A Few of My Favorite (Mommy) Things

One of my favorite (no, it is my FAVORITE) blogs is It's Almost Naptime and Missy is doing a Mom-to-Mom post where anyone (even the likes of me) can submit some of their mommy tips and how-tos to make life easier. So without further ado here are some of my favorite things, with and without photos: Contoured Laundry Basket - a MUST-HAVE for any mom with a baby - you can hold it and the baby while going up and down the stairs! And even when you aren't holding a baby, you are likely holding something else.

The Time Timer - a visual "clock" for kids who can't yet tell time. We use it for quiet time and I can put up to 2 hours on the clock (the red can wrap around twice) and tell Marie she can come out of her room when "all the red is gone." It's on the expensive side but very cool. (Thanks for telling me about it Jane.) Frozen, Rotten Bananas - well kind of... our household won't eat bananas if they are the slightest bit mushy. Once they are nice and brown I will eventually make banana bread, but until I have 3 or 4 brown bananas, I just put them in the freezer. Once I have enough to make amazing chocolate chip banana bread, then I put them in a large mixing bowl on the counter to thaw. After a few hours, I cut the bottom off and the banana slides right out without me having to peel them and get hypothermia in the process. Cushy (Gardening) Knee Pad to use while giving kids a bath: Small Trash Can in the garage so I can easily and frequently clean out all the *stuff* in my car.

Shoe Rack - by the garage door. Each person in our household has their own shelf. For the kids, they don't really need more than one shelf and for my husband and I, it keeps us from having shoes piled up in the kitchen.

Sock Bag - tied onto the shoe rack is a "sock bag" with socks for the kids so we don't have to run back upstairs to get socks when we are already late getting out the door. Hopefully, I will sew a pretty one for each kid sometime soon but right now it is just a plastic grocery bag.

Ipod with Audible.com Books/Podcasts/Sermon/News or whatever you find interesting to listen to. I got one for Christmas and if the my kids are sleeping, I listen to it while doing dishes, cooking, sweeping, folding laundry, etc. It makes dreaded housework much easier and I will even do more of it if I am engrossed in a fabulous book.

Lastly, I am not good at meal-planning but have been making more of an effort. I now buy several packages of chicken breast when they are on sale, boil them (in a pressure-cooker because they retain great flavor and moisture that way but it doesn't have to be) and then freeze them in small portions that can easily be thawed in a few hours (if I plan ahead) or the microwave and thrown into casseroles, soups, chicken pot pie, enchiladas, etc., etc.