blog love Archives - Farmhouse Chic Blog

{ Introducing LauRae! }

April 1, 2013 by Fotini Filed Under: blog feature, blog love, Jamberry, Jamberry nails, nails 1 Comment

About Me

Hi ladies! My name is LauRae and I am a Jamberry Nails Independent Consultant. I work full time for a Baseball and Softball training facility and have my degree in what can be looked at traditionally as a guy’s world (Sports & Rec Management). Despite all this, I am still quite the girly girl- I enjoy fashion, crafts, cooking, and gardening too.

When I first learned about Jamberry Nails I was filled with excitement. What really did it for me was how easy it was and how little of a mess it was compared to polish as well as the staying power they had compared to other decals. I live in Arizona so my polish never lasted long in the sun and the pool. I also have pets, so every time I did my nails I almost had to lock myself away until they dried so my dogs wouldn’t smudge it or get their fur all over! With Jamberry you can change up your nails whenever you want and get the look like you just left a salon in the comfort of your home… for me it tends to be when my husband is watching something dumb on TV! 😮

So what exactly are Jamberry Nails?

The story of Jamberry Nails begins with three sisters who possess distinct personal tastes, but share a love for style. After an expensive afternoon together at the nail salon, Lyndsey, Christy and Keri vowed to find a simpler, more cost effective way to keep their hands looking polished, while still spending time together.

After lots of trial and error, the proprietary nail wraps of Jamberry Nails launched in late 2010. The DIY, at-home application and incredible variety of designs caught on quickly and sales soared. A new era of nail art was born. Gone are the days of nails that chip and flake after only a few days! Gone are the days of mani/pedis that take all afternoon and most of your cash, too! Jamberry Nails arm you with style and confidence, while demanding very little of your time or money.

With more than 250 designs to choosefrom, Jamberry puts signature style at your fingertips. Application is easy, clean unpolished nails and push back cuticles, hold the sheet over your nails to find the correct size, peel off nail wrap and warm it with portable heater or hair dryer until it is soft and flexible. Press shield on your nail and apply pressure throughout with focus on the edges. Trim off excess with scissors and simply file in a downward motion to remove the excess. Apply heat and pressure one more time, and you are done! (quick application video)

In addition to our catalog of designs, and what I am most excited about is what is NEW for Spring and Summer 2013 is our Nail Art Studio. The Jamberry Nail Art Studio allows you upload your own images and design custom nail wraps. http://ldivito.jamberrynails.net/nas/

Get my special! Right now I have a buy three get one free sale going on (does not include Nail Art Studio).

If you have any questions, please contact me at any time!

{ Blog Feature: The Lovely Bohemian }

March 28, 2013 by Fotini Filed Under: blog feature, blog love, blogger, feature 7 Comments

Hey everyone! I’m Denise over at The Lovely Bohemian. My blog is all about my lifelong search for adventure and my need for the life of a bohemian. I’ve been blogging for a little over 4 years now and it mostly started out as an online diary, but now it’s grown into so much more than that. It’s a place where I can write my everyday thoughts and happenings and connect with people just like me. I was raised by a former-hippie mother who always taught me to be myself and constantly strive to be free. I never completely understood what she meant by “free” until I hit the age of 18 and realized I no longer wanted to live in my small hometown. My blog is a place where I can share my overwhelming desire to get out. To travel all over, to see everywhere, to experience everything. To truly be bohemian.

Follow along:

Bloglovin >> Instagram >> Twitter >> Facebook

{ Fab Pins of the Week }

February 15, 2013 by Fotini Filed Under: blog love, fab pins of the week, flowers, Pinterest, Spring 2 Comments

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1. We will be re-doing our formal dining room furniture this Spring, and it closely resembles this large piece in this photo. I ADORE the two tone, yet sophisticated look of this entire design!!

2. This tub, oh my goodness!!! How absolutely incredible is it? Sure way to add class to any bathroom style!

3. Really loving this combination of mint green, gray and gold! The accessories really make it for me! Love the chunky gold bracelet and necklace!

4. My favorite part about Spring is the gorgeous flowers it entails! What a stunning bouquet of dahlias ranunculus, lisianthus and brunia berries.

Are you following me on Pinterest yet? Click HERE!

{ iPad Mini Giveaway!!! }

February 14, 2013 by Fotini Filed Under: blog love, free, freebies, giveaway, ipad, ipad giveaway, ipad mini 2 Comments

1 // 2 // 3 // 4

5 // 6 // 7 // 8

9 // 10 // 11 // 12

13 // 14 // 15 // 16

17 // 18 // 19 // Me

Just a few rules before we get this par-tay started

*You must complete all the mandatory entries or you will be disqualified.

*Please make sure you give additional info where asked- it makes it easier to verify when you win 🙂

*Please see all the terms and conditions on the Rafflecopter.

*It’s not mandatory, but you may want to thank some of the lovely ladies above for hosting this awesome giveaway!

And of course do all the entries you can to increase your chances, I won an iPad mini in December from a blog giveaway so it really is possible!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

{ MC: Balancing Your Time & Attention }

January 12, 2013 by Fotini Filed Under: balancing your time, blog love, kids, mommy panel, The Mom Connection 6 Comments

I am part of an AWESOME mommy panel with Cassie from Two In Diapers and Julie from Naptime Review.

Each Saturday, we will bring you fresh new ideas and advice about motherhood.

If you enjoyed what you read, we encourage you to tweet about it!

Coming on January 19th, we will discuss:

What is your favorite indoor activity when it’s too cold to play outside?

Now on to this week’s topic!

Balancing your time and attention with more than one child!

Here is what Mom Connection shared:

Welcome! I’m Julie over at Naptime Review. I am a mom of two wild, crazy and beautiful girls. My oldest just turned 4 and my baby is 16 months old. This is how I balance my time and attention between my children:

When my first child came into my world she became my world. I put my career on hold and wanted nothing more than to be with her. She got all my time and attention. When Alice came, I was very worried about how her arrival would affect the oldest. I also worried about being able to give Alice everything I gave Averie. I tried very hard to make Averie feel special knowing that babies can be very demanding. I think I focused my attention more on Averie. I am trying to shift that attention and make it more equally balanced now that Alice is getting older.

When the oldest is at preschool or at a friends house, I give the baby FULL attention. Meaning, I have weekly play dates at Little Gym. Even if Averie’s schedule changes, I still keep our Little Gym time. I drop Averie off at Grandma’s and enjoy my time with Alice. When Averie isn’t around, I try to get on the floor and read stories and play with Alice. In fact, Averie had a play date last weekend, and instead of cleaning the house, I just played with Alice. It was fun! I knew my house could wait until tomorrow but when would be the next time for the baby to get some QT with Mommy!

With Averie, I try to schedule our quality time. I really have noticed that when Averie and I do something special without the baby, she really shines and enjoys that one-on-one time. Therefore, once a month I try to take Averie somewhere special and fun. We go on “Mommy dates.” So far we have enjoyed, Tea with Cinderella at the Magic House, lunch outings, tea parties with other friends, and just running errands alone. Those are the moments, I think are very special and memorable for both mommy and Averie.

So when the baby gets older, I plan on dating both my kids regularly. In fact, I am enlisting the help of my husband for this mission. We will each date and swap with children monthly. I think it is very important for Daddy’s, especially with girls to get that quality one-on-one time. I am sure my children will enjoy Home Depot and the Golf Galaxy right?

So my answer to balancing time and attention is to schedule one-on-one dates with your children!

Hi! I’m Cassie from Two In Diapers, and I’m a mommy to three sweet babies, ages 4, 3, and 18 months.

This is how I balance my time and attention between my children:

Wow… this topic is very close and personal with my life! With my three babies spaced 19 months apart each in age and a hope for one or two more in the future, this is something that I have to be conscious of daily.

My answer is… there is no way to do it perfectly. There’s just not, no matter how hard you try. But I believe it’s possible to do it well, and that is my daily goal. I strive to give special time and attention to each child in a way that fits their own unique needs. Whether this means a daily post-nap snuggle with three-year-old Bentley, 10 minutes to read Emily a book while the boys play, grabbing just one child for a trip to the grocery store, or taking advantage of a neighborhood babysitter occasionally to pick Emily up from school and enjoy her bear hug with both arms and really listen to her chatter on the way home.

So I suppose my answer is… it’s different with each family and each child each day, but I think sneaking in those moments of undivided attention randomly throughout the day when they are needed is the key to making each child feel loved, special and unique. I heard/read somewhere that the sign of a good mom is when each of her children is absolutely sure that he or she is her favorite. I’m really not sure who I heard this from, but I think it’s adorable and definitely one of my goals – to make each child feel uniquely special to and loved by me.

My name is Alexa from No Holding Back. I am the mom of Nayner Bug (male, 5), Jelly Bean, (female, 3) and Tiny (female, 1). This is how I balance my time and attention between my children:

When I found out I was pregnant with my second child, I was scared because of this very topic. I was afraid I would never be able to love a child as much as I loved the first one and that I’d never have any quality time with my children. Well I was definitely wrong on the first account – who knew one person could hold so much love in their heart??? But the second one requires constant awareness. Originally the word that came to mind was “effort” but I don’t want to use that word with relation to spending time with my kids. So awareness is a better word choice.

It is so easy to get caught up in everything going on around us, especially now with three kids. School schedules, appointments, dance lessons, playdates, and all of the other things taking up time in our lives with small children. Honestly, I am still working on the balancing act. Not only do I have three children to balance, I have my duties as CEO of the household, and my writing. And my spiritual life and my social life, which are also both very important to me. I do have some dedicated one on one time. I take the 3 year old with me to run errands on the weekends so that we have some girl time. Every night before bed I say prayers with each child individually and I read for about 20 minutes with the two older children. Usually separately so it is their own time with me. We have dinner as a family each night and the 5 year old tells us all about his adventures and his day. I’m sad to say at this point, that’s about where it stops. I am terrible at balancing in general! I am focusing on doing projects with the kids, but we usually do them as a group. But even though I’m not able to spend a large amount of individual one on one time with them, I do make sure to pay them each individual attention. We get into tickle fights, play hide and seek, dance, or I just snuggle with them and tell them I love them a million times a day.

My name is Fotini! I blog over at Glamorous Affordable Life. I am the mom of (Isabella 20 months and Christian 6 years). This is how I balance my time and attention between my children:

For the most part, I would really like to think I share my time and attention evenly between my children, husband and home. But, it’s something I tend to get too comfortable with. It’s been a big adjustment for Christian having a little sister. He was the “baby” for five years before Isabella came along, so that is something we’re all still getting used to. He is an amazing big brother in so many ways but at times I can see he’s getting jealous of how I talk to her or how much time I still spend holding her and loving on her. It’s really important for me to give him the same attention I give her! He was my first baby and is growing into such a smart, loving little boy! I make it a part to spend one-on-one time with Christian while Isabella naps during the day (for 1-2 hours) and once Isabella is in bed each evening. We play games, watch movies and cuddle. Throughout the day, I try my best to get us involved in activities we can all enjoy so he can “enjoy” Isabella and love her more than resent her.

One Saturday, at least once a month, I have my husband watch Isabella so Christian and I can go out and do something of his choice. Sometimes it’s just going to Barnes and Noble to look at books and play, or go to the movies or out to lunch at his favorite restaurant! No matter what he chooses that day, it gives us the chance to live in the moment and have fun with each other!

Spending extra time with Isabella comes when Christian spends the night with family members. She’s really girly, so we play with my makeup, fingernail polish and she likes to dress up in my clothes! The kids playroom is upstairs, so we spend as much time up there as possible and she just runs the halls having a good time! By the end of the night, though, she’s asking for her brother!

How do you spend one-on-one time with each of your kids?

My name is Kristen from The Mrs. & The Momma. I’m the momma of three girls (ages 7, 5, & 3) and a little boy (18 months). This is how I balance my time and attention between my children:

Ensuring that each of our four children gets the love, time, and attention they need and deserve has become almost a science in our household. On a logistic level, having my two older ones are in school allows for a better balance at home during the day, especially during nap time. One they’re home from school is when it gets tricky. One thing I try to do is get down on their level when they speak to me so that I am both eye to eye with them and they understand that I am listening to only them.

My husband and I make it a habit to discuss each one of our children’s needs on a weekly basis….and we then adjust our time depending on who might need more of our attention that week by doing various activities such as a daddy/daughter dates, quiet one-on-one reading, or simply treating them to something I normally don’t allow, such as putting on Momma’s make-up. 🙂

Making sure our children are feeling loved enough and heard enough is our biggest and most important job….and something I struggle with on a daily basis. I mean, not only do my older two notice if they’re not getting their fair share of my time, but they crave it. Attention is love to them. And children who don’t feel loved at these young ages are susceptible to all sort of issues later on in life that I sure wouldn’t want to be responsible for causing. As parents, it is our job to make sure each one of our children do not ever feel slighted in the least. Dividing time between multiple children takes effort and organization…but it’s critical to our children’s thriving and absolutely worth it!

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Your Turn:

How do you balance your time and attention between your children?

Leave us a comment; we love to read your tips and advice!

Need advice? Check out these previous Mom Connection topics:

Disciplining your Babies

Teaching your Children to Clean up

Getting your Preschooler Dressed

Balancing Blogging and Motherhood

{ MC: Setting Goals with Children }

January 5, 2013 by Fotini Filed Under: blog love, kids, MC, mommy panel, setting goals with children, The Mom Connection 2 Comments

I am part of an AWESOME mommy panel with Cassie from Two In Diapers and Julie from The Naptime Review.

Each Saturday, we will bring you fresh new ideas and advice about motherhood.

If you enjoy what you read, we encourage you to tweet about it!

Coming on January 12th, we will discuss:

Balancing your time and attention with more than one child!

Now on to this week’s topic!

When and how did you begin setting goals with your children?

Here is what Mom Connection shared:

Welcome! I’m Julie over at Naptime Review. I am a mom of 2 wild, crazy and beautiful girls. My oldest just turned 4 and my baby is 16 months old. This is how I handle setting goals with my children:

I think it is important to set goals for everything in life. I am a goal setter and I hope to install that quality with my children. In fact, each year my husband and I write out our new year’s resolutions in the form of a letter and exchange them at midnight. Click here if you’d like to learn more about our New Year’s tradition.

As for my children, they are still young. However, last year, we got this time capsule from BabbaBox. If you haven’t heard of this monthly preschool activity box, I highly recommend it. In the box came a time capsule along with books, activities, and an App for our iPad. We wrote out our goals and buried the time capsule in our backyard. We had so much fun digging it up this year and reflecting on our goals. It was great to see how our handwriting changed as well as our favorite foods. My 4 year old’s resolution was to be a better eater. Meaning, not to play with her food or to paint the table, the dog, and her face with food when she ate. I am happy to report we have successful mastered that goal. However, I think the baby is following in “Big Sister’s” footsteps as she loves to pour bowls of food on top of her head. Can’t wait to start working on goals with that one!

Averie’s goals for 2013, are learning to ride our new bike that Santa delivered and learning to master writing our name. We set the goal and then discussed how we would achieve the goal. We came up with doing custom tracer pages from Kidzone. I customized a handful of name sheets and each day at breakfast my daughter will practice her name while I make breakfast. Not only does it serve as a distraction while Mommy gets breakfast on the table, but it also helps Averie master the task of writing her name.

When your children are small setting goals consists a lot of modeling and thinking aloud so children can see the whole goal setting process. I am hoping that by modeling and helping my children set and achieve goals they will be better equipped in the future and will one day achieve their own goals.

Hi! I’m Cassie from Two In Diapers, and I’m a mommy to three sweet babies, ages 4, 3, and 18 months.This is how handle setting goals with my children:

Wow, when I first sat down to write my answer to this question, I had nothing. I immediately beat myself up over yet another thing I had failed to start doing with my children.

But once I got to thinking about it, I realized that I set age-appropriate goals with my children all the time! This is because I feel that setting goals and simply planning go hand in hand all the time, especially at the ages that my littles are. My daughter brings home a homework folder from pre-K each month. It contains just a couple of papers worth of preschool-age projects for her to count, cut, color, or trace, and is due by the end of the month in order for her to be allowed to choose something from the treasure box. We always decide which day we will turn in her folder, and then ration out the homework accordingly. I do this mainly to plan ahead so that we don’t forget it, but at the same time I am teaching my daughter to set and achieve goals in an organized and attainable manner.

I also give my littles small tasks constantly, especially when we are trying to get out the door in the morning. I might instruct Bentley to gather up everyone’s shoes, Emily to clear the dishes off the table, and little Grayson to go find his “kook” (coat). When each child completes their task, they come back to me for a “great job, sweetheart!” {which always rewards me with a gigantic and heart-stopping smile} and are sent out on the next “task”… all of which are achieving smaller goals to work towards our family goal of leaving the house successfully on yet another morning.

These may seem like somewhat of a stretch to some of you {especially considering some of the amazing answers I’m seeing from my fellow panel moms!}, but I feel that these are small tasks that my children can achieve, which will help build their confidence and independence. Isn’t that what goals are for anyway?

My name is Alexa from No Holding Back. I am the mom of Nayner Bug (male, 5), Jelly Bean, (female, 3) and Tiny (female, 1). This is how I handle setting goals with my children:

Goals for my little ones tend to focus on developing routines and habits that make our life function a little more smoothly. To do this, I use checklists, rewards charts, repetition, and a little bit of good ole fashioned bribery! (ahem, I mean positive reinforcement!) Even at the ages of 5 and 3 there are so many things that they can accomplish. I set goals for the kids mostly to help them develop the habits I would like to see them carry through life. (Picking up after themselves, helping with chores around the house, reading, even down to making it through the day without hitting or fighting). Even though I stay at home with the children, I do not want them to get into the habit of me doing everything for them. So we instituted some checklists to start developing habits early on. There are some really great free checklists out there that are perfect for small children because they are picture charts and certainly age appropriate with attainable goals/responsibilities. These are two of my favorite, that you will literally find printed out and taped to the kids walls: Routine Printables (after school, bedtime, etc) at Get Snazzy and The Family Chore Charts which can be downloaded free at Power of Moms.

My children seem to thrive on recognition and feeling like they are appreciated, so I love chore charts such as the second one above. The kids can see their weekly accomplishments and know exactly what has to be done to be rewarded for meeting their goals.

In order to set the goals with the kids and make sure they understood, we had a little “meeting” and I explained the charts and expectations, the reward system, and what everything meant. Then, over the course of the next few days, I walked them through it. There was some trial and error followed by adjustments. Some things worked, some didn’t. It’s a goal for my son to make his bed every day, but we found we never had enough time to do it before school, so he does it before he plays with his friends after school. I have found that as long as the goals are attainable and I am consistent in my expectations, the kids do a great job at following through! They work best with very specific directions. They are only 3 and 5, so they do need plenty of reminders, but overall they are doing great with their tasks and goals!

My name is Fotini! I blog over at Glamorous Affordable Life. I am the mom of (Isabella 19 months and Christian 6 years). This is how I handle setting goals with my children:

I think setting goals with your kids is really important because it teaches them you have to work for the things you want. I started setting goals with my son when I started potty training around two and a half years old. I made a potty chart and each time he went potty in the toilet, he got a star. Once he reached a certain amount of stars (whether it be within a day or a week) he was rewarded. Some rewards would include letting him pick out a surprise from the store, a new book, choosing dinner or dessert that evening or going to the movies! Some of his favorite things that he wanted to earn! Now that my son is six, he is beginning to understand more and more setting goals for yourself allows you to grow! Christian’s goal for 2013 is to get really good and baseball and score a home run! I have no doubt that if he works at it, he will have no problem accomplishing that goal!

I haven’t started setting goals with my daughter yet; I think she’s still too young. At what age do you start with your children?

My name is Kristen from The Mrs. & The Momma. I’m the momma of three girls (ages 7, 5, & 3) and a little boy (18 months). This is how I handle setting goals with my children:

There are two things I believe are critical to goal setting with children….

1. Making it an attainable, understandable, and realistic goal.

2. Writing it down and make it visibly available for them to see each day.

For the first one, we don’t want to set our kids up for failure…no one does, right? A child’s goal should be something they can actually accomplish…and in a fairly short time period, as most kids don’t have a grasp of time to plan a whole year away. For example, yesterday we opened goals my two oldest made in 2011, that they’d written down and sealed in envelopes. One of the goals was to be able to do a cartwheel. This was both realistic and something that she was reminded of almost everyday to work on. It was realistic and she understood exactly what that goal entailed.

For the writing it down part, I’m a firm believer in that for anyone, no matter their age…but to help drive it home a bit more…we have our children write it themselves or draw a picture of it to display on the fridge. I think doing this cultivates ownership in their goal. They usually feel proud of themselves for making and putting to paper this “big responsibility” of setting a goal like Momma and Daddy do.

Goal setting is a wonderful thing we enjoy teaching our children at an early age. If if the goal isn’t achieved or realized, I’m satisfied to teach them the importance of wanting to better ourselves each year, in an effort to hopefully bring up a shining generation.

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Your Turn:

When and how do you begin setting goals with your children?

What works for you?

Leave us a comment; we love to read your tips and advice!

Need advice? Check out these previous Mom Connection topics:

Disciplining your Babies

Teaching your Children to Clean up

Getting your Preschooler Dressed

Balancing Blogging and Motherhood

{ MC: Getting Your Preschooler Dressed}

December 15, 2012 by Fotini Filed Under: blog love, blogging, mommy panel, The Mom Connection 3 Comments

I am part of an AWESOME mommy panel with Cassie from Two In Diapers and Julie from Naptime Review, and a fabulous group of moms! Each Saturday, we will bring you fresh new ideas and advice about motherhood.

Coming on December 22nd, we will discuss:
At what age and how did you begin disciplining your babies?

Now on to this week’s topic!

Getting your preschooler dressed: Drawing the battle lines

Here is what Mom Connection shared:

Welcome! I’m Julie over at Naptime Review. I am a mom of 2 wild, crazy and beautiful girls. My oldest turns 4 on Christmas Eve and my baby is 15 months old. This is how I fight the battle of getting my preschooler dressed:

Well, every morning after my 4 year old wakes around 8 a.m., she comes in andquietly wakes me with a kiss. We then go into her room and she asks,“Mom, you are so wise and know what the weather is like today. Could youplease advise me on what is appropriate to wear? I can’t wait to get out of mypajamas and start my day.” I then give her an adoring look and find her awell–matched, unworn, weather–appropriate outfit for the day. We quickly getdressed and brush our teeth without any arguing. All the while, the baby isquietly entertaining herself in her own room.

So do you buy any of that? It is all a BIG FAT LIE! Our mornings are hectic,stressful, and sadly some screaming and yelling takes place. Some things thathave helped elevate some stress (although not much) are: laying out our clothes the night before, giving her only 2 choices, andnot letting her leave her room until she is dressed… but the biggest thing thathas helped reduce stress is to not sweat it so much. I try my best to keepmy child well groomed and in matched clothes but sometimes, I just give up! Aslong as her teeth are brushed and she is prepared for whatever the weather is,I did my job. So what if she is wearing a Christmas dress to preschool? Sowhat if she is wearing the same thing she wore to school last week? So what ifher shoes or leggings don’t match her outfit? I just have to let it go…

Anyway, I can’t wait to read all the other tips and hopefully implement somegreat stress reducing strategies. As my daughter and I are fighting over wardrobe,I think, “Oh man! She is only 4. What is life going to be like in 10years??” I am in trouble! I better educate myself or start drinking.

Hi! I’m Cassie from Two In Diapers, and I’m a mommy to three sweet babies, ages 4, 3, and 18 months. This is how I fight the battle of getting my preschooler dressed:

Lucky for me, this isn’t much of a battle in our home! My littles are neither picky about the way their clothes feel nor the way they look.

Bentley (age 3) occasionally complains that something is itching or hurting, which I think is mainly because of his eczema. In that case, I try to fix whatever the issue is. If it can’t be fixed, I let him change. It happens so rarely, though, that it’s not really an issue.

Emily (age 4) only sometimes has strong opinions about her clothing. I’ve learned to try to give her choices whenever possible, but to only give her choices in which I would be ok with any of the options. For example, I will pick out two or three shirts and two or three pairs of pants, and then let her know that she gets to pick what she wears – out of the choices I’ve laid out. I feel like this helps build her confidence and decision-making skills while alteaching her that I trust her ability to choose for herself.

I also try to let her pick out her entire outfit all by herself on the days that we aren’t going anywhere. She loves those days!

My name is Tricia from Mama Marchand’s Nest. I am the mom of N (her name on my blog) who will be three inMarch.This is how I fight the battle of getting my preschooler dressed:

I don’t fight the battle. *waves the white flag of surrender*. I learned to “not engage the crazy” (a brilliant phrase I heard from Allison of OMyFamily) early on when it comes to N’s clothes, primarily her shoes, and it has paid off! For a few months, she was wearing all kinds of crazy mismatched clothes to the park or to playdates. Now, she picks out her own clothes (and they usually match!) and knows exactly what shoes are appropriate for the season. Now, this might change as she gets older but for now, I’m thankful.

My name is Fotini! I blogover at GlamorousAffordable Life. I am the mom of ( Isabella 19 months and Christian 6years). This is how I fight the battle of getting my preschooler dressed:

My son Christian is in first grade this year, and he’s in the stage of wanting to pick out his own outfits (which is a whole other battle!), but he takes so long to actually get dressed and ready that we end up leaving the house late almost every morning. Last week I attempted waking him up 10 minutes earlier and insisting he keep his eye on the time while eating breakfast. So far so good! He’s learning tell time, so it’s fun for him!

As for my toddler, Isabella, getting dressed is becoming a daily battle. She is a wiggle worm and the changing table she once fit so perfectly on, is becoming a thing of the past. I sternly tell her that she could get hurt and keep my cool. Keeping calm is key! Can you relate? What’s worked for you?

My nameis Kristen from The Mrs. & The Momma.I’m the momma of three girls (ages 7, 5, & 3) and a little boy (18 months). This is how I fight the battle of getting my preschooler dressed:

Thankfully, my children prefer to wear clothes, so actually getting them dressed isn’t much of a problem. It’s what to wear that creates havoc in our household. It depends on the child, but getting my preschooler dressed can either be simple or difficult. Really, it comes down to whether I perceive my children’s appearance (clothes-wise) as a reflection of me….which changes depending on the occasion. For everyday types of situations (when it doesn’t really matter what she looks like and if people judge me, let them judge), I allow my preschooler to dress herself (as long as it’s weather appropriate). For the most part, giving up this responsibility gives her freedom of expression while also avoiding any head-butting between us. If we are going some place where I DO care what my children look like, I give choices….both of which I’m okay with them wearing.

Having four children who are all so different, one of the biggest struggles in the past have been clothes. They don’t fit, they itch, it’s the wrong color, etc. But implementing the above strategies has significantly decreased the wardrobe-related meltdowns in our family. And really, there will be much larger fish to fry down the road…so I’d like to save my energy for the teenage years.

Your Turn:

How do you fight the battle of getting your preschooler dressed?

Leave us a comment or share the link!

Love to hear from you!

{ Blog Feature! }

December 11, 2012 by Fotini Filed Under: blog feature, blog love, Guest post 1 Comment

I’d like you all to help give a warm welcome to Betsy from Musings of a Museum Fanatic….

Hey All! I’m Betsy from Musings of a Museum Fanatic. I’m a later twenty something museum lover from Chicago. This month Fotini is so awesome to let me hang out on her sidebar all month … sorta like a creeper since I’m hanging out for the month : )

I’m terrible at writing about myself posts, I always feel a bit self-conscious. So instead of me doing a whole post about myself I decided to take you to my top three favorite museums I’ve visited ever. If you know me even a little bit (or have just stopped my blog too) number one is quite obvious … The Field Museum!

I’ve been an intern/volunteer there for almost three years now. I’m hoping if I’m able to hold out long enough I’ll actually get a job there. The photo above is actually the view I see when I come in the days I’m there. It is so awesome to walk past that view! I love it every time. This is a photo of Stanley Field Hall. I took this one the first winter I was there waaaaay back in 2009. This is the coolest museum in the Chicago area and definitely gives you the most bang for you buck!

My second favorite is Colonial Williamsburg. I know some people might consider it a cheat but it is actually considered an open air museum. I visited CW way back in the summer of 2007 for my annual family reunion, one of my aunts and uncles lives in Williamsburg. My absolute favorite part of CW is the fact that the staff are in period dress and they are doing first person interpretation, acting as if he or she were an actual person from the era or culture he or she is representing. As someone who always always felt they were born in the wrong time period this has always appealed to me!

Here are some photos of my parents and I in the stocks! What can we say we’re trouble makers. I can’t wait to go back and visit again, there is so much we missed the first time around. They have historic hotels to stay at, two museums on the property and tons of events that go on throughout the year. Around Christmas time they have so many historical Christmas events going on it would be the perfect time to visit.

My final top 3 favorite museum I’ve ever visited was the British Museum I went as part of a school group EF tour to London & Paris the summer of 2003 after I graduated high school. I had taken French for four years and was really going for Paris but fell in love with London and am dying to go back for a visit. The British Museum was amazing! It is a museum dedicated to human history and culture with over 8 million objects in it’s collection. Check out A History of the World in 100 Objects, a very cool page I found playing around on the website.

The photo to the right is of the Rosetta Stone. It is an amazing piece of history, it has three different languages written on it, Greek, Demotic script and Egyptian hieroglyphs. Since all three portions of script say pretty much the same thing this allowed Egyptian hieroglyphs to be translated, which had previously been impossible to do. The one below is of my good friend Rachel. Like typical high school students of course when you find something neat you have to act like a dork. Gotta give the first bump to the large fist of course. She was not actually touching the object though no worries!!

Here is a quick look at my top three favorite museums in the world .. I have a feeling there are some pretty amazing ones I have still to visit though! Thanks so much again to Fotini for letting me share this with you guys! Please come and check out my other posts on Chicago museums, my love of Pinterest, life and oh so many other things!

{ Falling for Fall Mantles }

September 25, 2012 by Fotini Filed Under: blog love, decorating for Fall, fall, Fall mantle, fireplace, mantle 13 Comments

I really love to decorate for Fall! I find myself constantly browsing for great deals to add to my collection. I tend to decorate through-out the year with a lot of the same colors so some things serve for multi- purposes!

This is the first Fall we will spend in our new home, so it’s exciting getting to decorate the whole house! Our fireplace is the focal point when you walk into the living room, so I’m aimed towards “awe-ing” each visitor that walks into our front door! I’m crazy about white pumpkins, so I’m leaning towards neutral colors with details in burgundy and rust orange. I’m in the search for some fabulous mercury glass pieces too! I will be on the search this week for all those right pieces to complete my Fall mantle! In the meantime, take a glimpse at these beautiful inspirations!

Shelterness

Adventures in Decorating

Craftberry Bush

A Diamond in the Stuff

A Place For Us

Bungalow

My Blessed Life

{ Why I Love Blogging… }

September 1, 2012 by Fotini Filed Under: blog love, bloggers, Liebster award, support 10 Comments

I love my followers, and love getting comments, but getting this comment tonight from Pretty in Place, made my whole week! She told me she featured me for an award… This isn’t just any award, this is such a sincere show of support!

The Liebster Award is for blogs that have 200 followers or less. The word “Liebster” is German for kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, valued, cute, pleasant, endearing and welcome.

I love it!

Here are the rules for accepting the award:

1. Each person most post 11 things about themselves.

2. Answer the questions the tagger has set for you, and then create 11 new questions for the people you tag with the award.

3. Chose 11 bloggers (with less then 200 followers) and link them in your post.

4. Go to their page and tell them about the award (social networks accepted).

5. If you have not done so already, follow the tagger and visit at least three nominees. Spread the love!

6. And remember, no tag backs!

ONE: 11 Things you don’t know about me.

1. My name, Fotini, is Greek and means “bright- light”! I was named after my Yiayia (grandmother) on my Dads side. When I was young I didn’t like my name because it was hard for people to pronounce and so different, now I love it!

2. I love getting into bed with cold sheets! So comfy 😉

3. I graduated Nursing school in 2008, but have never worked as a nurse. I’m lucky to have the opportunity to stay at home with my babies!

4. I created this blog while preparing for my wedding in October 2009. It’s been such a blessing in my life!

5. I have a super soft- spot for animals. I love them, (almost) all of them! But I really love dogs! We have a Pembroke Welsh Corgi named Lola 🙂

6. I’d rather text than talk on the phone, is that bad?!

7. I adore pictures!

8. I know very little, Spanish, French and Greek! Hey, it’s better than knowing nothing at all, right??!

9. Fall is my favoriteseason! I love everything about it 🙂

10. I’m a huge sweets person! I have to have something sweet at least once a day…

11. My husband is my best friend! He is the cream to my coffee 🙂

TWO: Answers

1. If you could meet any celebrity, who would it be and why? I know a lot of you might think I’m crazy, but, Kim Kardashian. I find her oddly intriguing and I think she’s gorgeous!

2. Favorite childhood memory? Going on family vacations to Myrtle Beach with my grandparents!

3. If you could choose 3 words to describe you, what would they be? Honest, trustworthy and optimistic 🙂

4. Would you rather live in a small apartment in a big city or a large home out in the country? Def. large home out in the country. The country is where I wanna be!

5. What would your dream job be? Stylist.. Getting paid to shop, what could be better?!!

6. Dogs or cats? Dogs, all the way 😉

7. What is your all time favorite movie? Clueless, I know, kinda lame, but it takes me back to my childhood!

8. Staying in or going out? Staying in, I couldn’t find any better company to have, than my hubby and kids.

9. Flats or heels? Flats.. I try heels, just doesn’t last long.

10. If your house were on fire and you could only grab 3 things, what would they be? Kids, phone, dog.

11. What snacks would you bring on a road trip? coffee, cinnamon poptarts, spearmint gum.

THREE: 11 Questions for the winners.

1. What is your favorite season, and why?

2. Would you rather travel to Hawaii or Italy, why?

3. Favorite quote or saying:

4. Do you prefer long hair or short?