping recently, and of course I want to show you what I got, where I got it, and how much it was. I've kind of developed some subconscious shopping rules. I have limits on how much I'll spend on certain items. For example, I won't spend more than $200 on ANYTHING. I think that purses, boots and coats that cost any more than that are INSANELY over priced. I think $100 for a pair of jeans or boots is a little much, but I've come to terms with it. As much as I've tried to find a cute pair of great fitting and comfortable jeans for less than that price, I realized they are few and far between. So I allow myself ONE new pair of boots, and ONE new pair of jeans every fall season. Same goes with coats or jackets. I haven't found my new pair of boots or jeans for this year, but I DID find my coat, and I absolutely LOVE it!!!!

Don't you just adore the corset- tie back!!! I got it from Bebe for $159. It was a little pricey, but I couldn't resist!!! When I looked on the website for this jacket, couldn't find it, but I did find one almost exactly the same. Everything about it is the same except the material. The link I used will take you directly to the coat I'm talking about. I bet they still have the one I got in stores now. It's only been a week since I purchased it.

I got the boots last year from Nordstroms, and the leggings from Kohls.

I got both of these cute vintage looking skirts from Sweet Briar Hollow. They were around $40 each, can't remember exactly, but I just LOVE them. I got the necklace from them as well, but got it last year so I'm not sure if they still have this exact one.
Sweet Briar Hollow. I get all my basic t-shirts from Downeast . I always get every color at the beginning of each summer, the shirts are only $10 and they are so comfortable. They sell long sleeve shirts too, and I usually get a bunch of different colors in the fall as well.