Archive for May, 2015

DIY Iced Coffee Recipes

Wednesday, May 20th, 2015

My favorite drink in the summertime is iced coffee, but I don’t love the price tag that comes with the iced coffees from our coffee shops.

Thankfully, I discovered how to cold brew my coffee and make the perfect iced coffee at home.

This month on my site I am showing you how I cold brewed my coffee and today we tackle how to make the perfect iced coffee just for you by adding your own favorite flavor combinations.

Start With a Great Base

You can add lots of flavor to your coffee, but if it isn’t great coffee to start with then you will be disappointed in the results no matter how many flavors you add to it.

Top It With Your Favorite Milk or Milk Substitute

The biggest struggle for me when purchasing my coffee out is the milk substitute offerings.

Almond milk is my go-to choice for my coffee, but most coffee shops don’t offer this as an option, yet another reason why I love making my coffee at home.

Experiment with different milk types like almond milk, soy milk, coconut milk, half-and-half.

You can even try something new like a delicious Vietnamese coffee tradition by adding some sweetened condensed milk for a decadent treat.

I prefer a half to half ratio on coffee to milk especially since the cold brew method yields a strong concentrate for your coffee drinking needs.

Add Your Flavored Syrups

Have you ever made your own simple syrups?

It really could not be easier and these are great not only to have on hand for your morning coffee (hot or cold), but also for fresh summer cocktails.

The process of creating these is a simple one.

Simply mix equal parts sugar and water in a saucepan, heat until your sugar dissolves, then add your favorite flavorings to create your syrup.

I store these cooled syrups in my fridge in mason jars for whenever the iced coffee mood strikes me.

Here are a few of my favorite winning combinations:

Vanilla Coffee Syrup

1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the pan and throw in the pod. Heat the mixture over medium-high, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has dissolved. Reduce the heat to low and let simmer, about 10-15 minutes. Remove from the heat, discard the vanilla bean pod and stir in the vanilla extract. Let cool. Store in the refrigerator.

Caramel Syrup

¾ cup sugar
½ cup water
¼ cups caramel sauce

Combine the sugar, water and caramel sauce in a small saucepan. Heat the mixture over medium-high, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is smooth. Remove from the heat and let cool. Store in the refrigerator.

Peppermint Syrup

1 cup sugar
1 cup water
2 teaspoons peppermint extract

In a small saucepan, bring sugar and water to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and stir constantly until sugar is dissolved. Stir in the peppermint extract. Cool to room temperature and store in a glass jar in the refrigerator.

Finish With A Dusting of Cinnamon

A sweet and simple dusting of cinnamon is the perfect way to finish this yummy treat. Wild Oats Cinnamon is one of my own pantry staples and adds that fancy coffee shop touch at a price that is just right!

I hope these ideas inspire you to try something new with your coffee today!

Don’t miss these other great ideas on MomAdvice.com:

The Perfect Iced Coffee – Cold Brew Method

Chocolate Coffee Spoons

Knitted Coffee Cup Sweaters

How to Make a Coffee Filter Wreath

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Tags: Coffee Recipes, DIY Coffee Syrup Recipes, DIY Iced Coffee, Recipe, Wild Oats Coffee Review
Posted in Breakfast, Drinks, My Work | No Comments »

Amy’s Notebook 05.20.15: M Challenge Technology Syllabus

Wednesday, May 20th, 2015

Note: As a wrap-up of each month’s m challenge theme, we will be using the last Notebook of the month as a sort of “Cliffs Notes” edition of the challenge – a place where you can find a list of all the articles we’ve published for the challenge, as well as more inspiration and links from the web around the challenge theme. Our hope is that this will serve as a one stop shopping for the theme that you can refer to as well as catch up on in case you’ve missed anything!

May M Challenge: Focus on Technology

Cozi

Whenever I talk about the best apps to organize a family, I always think of Cozi first. Over the years, this app has evolved so much and fits perfectly into our family’s everyday needs. Cozi is a calendar app that is made with a mom in mind. It is easy to use, color-coded (for each family member), includes pictures of your sweet little ones, helps you with your grocery list, and offers text message alerts to you for appointment reminders…all from one central location.

My favorite feature that has saved our family countless fees and embarrassment is their text reminder service. When I input our family’s appointments, I can have a text sent to myself or to my husband that reminds us about that appointment. The reminders can come whenever you designate them (one hour ahead, one day ahead, one week ahead, etc..). Does your child have jean day at school? Super silly hair day? Little things like that are even input in this handy calendar and a text reminder goes out to me first thing in the morning to save my children from their mom’s forgotten dollar or the super exciting monthly “skip your uniform,” day.

(Free. Available for the iPad, iPhone, or Android.)

Mint

If you are looking to get your family’s finances back on track this year, my favorite and most reliable financial reporting comes from Mint. Mint can be set up through your home computer, your smart phone, or tablet. An account with Mint can be set up in less than five minutes and gives you the chance to set budgets to your spending categories and track them with handy pie charts and graphs. In one glance, you can monitor your checking, savings, investments, and retirement at any moment during the day.

Most of the spending categories are immediately categorized for you while unfamiliar categories (like your favorite local restaurant or doctor’s visit) may need a quick categorization for accurate reporting. For tax purposes, you can also tag items for reimbursement so that it can help later when filing your taxes.

The best part, I have found, is that Mint will alert you via email when spending or withdrawals seem high. Did the mortgage company take out an extra payment? Did you have an unusually high amount of withdrawals in one month? Was a large deposit made? Mint sends you an email to alert you of unusual transactions happening in your account which could potentially save you from being the victim of credit card fraud.

(Free. Available for most devices.)

Grocery IQ

Making and sticking to your grocery lists has never been easier thanks to the Grocery IQ app. With Grocery IQ you can type, speak, or scan grocery list items into your list. The list automatically adds your items into categories and then alerts you if coupons are available for any items you might be adding to your list. Coupons can then be sent to your email when your list has been made or (if you have a wireless enabled printer) can be sent to your printer for printing. As you gather your items from your list, simply check it off and the item moves to the bottom of the list. Once your whole list is complete, everything is shifted towards the bottom and then can simply be clicked to add those repeat items back on the list for your next visit.

Since I always have my phone with me, switching to an electronic grocery list has been much easier than I thought it would be. The coupon feature helps save our family money on items we were already planning to buy and the list helps keep our family budget on track. I also love that I can sync my list from my iPad to my iPhone so I can use whichever device I have handy to add items when we need them.

(Free. Available for the iPad, iPhone, or Android.)

Evernote

If you are trying to stop the paper pile-up from school, Evernote is a fantastic tool for clipping and saving those papers in one spot that you can access from your phone or computer. When items come home to us that I might need to reference for our family later, like the cafeteria lunch schedule or the recess schedule, I can either take a photo of what I need or I can scan that item into Evernote and tag it with, “School,” for easy reference.

Things that I often refer back to, like our library card numbers, gift card numbers that I want to store on my computer, receipts for purchases, or even keeping track of the books my children are reading in a particular series are all housed in my Evernote account for easy accessibility when I need them.

No more scraps of paper all over the house or hanging on to newsletters for one paragraph of information, Evernote has become my virtual notebook to keep us organized.

(Free. Available on most devices.)

SpringPad

Menu planning can be a challenge for families and keeping track of all of those recipes you want to try can be a challenge when your Pinterest boards are overflowing with ideas. I have come to rely upon SpringPad for creating our family’s weekly menu plan. I think of SpringPad as a virtual notebook where you can privately or publicly share things you want to reference to manage your life. Notebooks can be created on any topic, but I create weekly notebooks of menu plans for my family, adding those recipes into a notebook so that I can reference them later, whether I am cooking in the kitchen or I am at the grocery store and not sure if I added all the ingredients to my list like I thought.

Depending on how the recipe is input into the source, SpringPad will either pull the recipe right into your notebook so you can view it right from the notebook, you can manually add in the recipe, or a link to the recipe will be provided so you can access it from the page you found it.

(Free. Available on most devices.)

30/30

Setting a timer to get tasks done around the house is an old school method that works remarkably well for productivity that has now been brought to the future with this 30/30 app for organizing your day. The idea behind this app is very simple: you work for thirty minutes and focus on a single task with no distractions. When your time is up, you give your mind a break and do something completely unrelated, also for thirty minutes. This 30/30 cycle is repeated until your tasks are done.

Type in what your ideal day will look like including blocking out times for a little down time like enjoying a cup of coffee, time wasting on sites like Facebook or Pinterest, or just time with a great book. Then set up what the rest of your productive day will look like and use the 30/30 app to visualize if you are going to get your tasks done in the designated time. It provides a countdown and a visual reminder of what you are working on and beeps when your time is done. Simple, visually pleasing, and highly effective, I can’t recommend this app enough to increase your productivity.

(Free. Available for the iPad or iPhone.)

8MM Vintage Camera

Capturing my children on-the–go is one of the main reasons I decided to get an iPhone. While I rely heavily on Instagram for capturing still images of our family from day-to-day I also love to capture movies of them. Although we have many fancy camcorders laying around our house, the one recorder I always have with me is my phone. I am a huge fan of vintage looking film and pictures so I have found that the 8MM vintage camera app is a fun way to add a little vintage to our family’s most precious recorded moments.

($1.99. Available for the iPad or iPhone)

What are your favorite apps for keeping your family organized? Chime in here and share your family’s favorite tools!

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Tags: Best Apps, Family, Favorite apps, Frugal, iPhone, iPhone apps, Work
Posted in Money & Finance, Organizing, Time Management | 33 Comments »

Apron Full of Giveaways 05.19.15

Tuesday, May 19th, 2015

Source: Boojiboo, $28.75

Welcome to our Apron Full of Giveaways! I hope everyone is having a great week this week! As we do each week, here is our round-up of giveaways for our readers. We hope that this is beneficial to you and your family! Please let us know if you guys win anything- I love to hear the success stories!

Below are the contest links-if you are hosting a contest please link it up below. Sorry, we are not giving away the aprons just showcasing them! Please put your site name and then what type of contest you are hosting. For example, “MomAdvice (Kid’s Movies).”

Good luck to each of you!

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Tags: Aprons, Contests, Giveaways, Sweeps
Posted in Giveaways | No Comments »

m challenge: Tips & Benefits of “Slow Blogging” with Tiffany King

Monday, May 18th, 2015

Note: With May as our M Challenge Focus on Technology, I was really excited when Tiffany King, from Eat At Home, offered to share her expertise about growing your blog slowly – and why that can be a good thing. It’s been a privilege to see her blog grow and I know if you are a blogger you will learn so much from her tips!

There has been a lot of talk around the internet over the last six months or so of bloggers feeling burned out. That has prompted conversations on slow blogging.

Going slow with a blog is nothing new to me. My site, Eat at Home, has grown very slowly but steadily over the last six and a half years. Yes, there have been plateaus and challenges. Many times it’s been frustrating to watch other sites grow faster. But looking back, I wouldn’t change a thing.

Like many of you who are also blogging, I have several kids and other obligations as well. I don’t have the hours to devote full-time work to my blog. Instead, I’ve applied slow and steady work and the blog has grown and matured. Just like when you put food in a slow cooker – it will eventually come to a boil and cook. It will take longer than if you use the stove-top or oven, but it will cook.

There are a few things I’ve learned over the years about how to grow a site without putting in long hours, or working until 2 am or neglecting time with family. I don’t want to come across like I have this all figured out. Far from it! But I do know that it’s possible to work reasonable hours and still have a successful site. These are things that have worked for me. Maybe some of them will work in your situation too!

Time and Patience

If you’re planning to grow your site without putting in long hours all at once, you will have to give it time. It does take a lot of work to build a successful site. You don’t have to put all those hours in over a small amount of time. What others have done in six months, it’s taken me years. But I’ve been able to work the hours that fit my family’s schedule. Yes, it’s frustrating at times to not see quicker growth. But the growth does come if you just keep at it.

Focus on Your Goal

– Do you want or need to earn an income?

– Are you trying to build a platform so you can get a book published?

– Do you want to build a community of people who can support each other or do good in the world?

Knowing what your main objective is will help you determine where to spend your time. If you want to build a community of bloggers, it would be helpful to attend quite a few conferences so you can meet people face to face. If you want to earn an income, you’ll need to focus on activities that will make a profit.

Work the path that makes the most sense for you and your goals.

Focus on Your Readers

Getting super clear on who your readers are and what they want is really important in growing a site. Figure out what their pain points are. Then create content and products that solve those problems for them. This isn’t new info, but it is important enough to mention again.

Maximize Your Momentum Points

A momentum point is any event, blog post, product, affiliate relationship etc that brings you more results than you normally get.

You are probably familiar with the 80/20 Principle. Also called the “Law of the Vital Few”, this principle states that 80% of the results come from 20% of the effort. This means that 80% of your traffic is coming from 20% of your blog posts. 80% of your revenue is coming from 20% of your work. 80% of your social media traffic is most likely coming from one outlet.

This 20% of the effort in any area is a momentum point that you can capitalize on.

Here are a few examples of things that could be momentum points:

• A post that gets linked to by a large blog, sending lots of traffic your way.

• A post that goes viral on a social media site.

• A product you create and sell that earns a good profit.

• A series you write that readers love and share.

• A sponsored post you write that the brand loves.

All of these things, and many more, can be momentum points. But to really make them work, you have to push harder on those places. Take advantage of the movement that has been created and keep it building.

Here’s an example from my blog:

A few summers ago I had a post to do with very little time. I threw up a list of summer slow cooker recipes that I have on my site. I think there were 15-20 links. I didn’t include photos. It was a very basic post that I viewed as quick filler. But that post did really well, sending lots of traffic and pins. It was a momentum point.

So the next summer I promoted that old post, but also created a summer-long series of 75 days of summer slow cooker recipes. I linked to other bloggers and to my own recipes, as well as put out some new recipes for the series. I posted every day that summer. The Summer Slow Cooker Series did really well. It was good for me, because a lot of them were very easy posts. And good for traffic because readers loved them.

So the next summer I increased the series to 100 days and hired my VA to do a lot of the work for it. She even did some ghost writing of the posts (the only time I’ve ever done that). I was able to step away from the blog to enjoy summer and work more on creating and promoting my products.

Using that original Summer Slow Cooker post to create momentum, I was able to leap the blog forward. And eventually, it afforded me time for pushing other types of work forward as well.

What is one momentum point that you could push forward on your blog right now?

Momentum points can happen by some outside force (large site linking to you), by accident (writing a post that takes off unexpectedly) or by creating it. Creating momentum points is trial and error, but as you study things that have worked in your business, you’ll begin to see trends that you can use for creating more momentum.

Skip the Friction Points

A few friction points that are common to all of us are:

• Comparison

• Jealousy

• Tracking down stolen content

All of this is a waste of time and a huge energy drain. They’re also easy traps to fall into. But effort spent on any of these things will never pay off.

Other possible friction points:

• Doing work you hate, instead of finding someone else to do it or skipping it all together (if possible).

• Trying to perfect things that are already good enough and working. (Site designs, photos, About pages, old posts, SEO…)

• Spending a lot of time working on something that is not part of the 20% that gets you 80% of the results. (Writing long tutorial posts on a topic that doesn’t answer the problems your readers have.)

Consistent, Focused Work + Time = Results

We tend to overestimate what we can do in a short period, and underestimate what we can do over a long period, provided we work slowly and consistently. ~Gretchen Rubin

It is possible to grow a successful site by working slowly and consistently. It will take longer. It will require patience and focus. It will also pay off with more time to spend with family, a healthier and balanced life and a successful site.

Tags: Blogging, Blogging Tips, Growing Your Blog, Slow Blogging, Technology
Posted in Blogging, Maximize, The M Challenge, Tips | No Comments »

It’s the 3 Little Things (With Meagan): King, Cuffs & Coffee

Friday, May 15th, 2015

Well, hello, Friday! Nice to see you again! The Clark family has hobbled through another week and this will be our last 3 little things for this month as the blog will be on hiatus from May 20th-June 1st. My husband and I are celebrating our 15 year anniversary and got our very first passports to take a trip to Italy to celebrate. We are touring Florence, Rome, & Venice on our trip and I am so excited and so very nervous. Grandma retired last year and has generously agreed to step into our place and take over for nine days with my children. She is a saint!

I want everything to be spectacular for her so I am filling the freezer, organizing a fraction of the unorganized spaces, list-making, and tackling the Mt. Everest of laundry piles. It will all be worth it though and we are so thankful we leave our kids in far more competent hands than my own.

Say some prayers for grandma and, if you have a few to spare, throw up a few for us since we are nervous travelers! We have been saving a long time for this. Actually, since we got married. I started a secret fund and auto-transferred $25 in it each month for a vacation for our ten year anniversary. We were broke, but we never felt the pinch in those early years of marriage. Ten years passed and our kids felt too small to leave them, but now at 12 and 9… the timing finally feels right.

Today we have Meagan Church joining us to share her happy list! Meagan Church is a writer, children’s book author and the brainpower behind www.Unexpectant.com, which explores the story of modern motherhood. She lives in the Midwest with her high school sweetheart, three children and a few animals. Connect with her on Twitter, on Instagram, or visit her website www.MeaganChurch.com.

Meagan and I are local friends that have wrote for some of the same publications and she is as genuine as they come. You are in for a real treat today so please give her a warm welcome! If you are interested in being a guest poster on the 3 little things, send over a list of your 3 favorites and why to amy@momadvice.comand I will share them in the upcoming weeks!

It’s a spring Friday in Northern Indiana, so what better time to take a few minutes and consider a couple simple, yet beautiful moments of recent? Of course I must take pause to celebrate the return of birds, tree buds and running season, but there are other things that have had my heart and attention as of recent, including a book, a bracelet and a brewer.

“11/22/63” by Stephen King

I don’t typically read Stephen King books. While I am an avid reader, the overwhelming size of most King books intimidates me, not to mention the fact that some of his stories that I heard years ago still haunt my nightmares today. While re-reading his incredibly inspiring book “On Writing,” I felt the urge to dive into one of his newer novels. I had heard good things about “11/22/63,” so I downloaded a digital copy from the library, and, not being very good at converting digital pages to print pages, I had no idea just how long it was. I wasn’t able to finish the digital copy before it had to be returned, so I headed to the library to get a print copy and an intimidating surprise. I pulled the book off the shelf, suddenly thankful for each and every Insanity workout I had endured that had made it possible for me to actually lift the behemoth of a book. But, I told myself that size didn’t matter. What mattered was that I finished a story that had engaged and engrossed me from the start. Soon this book crept into many of my conversations and even a few of my dreams. Even with three little ones, writing deadlines and typical every-day commitments, I read the book in record time. While I have always had respect for King’s writing, reading this book put me in awe of his masterful storytelling. Though I finished it a few weeks ago, the story is still on my mind, along with wondering if the upcoming Hulu mini-series will do the story justice.

Personalized Cuff Bracelets

I have always been a sucker for a good quote. And, I’ve always tried to find ways to surround myself with encouraging and inspiring words. Over the past few years, I have had quotes and verses that have served as mantras for me, including the reminder to “be still” and the scripture Philippians 4:13 (which helped me get through three natural child births). When I attended the Storyline Conference in Chicago last fall, writer Shauna Niequist spoke these words that I instantly knew would be my mantra for 2015, “Do your thing with great love right now.” Wanting a constant reminder of these phrases, I fell in love with personalized cuff bracelets. Thanks to the awesomeness that is Etsy, I can have my reminder right at hand (or, rather wrist) whenever needed.

French Press

I love coffee though I’m no connoisseur by any means. I just love a nice cup of black coffee, hold the frills. I have had a devoted single-cup coffee maker for a decade-and-a-half. Sure, there have been fancier products on the market, but it served me well. Until recently. When I knew the end was near, I started researching and asking around about a replacement. Soon enough I came across a French press. The reviews, along with the fact that no wasted filters (or K-cups) are required, I decided to give it a try. I settled on a stainless steel option, fearing I would break a glass one and not trusting piping hot water in a plastic carafe. So far, it has not disappointed. Sure, it takes a few minutes longer to brew (four minutes after the water is heated) than the automatic drip did, but the rich taste, bold flavor and lack of wasteful filters have won me over and make me feel like a kitchen barista.

Whole Foods Pretzel Bread

Okay, okay! I just couldn’t leave this one out. A few months ago a friend asked me a question that changed my life: have you tried Whole Foods pretzel bread? Maybe that was a bit dramatic, but let’s just say that ever since she asked that question, we have either had a loaf on the counter or in the freezer…or both. These fresh-baked bites of heaven have saved more than one meal for me, partly because I’m not the best meal planner and also because when the kids hear pretzel bread is on the menu, they stop moaning about the part of the meal they don’t like and instead give thanks for the mouth-watering deliciousness that will soon be broken, shared and devoured.

How fun was that list this week? I am so excited to share more great ideas from you all in the weeks to come! Thank you, Meagan, for generously sharing the happy today!

*this post may contain affiliate links- I only recommend what I love though. Check out past editions of It’s the 3 Little Things!

Now it’s your turn! What’s making you happy this week?

Tags: 11/22/63 Review, Etsy, Personalized Cuff Bracelets Review, Thermal French Press Review, Whole Foods Pretzel Bread
Posted in It's the 3 Little Things | No Comments »

Making Face Time a Family Priority

Thursday, May 14th, 2015

When my children were small, it seemed that all they wanted to do was play with me, draw with me, and read with me. As they get older, it seems that all they want to do is play on the computer, play on the DS, and play on the Wii… and not with me?

What a change in priorities it has been to be so low on the activities totem pole!

I say this tongue in cheek, of course, because I am just as guilty as my kids of making screen time more of a priority than it should be. I could spend hours on my phone checking all of my social networks and being disconnected from the three people that love me most in my life.

One evening I looked around and saw each of us in our respective corners with our screens and I knew that something had to change. I want my children to have their downtime after school, but I also want us spending time together as a family. I wanted to share with you our solutions for making family time a priority again.

Declare Face Time

When my kids get home from school it is time for snacks and homework. After that, they are free to do screen time alone until 5PM. At 5PM, I declare it, “FACE TIME!” Face time is not FaceTime on the iPhone, instead it means that we will have time together as a family until bedtime. It means having a family meal together with great family conversation, reading books together, playing a board game, or spending an evening playing outside together.

I thought Face Time was a genius idea, but the first night my husband looked at me and said, “So we are ALL supposed to not be on the computer?” Yes, admittedly, I had to flip my phone upside down because each time the screen popped up; I was dying to know what was happening in the world. The two people that had the hardest time were the two of us and the kids took the change in routine surprisingly well.

Do Screen Time Together

If we use screen time during our Face Time it must be all done together. Some evenings we spend an evening Wii bowling together and other evenings it is a night of wild dancing on our Just Dance game. I will admit that I often request a rousing round of Band Hero so I can sing with my very own Partridge Family.

We recently added a new screen time feature to our family that we are all absolutely loving. For about seven years now, I have made homemade pizza every Friday night for our evening meal and we have watched a family movie. In the last few months we have changed our pizza night to a, “Docu-Pizza,” night that we have all come to look forward to together. The evening consists of 1 pizza, 1 documentary, and 1 great family conversation afterwards. We have exposed the kids to lots of different cultures and watched documentaries about everything from the art of origami to puppetry to a senior citizen dance crew. It has led to amazing discussions and allowed us to use our screen time in a way that benefits our whole family.

If you are looking for some fun documentaries to add to your family viewing, be sure to follow my Reality Bites Pinterest Board for some fun movie suggestions to incorporate into your very own Docu-Pizza Night.

Screen time done together connects us and the kids are learning to include us in the gaming fun instead of doing the games on their own.

Use a Screen Time Monitoring System

I find it is much easier to monitor screen time hours during the school year since the kids are in school during the day. In the summer months is when screen time can really get out of control. I wanted a way to monitor their screen time so we decided to create a printable ticket that could be used for just this occasion.

These tech tickets have made us all more aware of how much screen time we are using and have been a great way for us to monitor the amount they are getting. Each child gets one chore ticket and two tech tickets for the week in our house. The chore ticket must be punched before they can start with their first hour of screen time.

Tech tickets grant the child one hour of computer or video game time. We do not count television time as tech time in our house. Kids can watch 2 shows daily on Netflix. We no longer have cable television so that has really helped us do a better job of not zoning out on the television. A timer is set and once it dings, the card is punched for that hour. It is as simple as that!

We made an agreement that if the child wants to save computer/video game time that they can save and transfer the hours to another day. They can not, however, cash in on an advance on their ticket.

Go Paperless With An Affordable Internet Monitoring System

My husband did hours and hours of research on an internet monitoring system because we have worried about the types of media our children are viewing, but we couldn’t find anything that fit our family’s needs. These blockers for our kids created blockers for me all day trying to do my job and I didn’t know how to reset the blockers my husband enabled. Potential monitoring systems would not work with our router so this is the crappy “block you from everything,” solution that we had come up with for now.

That is…. until we discovered Circle. It is an internet monitoring system that not only blocks potentially harmful content, but it also tracks your child’s hours, sets their devices to bedtime at your chosen bedtime hour, and it allows you to pause the internet to spend time with your family.

I received a beta unit and would love to walk you through it. Even though I am a blogger, I can admit that I am not very tech savvy. Watch the video to see how easy it was to set up for our family!

Here are 4 Awesome things you can EASILY do with Circle:

1. Set appropriate filters for EACH DEVICE. Use the pre-designed ones or customize your own.

2. Track where your family is spending their time online.

3. Give your devices a BED TIME!

4. PAUSE the internet! Yes. you. can.

We are so excited to finally have control again in our house and can’t recommend it enough!

My husband and I keep shaking our heads as we see the kids getting back to the root of playing together again. Without the screen distractions, they are playing more outside, playing more together, reading, and creating more. It makes my heart happy to see them getting back to this again and embracing imaginative play.

This is what being a child is about and this is what being a family is about. I am glad we are rediscovering these simple pleasures again.

How do you make Face Time a family priority in your house?

*This post contains an affiliate link, but I only promote things I believe will add value to your life.

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Tags: Chore Tickets, Face Time, Family Time, m challenge series, Screen Time, Tech Tickets
Posted in Family, Maximize, The M Challenge, Time Management | 4 Comments »

Amy’s Notebook 05.13.15

Wednesday, May 13th, 2015

Source: The Makerista

I want to freshen up my front step like this.

5 curling wand tutorials – no more burned fingers.

World’s best empathy cards.

I want to trick out my bicycle basket!

Swooning over this colorful midcentury modern home.

The truth about beauty that we must teach our daughters.

DIY cardboard box lap tray – brilliant!

Source: Small Friendly

DIY leather and chain jewelry– I must make this!

Organized nursery closet -LOVE this.

How to make a great drink on a plane.

I just started watching this and I’m loving it!

5 great travel pieces.

Someone slightly more obsessed than me with this show.

Treat yo self. I’m learning this too. Who wants to be secret pals for Mother’s Day next year? SERIOUSLY!!

I hope you enjoyed our notebook, a collection of gathered links to DIY crafts, food projects, thrifty ways to spruce up your home, and thoughtful reads. Nothing brings me more joy than to highlight other fabulous bloggers. Follow me on Pinterest for daily inspiration!

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Tags: Amy's Notebook, Crafting, DIY, Food & Recipes, home decor, Reads, Recipes
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Using Technology to Make the Most of Summer

Tuesday, May 12th, 2015

From our marriage & parenting contributor, Mary Carver.

I’m not sure if you’ll see this as good news or bad news, but friends, summer break is almost here. Yes, it’s true. Those little people who eat so much food and make even bigger messes? They are going to be home for a solid 10 to 12 weeks, and they are going to need something to keep them occupied.

My almost-second-grader is a girl after my own heart these days and totally into books. That means our schedule is filling up with library events, reading programs and make-your-own bookmark craft projects. But eventually she’ll need a break from books (gasp! why?! I KNOW.), and then it’s time to figure out other ways to spend our summer days.

Now, obviously our summer and yours will involve lots of outdoor play, pool time, baseball games and the like. Even if – like me – you’re a little indoorsy, sunshine and swing sets and sandboxes and sweat seem to be required summer ingredients. Even if the siren call of our friends Netflix and Kindle is loud. Right?

So the question becomes: How can we balance our use of technology during summer break?

I’ve found that we use technology in four ways during family time (or Mama-is-working-so-find-something-quiet-to-do time).

Watching. Obviously this is the most passive of uses for the wonderful world of technology. From episodes of Kitchen Crashers saved on the DVR (my daughter’s latest obsession) to silly, G-rated clips on YouTube, it’s nearly impossible to run out of things to watch online. That’s why I work hard to keep track of her screen time (and mine) so we don’t overdo it and turn into Screen Zombies!

TIP: PBS, Disney, Nickelodeon and Sprout have free apps that show full episodes of your kids’ favorite shows.

Playing. Are your kids into Minecraft? If so, you can probably skip this one, because you are covered. My daughter hasn’t discovered Minecraft yet, though, so we have to look hard for appropriate games. Games that don’t require spending money to get to level three. Most the games we’ve found require just about as much brainpower as watching an episode of The Odd Squad on our PBS app, so I count games with her other screen time.

TIP: Don’t forget to adjust your settings so purchases require a password.

Learning. Now, learning games? THOSE I can get behind. (Even for myself, not that it’s a real hardship to “force” myself to play Trivia Crack instead of Candy Swipe…) My daughter knows the way to convince me to allow a little more time with the Kindle is to play an educational game, but she doesn’t mind the compromise anymore than I do. Tons of games that really do teach kids are out there – and many of them are free. One I plan to encourage her to play this summer is from PBS Kids, and it has several ways to teach her how to count money (something she hasn’t mastered just yet).

TIP: Your kids’ school is a great resource for educational websites, especially ones that they’re already familiar with. My daughter begs to play ABC Ya or read with Raz Kids, and we log on through her school’s website or with her teacher’s username and password. So find out about your options before school’s out!

Researching. When I was a kid and had a question about something my parents didn’t know (or wanted me to learn on my own), they always said the same thing: “Look it up.” Back then, that meant going to our shelf of World Book Encyclopedias. Not so much these days! Today if I tell my daughter we need to look up some information (she’s still a little young to do it herself, although she’ll be on her own soon), she knows we’re heading to Google, Wikipedia, Pinterest or another website.

TIP: In addition to looking up facts about whales, recipes for popsicles and the history of LEGOs, you and your kids can also look up community events or reserve books at the library.

A Few More Tips & Ideas:

For older kids, technology is certainly going to be used for keeping in touch with friends. But even the youngest kids can Skype with grandparents or help you send a thank-you email after a play date.

One way to make sure your whole family is getting enough activity is with a device that measures your steps. Set a daily goal for each family member or even launch a friendly competition throughout the summer! Whether you use an app, a Fitbit, or a pedometer from the discount store, the point is to be more mindful of how much you – and your kids – move, and to encourage each other to do a little more.

And, of course, family night doesn’t always have to revolve around a movie or board game (those are the go-to activities at our house). Break out that Wii Fit, LeapTV or XBox Kinect – and break a sweat together!

Last but not least, summer is a great time to start discussions about safety. Remind your kids that not everything on the internet is healthy for them, and help them learn a few family rules about what you share online and what you do not. And as you tug the Gameboy (or whatever is cool these days…I CAN’T KEEP UP!) out of their hands and point them toward the backyard or the baseball field, use that opportunity to make talk about balance (and not turning into that Screen Zombie!) part of your regular conversations.

How do you plan to use technology during summer break?

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Tags: Kids Activities, Summertime, Technology, technology management
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Apron Full of Giveaways 05.12.15

Tuesday, May 12th, 2015

Source: Ten Fifteen Bucks, $10.00

Good luck to each of you!

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Archive for May, 2015

May M Challenge: Focus on Technology

Other Links for Using & Managing Technology:

Source: BuzzFeed

Source: Driven By Decor

I hope you enjoyed our notebook, a collection of gathered links to DIY crafts, food projects, thrifty ways to spruce up your home, and thoughtful reads. Nothing brings me more joy than to highlight other fabulous bloggers. Follow me on Pinterest for daily inspiration!

What are your favorite apps for keeping your family organized? Chime in here and share your family’s favorite tools!

Source: Boojiboo, $28.75

Time and Patience

Focus on Your Goal

Focus on Your Readers

Maximize Your Momentum Points

Skip the Friction Points

It is possible to grow a successful site by working slowly and consistently. It will take longer. It will require patience and focus. It will also pay off with more time to spend with family, a healthier and balanced life and a successful site.

“11/22/63” by Stephen King

Whole Foods Pretzel Bread

How fun was that list this week? I am so excited to share more great ideas from you all in the weeks to come! Thank you, Meagan, for generously sharing the happy today!

Now it’s your turn! What’s making you happy this week?

Declare Face Time

Do Screen Time Together

Use a Screen Time Monitoring System

Go Paperless With An Affordable Internet Monitoring System

Here are 4 Awesome things you can EASILY do with Circle:

How do you make Face Time a family priority in your house?

Source: The Makerista

Source: Small Friendly

I hope you enjoyed our notebook, a collection of gathered links to DIY crafts, food projects, thrifty ways to spruce up your home, and thoughtful reads. Nothing brings me more joy than to highlight other fabulous bloggers. Follow me on Pinterest for daily inspiration!

How do you plan to use technology during summer break?

Source: Ten Fifteen Bucks, $10.00