kids Archives - Musings Of A Multi-Tasking Mom

A Day In The Life Of A Work From Home Mom

May 16, 2015 | Leave a Comment

One of the most common things I hear from people is asking how I balance everything. The truth is, some days I do a horrible job at it!!! But on those days, I look at what I can do better and consider it a learning experience. Part of parenting is just going with the flow so sometimes I get a lot accomplished…others days NOTHING! But I’ve learned balanced, and to work smarter, not harder. Here is a normal day for me!

5am- Wakeup and workout time. Im a much better mom and person when I get my daily sweat on. Not to mention I feel so much more productive!

6am- QUICK shower as my oldest 2 wake up not long after 6.

7am- Breakfast and coffee and the baby wakes up.

8am- Park time and walk. We have 4 parks withing 15 minutes and all have awesome trails so we go every morning. I get a walk in first and then we play!

10am- Baby takes a nap and this is my work time. My oldest 2 play games, draw,do puzzles and work on colors and letters during this time too.

12pm- Lunch time!

1-3pm- Play time which usually consists of pool, back yard, or bike riding

3pm- Nap time for baby! My daughter also usually takes a short nap and my oldest has a craft box I pull out during this time. I try and get a little work done!

5:30pm- Dinner time

6:00pm- Playing outside or going for an evening walk as a family.

7pm- Baby Liam gets sung to and tucked in by the whole family

8pm- Will and Adalyn go to bed (hopefully)

8pm- Time with my hubby

9pm- work for a few minutes and then BED!

It’s a busy life, I stick to my schedule as best as I can, and I remember to enjoy every moment of it as whats most important is having time with my family!!!

Finding Balance

April 25, 2015 | 1 Comment

When people see that I work from home, they often think I have it all together and am “Supermom”. Well, sorry to burst some bubbles, but that is totally false!!! I’m like every single person out there, struggling to accomplish it all and some days forgetting to brush my teeth!! Most days I don’t wear an ounce of makeup (except mascara!!), am in gym clothes, and run around all day long. I have days where I feel super overwhelmed and think I have way too much on my plate. And its moments like that I have to take a step back and remember what is most important.

I have three healthy, beautiful, smart children!!! I get to spend all day, every day, with them!!! Working from home has helped my family tremendously, I’ve paid off my school loans and my SUV (HUGE happy dance from that this week)! I have so much to be thankful for!!! So the laundry might only get done once a week, the grass needed to be cut two weeks ago, and my wardrobe only includes gym clothes. But who cares!!! I’m always been very OCD, but slowly and surely, I’m learning to go with the flow a bit more.

Balance is still something I struggle with. My husband works a weird shift so really only has one full day off right now. The funny thing is, that doesn’t bother me. The kids and I are always on the go as we FINALLY live in an area where we have stuff to do! I can run errands, take them to the park, go for hikes with my aunt, we have fun stuff to do everyday!!! I don’t think we have been bored once since we moved to GA. It’s a freeing feeling to have options and not be stuck in the house all day!!

The only negative has been my work. I’ve been so busy with the kids, and my husband’s schedule is different, the time to “work” I had each day has changed. At first I got stressed. I have worked hard to build my business and to make an income from home. But then I remembered why I was working, to help my family!!! We have paid off so much debt, and now my income goes directly towards my kids college funds!!!! That’s an amazing feeling in itself to accomplish that while being home with my kids each day. For many people, my family included, money can be stressful and to remove that issue has been a huge weight off my husband and I’s shoulders.

I’m sticking more to a schedule to help with the work time I have. I get up early and that’s my exercise time. I also use that time to make my “to-do” list for the day. On that list I make sure to include the most important items, and the ones that can be done that day, or another day. That’s a huge help with keeping me on track and making sure I accomplish what HAS to be done each day.

The truth is, most people do NOT have it all figured out. We all struggle with getting things done and prioritizing. For me, the number one priority is my kids. I want them to be able to do after school activities, take fun family vacations, and go to college. So on the days I feel stressed, I remember my goals are for them and that reminds me to take a step back, figure out a new way to achieve balance, and when all else fails, go swing at the park. Because sunshine and the laugher of my kids reminds me of the important things in life!!

The Drive

March 31, 2015 | 1 Comment

My biggest fear with our move from Virginia to Georgia was the drive. My oldest son gets car sick, and my youngest hates the car. Luckily my daughter enjoys car rides so at least I had one I didn’t have to worry about. The scary part for me was the fact I was driving by myself with all three of them!

Our goal was to leave around 5am so they would sleep a few hours in the car….ya, that didn’t happen! About 30 minutes into the drive Will started getting sick and asking me to stop. Then after we stopped, Adalyn, who never gets sick, started getting sick!! And of course this made the baby wake up so it was a car full of nerves! To add to that, I’m not a big night driver and the highway we were on was all semis. I don’t know if its just me, but they have some crazy lights on those trucks and I swear I felt like I could hardly see the road.

It took us about 2hrs to go 60 miles. I’m not sure who was crying more at the start of the trip, me or the kids haha. I had a nice long chat with God though and one of my best friends said the words I needed to hear, “You can do this!” For me, nothing is worse than when my kids are miserable and it breaks my heart to hear them upset or in pain. It was the longest drive of my life, but we all made it and decided no more long car rides for the next 10 years haha!!!

I did learn some interesting things after spending 13hrs in a car…..

Nacho Doritos are great for kids with an upset stomach! That was the only thing Will would eat and he kept it down!!! Who would have thought?!?!
Rest stops have great outdoor areas for kids to run around!!! And for Mom’s to do some walking lunges and wake up a bit haha
DVD’s players in cars REALLY need a remote control!!! It is super hard to try and push those buttons while on a highway!!!
If your child gets car sick, you can NEVER have too many trash bags in your car. And even if your child doesn’t get sick, have them anyway and space them out around the car!!! Trust me, this is VERY important!!
Kelly Clarksons Heart Beat Song is GREAT to dance to in the car to wake yourself up!!! And it apparently provides amusement for other drivers too!
The first hour and the last hours are the longest parts of a car ride! You need a recording of yourself saying “No, we aren’t there yet!” so you don’t go hoarse.
If your child is watching a new movie, don’t interrupt to ask them if they need to go to the bathroom. They would rather hold it than have to pause their movie.
Cars with third rows should come with a “stretch arm” so you can hand things back to the child riding in that row. Especially when everyone in the second row is sound asleep.
It never fails, the moment all 3 kids fall asleep, you are going to run out of gas!!!!
Coffee is great to keep you alert….but it does cause more bathroom breaks!
Nothing feels as good as when your feet touch the ground!!!!

Live Like A Girl

February 4, 2015 | 1 Comment

I am a very structured person. I like lists, I like plans, and I like order. And I have 3 kids under the ages of 5. Having kids has been a great lesson to me on living in the moment, knowing whats important, and getting my priorities in order. My middle child, Adalyn, teaches me that daily!!! At 3 years old she dances to the beat of her own drum, ignores rules and order, is her own boss and lives like a fierce and fabulous girl.

If you need a giggle, here is a normal week with Adalyn.

Going into Lowes to use the restroom, she announces “I’m wearing boy underwear today!! I stole it from Will!”

De-cluttering my closet, she pulls everything from the trash pile “Mom, can I keep this?? Yes or No.” “No, put it back in the trash” “Mom, Yes or No. But NOT No!”

“Mom, while you put Liam to sleep I colored my belly. Its pink!!”

On what to have for breakfast: “CHOCOLATE!!! Lots of CHOCOLATE!”

“For Halloween, Im going to be Astrid!!! Not a princess! A dragon rider!” (From How To Train Your Dragon)

On why she was closing all the doors in the house ” BECAUSE I WANT TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

Her Current Favorite Songs: Timber, Shake It Off, and Let It Go

Her Favorite Activity: Taking care of her “one baby Liam”

On what she wants to be when she grows up “I want to wear Lipstick and give shots!”

Favorite Superhero: Pink Ones

Favorite Food: Ice Cream and Broccoli

Spending time with Adalyn reminds me that being yourself is the best person to be. She is the middle child with an older and younger brother, and boy is she FIERCE! Sure she is only 3, but she sings even when she doesn’t know the words, she dances to her own beat, she dresses like she is a superhero princess, she tries to fly and doesn’t cry when she fall, and she says whatever is on her mind. My wish for her is that she never changes and always embraces every part of herself that makes her different from others. And that she always remembers that being a girl means she is strong, fierce, beautiful, and capable of anything she wants! #likeagirl

Christmas Is About Love

December 9, 2014 | Leave a Comment

For many people Christmas is a very stressful time of year. But that’s because we get lost in the hussel and bussel of things and forget the real meaning of Christmas. The fact that we all are loved and precious in the eyes of God!!! I feel Christmas is too materialized and gift gifting, instead of giving LOVE!!! To me, that is what the Holiday is all about, love!!!

One way I avoid getting stressed during the Holidays is not concentrating on giving expensive gifts. I guess that makes me cheap, but instead we find a family in need and give money to them. My husband and I are lame and normally we buy our own gifts haha. But to us, with 3 little kids and no family near to help, the best gift is a nice take out dinner and a movie on the couch. Quality time is what we enjoy!!

We do have a VERY large extended family and I feel bad not sending them gifts, so we have the kids do home made presents!! Again, some may call me cheap, but to me a home made gift may cost less BUT it takes a LOT more time and is done with love. Let me tell you, trying to decorate cards with a 4 1/2, 3 and 6 month old is NOT easy at all. But that is something my kids took time making. That is something I searched for high and low. It is something we spent a lot of time on and made with love vs just quickly picking up. In most cases, our homemade gifts takes days to finish. And the excitement from my kids is priceless!! They love the idea that we are making and mailing presents to the people they love. When I tell them, this is going on someone you loves fridge, they light up and work so hard to make it pretty. That right there is priceless because they truly are sending LOVE!!!

So what are some good homemade gifts??? All you Mom’s are going to hate me, but painting cards is a great one! Check out the card we do. I made the design myself and then printed it on card-stock. Feel free to save you use!!! I let them fingerpaint and decorate the outside, then we sit and write each of their names (helping them) on the inside. They love decorating cards with paint….just make sure you get the washable kind HAHA!!! We also put a family photo in there. You can get them developed for pretty cheap at online sites like Snapfish and even find online coupons to save more.

Another great gift we like is homemade ornaments. You have a lot of options with these and Pinterest is a great site to use for more ideas!! This year we bought a pack at Michaels that was 25% off and they are stickers…..not my favorite idea haha! We also did homemade salt magnets (directions at the bottom) or you can do homemade salt dough ornaments! Another great idea is potholders with handprints, ornaments with handprints, or plates with handprints. For me personally, I prefer things they can sit and paint as they get more time painiting vs just doing a handprint. The longer they can paint, the happier they are!!

SALT DOUGH ORNAMENTS

Ingredients:

A cup salt

2 cups of flour

¾ cup of water

Instructions:

In a large bowl mix salt and flour together.
Gradually stir in water. Mix well until it forms a doughy consistency.
Turn the dough onto the bench and kneed with your hands until smooth and combined.
Make your creations using the salt dough. (I use cookie cutters for designs)
If you are making ornaments, make sure to poke a hole for a string.
Place the salt dough creations into the oven at 180C. The amount of time needed to bake depends on the size and thickness of the salt dough creations.

Tips

Store your salt dough in an air tight container as it keeps well for a few days.
You can paint your creations with any-type of paint
Salt dough can also be aired dried and is an alternative to oven drying.
Let the kids decorate the salt dough creations, they have so much fun with it!!
Use the salt dough to make ornaments, magnets, and all sorts of keep sake items!

SALT DOUGH ORNAMENTS

Ingredients:

Instructions:

Tips

Amazon Associates Disclosure