Ten Minute Cinderella Cure

So, one of my friends has this incredible blog, Cinderella Duty She is so cute. One day she posted a challange, the Ten Minute Challenge. The Goal was to see how much you could clean up in 10 minutes.

Well, I have little kids running around, and it seemed that after I spent an hour cleaning, in ten minutes they could destroy it all again. (kids are amazing and quick like that) So I figured, if they could destroy it in ten minutes, why couldn't I clean it in ten minutes.
So, on the days that I am not deep cleaning a specific room, I will give it a ten minute cure. Cinderella worked all day, but I refuse too.

Here is my Living room before pictures. (I did not make it messy, this is how it was, I promise)

I set the timer for 10 minutes....

To make my point, I STOPPED at ten minutes and took the picture. It took just another 2 minutes to finalize everything. I did this with each of the main rooms in the house (kitchen, living room, bathroom) in all it took me 33 minutes (because I added in the hall) and my house looked great!
Now, this is not a deep clean, so I still have one room I deep clean on each day of the week. This really helps so that I don't spend all day cleaning, or spend all day thinking I should be cleaning.

We are moms, our time with out little ones is so precious. We have the pleasure of spending our days building forts, fighting dragons, and coloring outside the lines. BUT, we can also have a clean house in the process.

Hope you are having a great start to your week. I am off to help an amazing couple birth their third baby. I love what I do when I am not at home being a mom.

NEXT WEEK: Bonding With Baby, Before s/he is Born.

Thrifty Thursday

Sorry I forgot to post last week. Things may have been a bit crazy! I have been trying to think of what thrifty tip I have for this week. I was thinking about little things I do to save a dollar or to have healthier/safer items around my house. 

The one thing I thought of was making my own laundry soap. When laundry soap went up to $6 a bottle I refused to pay that price. Even with coupons and a sale I was maybe getting it down to $4 a bottle. 

Then a friend of mine told me she was going to make her own soap to help clear up her daughters bad eczema. The poor little girl had it so bad she couldn't stop itching. Once my friend starting using this soap it cleared up the problem. 


Soap Recipe (I usually double it and it lasts me around 4 months and I do about 10-12 loads of laundry a week. I have found all the ingredients at Smith's marketplace)


1 bar of felsnaptha soap
1 1/2 c of Arm and Hammer washing soda
1 1/2 c of 20 mule team borax


Grate the bar of soap and then mix with the washing soda and the borax. I think like to run the whole mixture back through the food processor to chop the soap a little smaller. 

Use 2 TBSP pure large load

Workout Anywhere!

Happy 24th of July (yesterday)!  I started my day off with a 4 mile run with the sisters, then headed up to Kaysville for a 20 mile bike ride with the brother in law.  This was the 3rd time I've ridden my bike and I totally got a flat!  Frustrating!  Good thing bikers are nice people, we had multiple people stop and offer us assistance, and someone gave us a new tube.  Thank you kind man!  Such a lifesaver!  

After the bike ride I decided I wanted to get in my GPP workout.  I know what you are thinking, man this girl works out too much!   This may be true.  But what else are free days for, but doing what you love the most.  So I took advantage of it!  

I then got to thinking, what about all those people who are out of town?!  What would I have done if I need a good sweat session while not at home.  Then I remembered this workout!

Burp-O-Rama! You do 10 burpees every minute  for 20 minutes.  200 burpees?!  Yeah...I know!  This is a calorie burner for all the potato salad and desserts you snaked on this holiday weekend.  I love this workout, but it's a hard one!

Hopefully you all did something fun and active for your Pioneer Day!  

Thoughts:  What is your favorite "go-to" workout when you are out of town or just can't make it to the gym?  Did you spend some time with the fam for the day off?

Slacked due to the holiday

Sorry this wasn't posted yesterday. I thought about it twice during the day but because I didn't stop at that exact moment I didn't get it done. So here you go. Last night as part of our holiday celebration we made homemade ice cream. What is better than that, sitting outside on the front porch eating it together as a family and chatting with the kids. It was wonderful.

Here is the recipe.

No Cook Chocolate Ice Cream

1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (5 ounce) can evaporated milk
2 c chocolate milk
2/3 cup chocolate syrup


Whisk the above ingredients together. Then cover and chill for 30 minutes.

Pour mixture into ice cream maker and follow your machine's direction for making ice cream.

It took our machine about 45 minutes. Also this only made enough for about 8 decent servings so you might want to double it.
I thought it was a little too sweet so next time I might either cut the chocolate syrup in 1/2 or add 1/2 chocolate milk and the other 1/2 regular milk. I also want to try some add ins like almonds or oreos or peanut butter cups!

This recipe is from myrecipes.com

ENJOY!

Ok, Cinderella will have to wait.

Ok, my Cinderella post will have to wait. I have been running around all day super excited because......
Today I get to go pick up MY Prince from the airport. He has spent the last few days in Portland with his sister.
So, today's motherhood moment, enjoy life! Spend a little extra time with your family.
Time is precious, time is fleeting, and time with your family is some of the best time in the world.

So, I am off to the airport!
Happy Monday.

Mountains to Climb

Charisse is in Cali for the weekend, so you get to hear from me (Melissa) once more.  Charisse went to the homecoming of her Mission President.  So fun!  She is having a blast.  

Today I wanted to touch on the "Mountains to Climb" talk by President Henry B. Eyring.  You can find the whole talk here. It is a wonderful talk that I have read multiple times since it was given in April. Yesterday in Relief Society we talked about this talk.  

But before I get into that I want to touch on how incredible out sacrament meeting was.  We had our second counselor's mother and sister talk.  First his sister spoke of her challenges when she was a young single adult.  Hers of course were similar and different than ours.  She was born with Cerebral Palsy and has used a walker or crutches her whole life.  She talked about how she wanted so bad to be a wife and mother.  She told of her struggles, but how eventually she found someone who loved all of her and how she was then able to have 2 children and adopt 2 children.  She had the most incredible spirit about her, I loved it!  She mentioned at the end that the Lord really does know us and knows what we are capable of, and that we shouldn't let fear or insecurities or handicaps hold us back from becoming our best self.

Next her mother spoke of how by the age of 26 she had lost both her parents, two children, and her husband.  She was left to raise a special needs child and a son all by herself.  But she spoke of how we are never alone and that prayer is where we can turn for everything!  She was an amazing lady who has been through some very trying times.  

Now to the talk...I love this talk!  He begins by talking about Pres. Kimball and how he had prayed for mountains to climb.  He had prayed for challenges!  As if life isn't hard enough already.  He then goes into talk about how he did the same, and how much her learned from the challenges that were ahead. 

Some of my favorite quotes from this talk:

"Our choosing the right consistently whenever the choice is placed before us creates the solid ground under our faith. It can begin in childhood since every soul is born with the free gift of the Spirit of Christ. With that Spirit we can know when we have done what is right before God and when we have done wrong in His sight.

Those choices, hundreds in most days, prepare the solid ground on which our edifice of faith is built. The metal framework around which the substance of our faith is poured is the gospel of Jesus Christ, with all its covenants, ordinances, and principles."

"If we have faith in Jesus Christ, the hardest as well as the easiest times in life can be a blessing."

Hope you all enjoyed your Sunday!

Field Trip Friday:
Today my son and I went to "the farm". There is a historic farm in our area that is open to the public - Wheeler Farm. And my son LOVES to go and see the animals...best part is it's free! We went early before it got to hot and saw the animals and feed the ducks - a highlight in his book.


"The farm" is a great field trip; not only is it free - unless you go on the hayride or milk the cows, but they aren't too expensive - you can stay as long or as short as you'd like. There are plenty of picnic tables and grass if you bring a lunch and lots to see and do. You can play in the tree house and talk to the blacksmith. There is old farm equipment to play on and of course all the animals to see. If you go in the spring you'll get to see all the baby animals too.The best part is kids love to go and you can go several times a year and it's always fun for them. 


So if you don't live in the Salt Lake Valley I'd suggest doing some investigating to see if there is a farm open to the public in your area and let your kids explore the wonders of farm life.

Bars of Death!

Monday I went and did this workout at GPP!  I did this workout for the first time back in January when I was giving GPP a "test run."  The first time I did this, I thought I was in pretty good shape...apparently not good enough!  When this workout came up again on Wednesday I was stoked!  I was ready for my revenge on this guy. 

Flash back: back in January I only did half the time and I lowered the weight significantly, and still felt like I was going to die.  I remember being sore for like a week!

Monday: I used the Rx weigh and completely 23 1/3 rounds in 20 minutes.

I felt great, albeit I did kind of fee like I wanted to barf a few times during the workout.  After I was a puddle of sweat, and feeling fantastic!

After I went to body attack at Gold's because my friend was teaching.  It's a great class if you want some serious cardio.  

Give the 3 Bars of Death workout a go, its only 20 minutes.  However, I would definitely recommend using a lower weight and not going for the whole twenty minutes, unless you are sure you can handle it.

Check out this picture -- They took this of me at GPP, I felt pretty good about myself, so I thought I would share it.  I have 85 pounds that I pressed up.  Crazy is that in this workout I got up to 95 pounds.  Crazy stuff.

Thought for today: what is something you never though you would be able to do?  Push yourself a little further today!

On a side note, I didn't workout today because I slept in and I get to go see WICKED tonight with Charisse!!!

Delicious Cinnamon Rolls

Ever get a craving for delicious, soft, cinnamon rolls. Here is the recipe. Melissa gave it to me and I love everything about it including the great way the dough feels in your hands. 

However, "trying" to be healthier about my food choices I "healthified" the recipe the last two times I made it. So I have included those changes in blue in parenthesis.  Give it a try or make your own changes and let me know what works for you. 

Wish I had a photo because then you would be making them right away.

Cinnamon Rolls (make it a little healthier)

1/3 cup warm water

2 Tbsp yeast

2 cups milk (1 or 2% instead of whole)

1 cup butter (1/2 c)

3 eggs

¾ c sugar

7 c flour (2-3 cups of whole wheat flour)

1 ½ tsp salt

Add 1/2-1 cup of ground flax seed

Combine milk, water, and butter in small pan over low heat.  Heat to 120 degrees, butter does not need to melt.  Place 3 cups flour, sugar, salt, and yeast in mixing bowl.  Mix 30 seconds at speed 2.  Gradually add eggs, then warm liquids, about 2 minutes.  Mix for 1 minute longer.  Add remaining flour, ½ cup at a time, until dough clings to hook and cleans side of bowl, about 5 minutes.  Knead on speed 2 for 3-5 more minutes. 

Place in a greased bowl, turning to grease top.  Cover, let rise til double bulk, about 35 minutes.  Punch down. 

Melt 3 Tbsp butter, then mix ½ cup sugar with 2 tsp cinnamon.  Divide dough in half.  Roll into a 12 x 8 rectangle.  Spread middle third with half of the melted butter and half the sugar-cinnamon mixture.  Cover with raisins if desired.  Fold into thirds and cut into 1 inch sections.  Tie in a knot and place on greased pan.  Do the same with the other half of the dough.  Let rise 30 minutes or until doubled.  Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes.  Cover with icing.

Icing: Mix together 2 cups powdered sugar, ½ tsp vanilla(instead of vanilla try orange extract this was delicious), and 3 Tbsp milk.  (Makes 24 rolls)(make them a little smaller and you can get 30 ish)


ENJOY!

Staying Healthy and Low Risk During Pregancy

So, pretty much pregnancy, babies, and breastfeeding...that sums up my passion aside from my family. I live BIRTH. I am a doula (a professional birth assistant) and childbirth educator (I teach Hypnobabies) and I am a lactation consultant. I am over the top that I am able to help families in such a personal way.
One of the things that I think it incredibly important, no matter what type of birth you are planning (home, hospital, birth center, epidural, vaginal, cesarean, etc) is to stay healthy and low risk.
Here is a list of the TOP TEN WAYS to stay healthy and low risk during your pregnancy, your birth, and after your baby is born.

1- Nutrition: 

Start by having a well balanced diet, one with lots of protein. WHO, the World Health Organization recommend 75-80 grams of protein of day for expectant moms. (more if you are more active) The best way to get your protein in, have it with every meal, and ay every snack. It is much easier to hit this mark then you might think, even for a vegetarian (me!)

2- Calcium and Iron:

Yes, you will need to make sure you are either getting enough through diet, or adding in a safe and healthy supplement. Calcium is needed to grow strong bones, teeth, and with neuro development of your baby. Iron is needed to help support your blood volume as well as your developing baby.

3- Prenatal Exercise:

Staying healthy means staying active. I am not saying you need to be at  the gym doing a spin class at 8 months pregnant (not that you can't, but speak with your care provider first) I am saying that even walking every day keeps things moving and helps to lubricate your joints. And trust me, when the big day arrives it will make a world of difference.

4- Choose a great care provider:

Choose a provider that is in alignment with your plans for birth. If you are wanting an intervention free birth, choose a provider that can support that. Make sure that their Cesarean rates are low, and their attitude supports you during your pregnancy.


5- FLUIDS!!

You need lots and lots of water, especially if you are pregnant during the hot summer months. You need to keep hydrated to support the increase in blood volume, and to support your body's natural ability to stay cool and comfortable. Plus dehydration can lead to muscle spasms, cramps, and foggy brain!

6- Sleep on your left side:

OK, so awhile back I had a mom ask if it was even possible to sleep comfortably during pregnancy.
For starters, lay in your left side to increase blood flow to your baby (and your legs) Next, get 4 pillows.
Pillow 1- This goes under your head
PIllow 2- This goes under your arm put and the side of your torso.
Pillow 3- This goes in between your legs. Make sure it is not too wide!
Pillow 4- This pillow can be used to snuggle and support your arms, or if you are nice, you can give it to your spouse.


7- Avoid Toxic Substances:

This includes alcohol, artificial sweeteners, caffeine, cigarets, Pinterest (well, this is ok in moderation!)


8- Skip the litter box:

If you have a cat, and you know who you are. You need to assign litter box duty to your spouse or other children. Expectant moms are at risk for toxoplasmosis.


9- Take a childbirth prep course:

Even if you are planning a cesarean birth or epidural birth, it is helpful and advisable to take a birth preparation course either privately or through the hospital. This will help to prepare mom and dad for what to expect leading up to birth, during birth, and for unexpected outcomes.


10- Date Night:

Yes, I am including this in your healthy and low risk information. It is very important to remember that you are still a couple, and to enjoy that time together. Bond over conversations about your concerns about birth, your excitement for the baby, and even if he/she will have your father's nose. You are becoming a family, or expanding your family. But it all started with the two of you, and sometimes it is best to reconnect in a quiet, one on one situation.

Next Weeks Topic: The 10 Minute Cinderella Cure.

Spiritual Sunday- Seek to be worth knowing.

So yesterday I heard a really great talk.  It's called "The Gospel and Romantic Love".  I'm just going to share my favorite part, but I would highly recommend reading the whole thing.  Bruce C. Hafen is giving 8 steps to find true love.  Number 6 is my personal favorite.  He says, "Remember: Worry not that you are not well known.  Seek to be worth knowing." 
Then he says,"There are times when we wonder if the Lord loves us; we wonder if other people love us. And so we mistakenly seek the symbols of success—whether that is being popular or being rich or being famous within our own sphere. You might be tempted to let someone take improper liberties with you, or you may indulge yourself in some practice that seems to bring temporary relief but only makes you feel worse in the long run.

Ultimately, however, only the Lord’s approval of our lives really matters. If you seek to be worth knowing and seek to do His will, all the rest will take care of itself. Never forget that all things work together for good to them who love God (see Rom. 8:28)."

He brings up another really great point that I think is hard to remember when you're struggling with dating- "Everybody in the world doesn’t have to marry you—it only takes one."

I thought it was really neat that this talk was given in 1982, but is just as applicable now- probably even more so. 

I like that idea of focusing on being the kind of person you should be and just trusting that everything else in your life will fall into place if you do that- after all- that's really the only thing completely in our control anyway!  :)

http://www.lds.org/new-era/2002/02/the-gospel-and-romantic-love?lang=eng&query=romantic+love

Silly Saturday

Church Ladies With typewriters . . .

They're Back! Those wonderful Church Bulletins! Thank goodness for church ladies with typewriters. These sentences (with all the BLOOPERS) actually appeared in church bulletins or were announced in church services:

• Miss Charlene Mason sang 'I will not pass this way again,' giving obvious pleasure to the congregation.
• For those of you who have children and don't know it, we have a nursery downstairs.
• Next Thursday there will be tryouts for the choir. They need all the help they can get.
• Eight new choir robes are currently needed due to the addition of several new members and to the deterioration of some older ones.
• The church will host an evening of fine dining, super entertainment and gracious hostility
• Low Self Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7 PM . Please use the back door.
• Potluck supper Sunday at 5:00 PM - prayer and medication to follow.

Have a great weekend!!!

Field Trip Friday

We all love to go on a field trip with our kids; they need something to do and we need them to get out of the house. If you're like me you don't always want to spend a lot just to get your kidos out of the house so Field Trip Friday post will contain a lot of free or cheap field trips...not all but most.

Today's field trip is an outing to Lowe's Build and Grow (https://www.lowesbuildandgrow.com/). Lowe's offers free activities for your kids a few Saturdays a month. Your kids get to make a FREE wooden project, get an apron and other freebies. I've never been but it looks fun.

This Saturday, July 14th, is one of those Saturdays Lowe's is holding their Build and Grow event at 10:00 am - I'd check your local store to see what time it runs from there. The project is a Kung Fu Panda Spinning Attack. It looks fun, especially if you like the Kung Fu Panda movie.

So get out of the house this weekend and take those kids on a field trip.

Thrifty Thursdays!

Summertime equals lots of free time for the kids. With this in mind, I am always looking for fun and cheap things to do with my kiddos. Today we went to the library for some free fun with the Clark Planetarium. They showed the kids a variety of science related experiments. The presenter from the Planetarium demonstrated how to blow up a balloon with liquid nitrogen and showed how a bouncy ball turned hard and cracked when placed in the liquid nitrogen. The thing my kids liked the most was that they were able to touch a meteorite. It was heavier than it looked by a lot.

We left the library excited and enlightened! The kids can't wait until next week to when Scales and Tails come to show off their awesome and slightly scary reptiles. We really enjoyed this last year.

For more information on Davis County library weekly classes visit there website at http://www.co.davis.ut.us/library/kids/summer_reading_program/2012/

These go through August.
 Happy Summer

Workout!

So today I didn't have time to get in my usual amount of workout time.  The thing you should know is that I completely LOVE exercise!  Today's workout was done with cards.  Check it out!  You have all 52 cards, 4 suits, and 2 jokers.  Each suit is a different exercise.  We used: burpees, situps, pushups and squats.  Then the jokers are a 400 meter run.

Needless to say, I was a seriously sweaty mess after this guy.  I decided to to it this morning because I have plans tonight.  It was a great workout to get my day started.  This workout is great for anywhere.  Just choose your moves and have a deck of cards.  Good for vacation or a quick workout at home.  

After I ran home for a quick protein shake and shower. Then it was time for work.  In my protein shakes I like to use bananas and really any other fruit.  I mix with ice, almond milk and a hand-full of spinach (which you can't taste is you were wondering).  I got the spinach mix-in idea from my friend who blogs here.  It helps sneak in those extra veggies we have a hard time with.  

Tonight I get to scope out campgrounds at Pineview Reservoir.  After that I am aiming for a quick bike ride.  I just bought my bike and I am in love with it.  However I haven't really taken it for a ride because I struggle with my clip-in pedals.  So I guess we'll see how tonight goes.

If you check out my WOD (workout of the day), be sure to check out the article of Antioxidants. 

Have a great Wednesday!

Thought for the day: Yesterday my workout included handstand pushups, they were rough!  Can you do these?

Taste it Tuesday

Looks like the sisters are having a rough start at this blogging thing. I can't blame mine on mommy brain I am blaming it on computer malfunction! I tried to post last night and while doing so my computer was going so slow I could hardly get a word to come up. Turns out I had a virus so my wonderful husband fixed it and now we are up and ready to go. Just pretend this post says Tuesday!

I am so excited for the fun that Taste it Tuesdays holds! I think of recipe sharing, fun cooking tips and new ideas. I don't know about you but I am always always looking for new meal ideas so I don't feed my family burritos six days a week.

As it is July, I have been thinking of fun picnic, holiday, patriotic foods. One that I wanted to try is a red, white and blue trifle. I saw this on a couple of blogs last week in celebration of the 4th. One of the blogs created individual trifles in a mason jar. It was darling. So here is what you do
Ingredients
Raspberries, Strawberries, blueberries
White cake or angel food cake cut up (I saw one blog where they cut the cake into star shapes)
Whipped cream

In either a big trifle bowl or individual glass jars or cups layer berries then cake then whipped cream. You can create the red, white and blue look by doing your strawberries and raspberries then cake and whipped cream and then blueberries and cake and whipped cream. Then enjoy!

 Photo courtesy of http://www.brownpaper--packages.com (Just a side note this is an awesome website for creative fun ideas. I visit frequently).
 

Motherhood Monday (well Tuesday morning)

Ok, so I guess one of the biggest things all mothers deal with, mommy brain.
I know, "Motherhood Monday" was yesterday, but, I have mommy brain.

Boredom Busters!

Well, a topic that has been on our minds lately has been, how do we keep these energetic kids occupied. Now, I am a huge believer in individual play, as I believe it  helps the creative mind expand. But, every now and then, your kiddo may need a little help discovering what he or she can really do on their own. (or with mild supervision)

Here is one of my favorite ideas, a boredom jar (or boredom box, which we also use)
In our box we have ten great items for each kid to use. In our jar, we have activities for the family to do.

BOX IDEAS:
Dry Erase Board (one for each kid)
Bubbles
'Special Toys" (not your everyday item)
Crayons
Science Projects (think baking soda and colored vinegar...tons of fun, supervision is required)

JAR IDEAS: (places to go)
Park
Fire Station
Splash Pad
A certain cousins house (with prior arrangements)


Sometime simple is best! Remember, with kids, often times since it is something that they don't do every day, it will be fun and exciting.

Next weeks post:
Staying Healthy and Low Risk During Your Pregnancy.

(picture above is courtesy of http://hydrangeasandharmony.blogspot.com)

Meet the Sisters

Welcome to our blog!  Thanks for joining!  We decided to create this blog to have a little fun and do something as sisters.  We are six sisters, with an adopted sister in the mix. So, lets meet the sisters!

First up, we have Angela.  Mother of three and oldest of nine children. Angela is married to Jonathan and graduated with a Masters in Health Promotion and Education.

Second in line is Monica.  She is a mother of one, with another on the way. Monica is married to Gavin and graduated in Communications.

Annie, showing baby number 3 to Matt (our brother) after Matt returned home from Afghanistan

Third, Annie.  Recent mother of four boys.  Annie is married to Corey and is a graduate in Speech Language Pathology.

Marinda is next.  She is the 5th of 9 children and the mother of two boys. Marinda is Married to Micah and works as a Doula.

Child 8 of 9 is Melissa.  Recent college grad who loves anything to do with fitness and health.  She is currently trying to decide what she would like to attend grad school for.

And the baby, Aubrianna.  She is a senior in high school and loves playing the piano and spending time with her friends and family.

The adopted sister.  Charisse, is practically our sister.  She met Melissa at school and they were friends since.  She just became part of the fam. Charisse is married to Matt and starts grad school in Speech Language Pathology in the Fall.

We look forward to writing and we hope you all enjoy!  Hope everyone had a good fourth of July.  We are so thankful for those who serve in the armed forces.  And we are especially proud of our brother Matthew, who is a Marine.  Thanks for serving our country, we love you!

Thanks for reading!
Melissa