The Christmas season officially began in my house on Saturday – just two short days after Thanksgiving. My family has never decorated so early for Christmas, but since one of my daughters just LOVES Christmas, and couldn’t wait to get the Christmas tree up, I just had to oblige the very first day we had some time. My daughter is so looking forward to Christmas that the minute we came home from our Thanksgiving celebration, she donned her felt Santa Christmas hat. Christmas Organization Thanks to some organizing I did just after last Christmas, I was able to get the Christmas tree up Continue reading...
Pampered Chef-Style Chicken Fajita Dinner
I had a Pampered Chef party at my home last Friday, and it was a lot of fun. For the party, a Pampered Chef consultant came over and demonstrated the Pampered Chef's cooking tools and products. For my guests, she made a great chicken fajita recipe in my kitchen’s microwave in only 14 minutes. She used the Pampered Chef deep covered baker to make the dinner recipe. I was quite impressed – the Pampered Chef covered stoneware casserole dish that she used made the chicken nice and juicy – not rubbery, like one would expect from the microwave. I immediately wanted to order the Pampered Chef deep Continue reading...
Cleaning Out the Toy Chests
Ever since my kids were tots, we’ve kept their wooden toy boxes in our living room. The living room, which is only furnished with an upright piano, was the perfect place for them to play in. The plush carpeting was nice for them to play on and cushioned their falls, and the room’s location just off the kitchen made it easy for me to keep an eye on them while I was cooking. But now that my kids are both 9, I am hoping to move the toy chests downstairs into a basement playroom. I would love to turn the living room into more of an adult living space, and furnish it with a small loveseat and a Continue reading...
Storage for Kids Rooms
Finding enough storage in children’s bedrooms can be tough, but if you buy furniture and accessories with storage in mind, you should be able to find plenty of storage for kids rooms. My daughters, 8, are twins and naturally enjoy sharing a room together. So, when I chose the children's furniture for their room, I chose children's furniture that would give us the most space as possible for storing their things. Their room is fairly large, but not that big, considering that we must fit two twin beds in there, a dresser, and as many places as possible to stash all their toys. So, Continue reading...
Readers’ Favorite MomHomeGuide Posts
MomHomeGuide.com has been up and running for a few months now, so I thought I'd share with you some of readers' favorite posts! As a mom, I've been obsessed with how to turn my home's unfinished basement into a useable space for my kids to play in, and it seems that a lot of moms and parents have the same concern, because the posts I've written about how to fix up a basement on the cheap are the website's most popular stories! Mudrooms are also a favorite topic with moms -- we need an organized space to stash our family's shoes and coats without cramping our home's style! I'm still working Continue reading...
Time to “Boo” the Neighbors!
It’s that time of year again – it’s time to “boo” the neighbors! We started a little Halloween tradition last year in our neighborhood where kids and families take turns “booing” each other, secretly leaving fun little packages of treats, toys and goodies by a neighbor’s door. We are new to the tradition, but the Halloween tradition is popular in many neighborhoods across the country. Booing the neighbors is sort of like “Secret Santa,” where the gift recipient is left to guess who the gift giver is – but this fun activity is a fall tradition instead of a Christmas one. Our Own Continue reading...
Organization Spree: The Kitchen
I've been on an organizing kick lately. This year, I've blogged frequently about how I'd like to create a fun, but clean basement playroom for my kids. (Check out my posts on my plans for fixing up our unfinished basement on the cheap). My kids currently have a play space in our unfinished basement, but the toys are stored in open storage, which makes the basement playroom space look messy. Plus, since the basement is unfinished, the only color in the space (besides the toys) is the drab gray of the basement floors and walls. I like what the folks at mom blog, My Blessed Home, did for Continue reading...
Learning How to Ride a Bike
Last week, when my daughters' schools were closed for two days for the Rosh Hashanah holiday, I was finaly able to cross a big item off this mom's to-do list. My daughters learned how to ride their bikes! My kids have been riding their bikes -- with training wheels -- for a a few years now. I was nervous about the whole teaching-them-how-to-ride-a-bike thing, and wasn't really sure how to go about it. Plus, my kids never really rode their bikes too much (up until last week), so I wasn't sure whether they were ready to make the no-training-wheels leap just yet. Off with the Continue reading...
Pretty Craft Flowers for a Rainy Day
One rainy day a few days ago, my daughters and I broke out the "Growing Gardens" Kiwi Crate that we received in the mail. My kids had a wonderful time! In the crate was enough craft supplies for my kids to create two adorable craft flowers each out of paper cut outs and pipe cleaners. The craft was simple enough that my girls (both 9) were able to create their flowers completely on their own, without any guidance from me. After they made their flowers, they used the colored clay that comes with the kit to decorate the four Kiwi Crate cardboard pots. I was impressed with the pretty designs Continue reading...
What’s For Lunch: Cookie-Cutter Sandwiches
My kids wanted sandwiches for lunch today, so I decided to jazz up their usual salami/cheese and turkey/cheese sandwiches by cutting fun shapes out with cookie cutters. I simply made the sandwiches (making sure to place the meat and cheese so they will stay in the sandwich once cut), and cut the sandwiches into shapes with some of my cookie cutters. I have a large heart-shaped cookie cutter, and cookie cutters for each of my daughters' first initials, so I used those. I used a smaller heart cookie cutter to top each heart sandwich with a smaller heart-shaped piece of cheese. Below are Continue reading...