Friday, February 24, 2017

5 on Friday - Mom Hacks

I wrote this last week, but this seems to be a theme now!  Not that I'm complaining - bring on the mom hacks!  As a working mom I'm always looking for a way to keep our house running smoothly.

5 Favorite 'Mom Hacks'

1.
A while back April at Smidge of This did a roll call for Mom Hacks.  One suggestion was so awesome, I took it and ran.  We haven't looked back since:

Freeze PB&J's for lunches.

So simple but it saves SO MUCH TIME.  Ok, not really that much time but it also helps with the headache that is packing #wiggydiggy's lunch every night.  Every other Sunday we make a whole loaf of PB&J's and toss in the freezer.  That's 10 days of packed lunches done!  We just pull one out at night and leave in his lunch box in the fridge.

Up until this past month, we sent the little guy to school with leftovers from the night before.  Now he refuses to eat unless there's a sandwich in his box.  It's too repetitive for me so I always mix up the fruit, veggies, and dairy to keep lunch interesting.

2.
My laundry routine:

I hate doing multiple loads on a weekend.  I feel like it takes up so much time I could be spending with my boys, so I've perfected my laundry method over the past year.  My steps look long, but seriously, they have saved me so.much.time.

A) Toss all darks directly into washer (not hamper)
B) All whites go into hamper next to washer
C) Justin and I put our dress clothes in a hamper in our room.
- yes, this means I sort laundry every day -
D) As soon as the washer is full, set the delay start before work so I can switch the load at lunch
E) Switch whites to washer at lunch - delay start when the load gets full
F) Right after work Darks go to our bedroom
G) Fold clothes after #wiggydiggy goes to bed (and while watching netflix on the ipad)

This way I'm only folding one basket of clothes at a time.  I have stayed on top of laundry ever since I put this method in place.  Keeping the laundry sorted at all times has cut down the amount of time I spend washing clothes (and the delay feature on my machine is a heaven sent!)

3.
Lay out clothes the night before.

This seems so simple and it really, really is.
I do this for both the lil man and myself.  Most nights Justin does it too and he always says how much he likes it in the morning.

4.
Bath Time Work Out

#wiggydiggy gets a bath  every night and while he is splashing and playing away, I use some light weights and do a quick workout in the bathroom.  On the days I can't get the gym, I love knowing I'm getting at least some type of workout in.

Or....let's be totally honest here...I'll skip the workout and paint my nails instead.  #truestory

I also do my evening prep before getting him out of  the bath - wash my face, dry shampoo my hair, etc

5.
Meal Plan

UGH.  This is one is one of those hacks that everyone knows about but man alive, does it work!
I'm not super great at this, but on the weeks that I am I feel like the evenings go so much more smoothly.

General concept: pick meals for the week on the weekend and grocery shop to the list.
I always try to make extra so that I have leftovers to pack in my lunch.  The crock-pot is also one of my favorite ways to cook dinner without actually cooking dinner.

Any mom hacks you have and love?  Please share!



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Thursday, February 16, 2017

Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Some Damn Good Face Wash

Before we get to the review - just a quick overview of what was going on to lead me in that direction.



I have hormonal acne.  Nothing is more exciting for fun for a 30 something to deal with on a monthly basis.  I was fortunate to not really deal with acne between getting off birth control and getting pregnant.  My skin remained clear up until about two months after I had stopped nursing, then the fun began.  I did not get back on birth control for a myriad of reasons but after almost of year of dealing with painful cystic acne that flared up every 3-4 weeks, I was ready for other options.

I had shopped the aisles of Target and CVS and purchased almost every OTC acne treatment out there to no avail.  I also had a hard time putting all of those chemicals on my skin knowing that I was trying to RID my house of chemicals.  Around late summer I was doing some research in natural skin care and came across Tea Tree Oil for acne.  This method was helping some.  I felt immensely better about cutting all of the chemical treatments out of my skin care routine, but I wanted something that did even more than the Tea Tree Oil.

Late fall I started washing my face with coconut oil with great results.  Here in Montana, the winters are VERY dry, so the extra moisture from the oil was a god send.  I was using less moisturizer with frankincense oil!

BUT.....

My hormonal acne was still acting up.  Some months were more painful than others and even though I had a handle on the small little flare ups (think white heads, surface pimples, etc) the cystic acne was not getting any better.

If you've ever had cystic acne, you know what I'm talking about.  They hurt for a week before even "showing" up on your face.  The pain is deep and they are sensitive to the touch.  UGH UGH UGH.

I made an appointment with a dermatologist, but it was 4 months before I could get in.  Not pleasant.  I decided to go full blown natural skin care to see if it would have any impact.
Enter Damn Good Face Wash.

When it arrived I was bursting with excitement!!  For three weeks I washed my face every night, used the toner, and moisturizing oil.  In the morning I was still using my Cetephil bar in the shower but I used the moisturizer instead of my face lotion.

I was using:



At the end of three weeks, I had noticed a difference in my breakouts.  Not enough to cancel my appointment, but enough to see the light at the end of the tunnel.  I also noticed I used too much of the face wash at one time.  Whoops.

I started removing my makeup with coconut oil and THEN washing my face with The Works face scrub.  I was able to stretch my scrub out to almost 6 weeks.

My take away?
Awesome stuff!!!   However, I still have a TON of toner and oil left and no face wash.  I think I'll stick to coconut oil as my face wash for now, but I'll definitely keep the toner and oil around.  Next time I place an order, I'm going to get The Problem Child oil.  I'm curious to see if it will work on my acne more.  I'm also looking at this Damn Good Clay.

I don't regret making the switch to all natural skin care.  Of everything I've come across so far - this is the best.  It's Damn Good. :)

I love the feel of my skin now.  Even with this hard winter, I haven't been plagued with a dry, flaky face.  I won't go back to using store bought skin care as long as Damn Good is an option.

Check out Bridget at Tales of Me and the Husband.  Her sister is the genius behind this product!
*they don't know who I am and have no clue I wrote this.*



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Monday, February 13, 2017

Update

Ugh.  Last week was a roller coaster.
Thankfully it ended on a positive note, so we'll stick with the happy vibes.

It's finally "warmed up" here.  After being in freezing temps for many, many weeks and getting feet upon feet of snow, it hit 50 degrees.

Not exactly pleasant.  All of the melting from that one day have turned roads to icy roller coasters.  Our road is terrible.  Some ruts are so deep that our neighbors car bottomed out.

We stuck close to home all weekend.
Lil man enjoyed watching Finding Dory (on netlix now!)
He took the best seat in the house!  Haha.

Let's hope this week stays on a positive note!

Cheers!

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