Ninja Mommy Hacks: Life with 2 Minions and lots of wine!

Once again, I cannot take credit for this!    Pinterest is my BFF... Ever heard of a "Rock Jar"?   Well the idea is easy-- Get a bag of dollar store glass rocks/pebbles/round things.   The things that go in flower vases as a decoration.   And get 2 jars of any size-  they must BE CLEAR!   At 2 1/2 years old I started this with my kids.   They earn ROCKS for doing good deeds, being overall helpful, doing chores, doing the right thing, and in the beginning- just breathing!    Reward the good-all. the. time.   Each rock is worth 10 minutes of screen time.    They can ONLY give me 6 rocks at most at a time (60 minutes total for TV/Ipad, etc).      If they earn a rock (or more) you pull the rocks from your JAR and hand them to your child.  Count them out, then they put them in their jar.  The psychological part of them earning, holding, counting, and putting the rocks in their jar is KEY!!! ...

Sworkit Pro is the app I bought; they have a lite version, but I read enough about it to convince me to buy it.  I really really LIKE it!   Because- YOGA!!!  A part of my Miracle Morning (Hal Elrod's book) I have started using this app for my workout.   It has a 7 minute full body workout-  it shows you the workout as you do it.  The voice telling you what to do is NOT annoying.  It gives you 10 seconds to get into the poses and get ready.   Turn your phone sideways for the video on how to do the move.     The best feature is the "create your own workout" mode.  You go thru ALL exercises and chose the ones you want to incorporate.    Then tell it how long, and you can even say "rest after _____ exercise".    Everything is custom.  It then goes thru the sequence as in you would do in a gym. So the yoga starts in prayer pose, etc.   It builds a workout naturally.  You set the length of the...

If you have read some of my other blogs on how I keep my Sh*t together-  you will notice a trend-- get up at least 1 hour before your kids!   I thought I would explain my glorious mornings to you, AND that I will soon start the "Miracle Mornings" as Hal Elrod describes in his book. My husband and I both are reading the book to hopefully implement together and increase our quality of life. I am half-way thru the book and here are my take-aways/tidbits for my fellow Ninja Moms: 1) Silence is your best friend.    As a mom, you know this... so why would you NOT welcome the 5am silence in the house?    My coffee is brewed at 5am, I am out of bed by 5:10 (heater has kicked on so house is warm), and I get my coffee into my mug in the dark.     I then walk into my sitting room/office and sit in my chair watching outside the traffic go by...  I sip my coffee and enjoy the silence. Getting out of bed-  if that is an issue for you--- Hal El...

I found this article with GREAT ideas on questions to ask!  I always ask the same 3 questions every day:  How were you KIND today?   How were you BRAVE today?  and  How did you FAIL? today?           We celebrate failure in our family!    I love this article... give it a try:   Article to She Knows

Found this on Pinterest- so I cannot take all the credit.. My husband and I do not do regular gifts..  instead we gift-swap 12 dates for the next year. This means in total we will go on 24 dates-  2 per month-   trying something new, continuing a tradition, etc. This can get expensive, so instead of paying for all of the date upfront, we just do a $5 gift card to the place, or just write it out on an index card..    (I budgeted $200 total from our Christmas fund- each $100 to purchase stuff).  You will see we also do FREE stuff- to offset budget. Here are some of our DATES from the passed 2 years- so you get the full idea: January: Me: Paint Night at the local Pinot's and Palette.   I just wrote it out on a card & bought the tickets later. Him:  Dinner and a movie.  He just bought a $5 gift card to the dinner place. Feb: Me:  His birthday night-  dinner at our favorite (expensive) restaurant.  I just wr...

Here are my reasons all mom's need the Apple Watch... (AKA iWatch) 1)   In one swipe you can find your lost iPhone-  making your iPhone PING (loudly) You know you lose your phone-  a ton!   You are getting kids ready, running around- throw your phone on your bed.  Come by and attempt to MAKE the bed, then throw your Pajama's on the bed (hey, they are clean, wear them again after the sniff test)...and you just buried your iPhone.    One swipe on the apple Watch- and PING!!!  Phone found! Or like my last scary Target run-- buried my phone in my purse when I had BOTH my kids with me at Target (I do not recommend this, nor do I EVER do this..what the f**k was I thinking).    I got to my car and could not find my phone.  STUPID me- forgets about my watch...runs back into TARGET panicked- NOPE...no one turned in a phone.    I look at my watch is says "disconnected" telling me I am out of service from it (proximity). ...

The idea is simple-  get your village together.. List all the friends you have that have kids the same age as you.  Then you ask to "babysit swap" kids.   One night you take all the kids- that couple goes out.  Then you switch on another evening or afternoon.   Your kids get a fun night with friends and are entertained..  You have it a tad more difficult- with 4-5 kids in the house.   Plan accordingly...     I chose a theme night- Pokemon party:   the older ones go with my husband Pokemon hunting, I stay with the little's and play Playdoh.  Then Pokemon movie is shown and pizza for dinner.     It's important to send photos (Proof of Life) to the parents quite often.    And make sure your husband is on board with this plan- you need help!   We divide and conquer most of the evening. We sometimes have taken all 4 kids to the local trampoline place--I have a van so we just need the car seats.   We ...