Every time we have a special occasion in our family, I break out my grandmother’s hot milk cake recipe.
I make it for my dad on his birthday and my kids on their birthdays. Sometimes we make it just because we can.
Is there anything better than warm, old-fashioned hot milk cake? [Read more…]
You might have noticed that Get Skinny Saturday has gone missing for the past few weeks. Since my weight loss journey wasn’t going as expected, I didn’t think it was an efficient use of my time to keep writing about gaining or losing less than half a pound each week. Maybe I’ll bring it back in earnest in a few months when the conference is over I can concentrate a little more earnestly on the weight loss.
For now, I’m going to start using my weekend blog posts to highlight small businesses that I love.
A few weeks ago, I told you about Sunrise Soap Company.
Today I want to tell you about Feeling Loved, which is a business run over Facebook by one of my readers. Stephanie wrote to me and asked if I would be willing to try her jewelry and tell you guys about it if I liked it.
To which I replied, “ARE YOU KIDDING? YOU WANT TO SEND ME PERSONALIZED JEWELRY JUST IN TIME FOR MOTHER’S DAY?! YAY!!!”
Obviously, I took her up on her offer. Stephanie sent me this beautiful necklace, personalized with my children’s names and birthstones. It’s stainless steel and hand stamped. I like that it won’t tarnish like silver and I can just clean it with stainless steel wipes.
This post contains Amazon affiliate links to the products mentioned for your convenience.
“Stephanie, I ran out of dish detergent and tried this about a week ago and I cannot believe how clean my dishes got!!! Thank you!” -My friend Nicole via Facebook.
“So, I did this last night and it is AWESOME! No spots on any of the dishes that usually have TONS of spots on them! Thank you so much for sharing….we are never buying the pods again!” –Stephanie, a Binkies and Briefcases reader via Facebook
There’s is a “recipe” floating around blogland for homemade dishwasher detergent.
I think it started with Shaye from The Elliott Homestead.
I’ve heard Rebecca share the same thing.
But I haven’t seen anyone share and before and after pictures, so I’m here today to air our dirty laundry dishes.
I’ve been using this recipe for over a month now and it hasn’t failed me yet.
Did you know that you don’t need to buy a special detergent for your dishwasher? [Read more…]
This week our middle daughter, Abby, turned five.
Even though she is our middle child, since her older brother is adopted, she had the honor of being my first pregnancy.
She was, by far, our most difficult baby. She could stay awake for 20 hours at a time and would only stop crying if you were holding her vertically, standing up, and swaying back and forth a certain way. We got through her entire first year without more than two hours of sleep at a time. She could (and still can) hit octaves only matched by Mariah Carey. When I delivered her, they had to keep her separated from all of the other babies in the hospital nursery because her ear-piercing screams woke up all of the other babies at the same time and caused quite a commotion. That’s Abby, rallying the troops for her cause since Day 1.
There was no denying that she was beautiful, though. Actually, it drives me kind of nuts because often the first and only thing people comment on when speaking to her is the way that she looks. There is so much more to her than that. But even as a baby, strangers would come up to us and say that she should be a model. Once I even had an artist I had never met before approach me and ask me for a picture of her to use as a basis for an oil painting.
Today I’m highlighting Sunrise Soap Company, a local business owned by a savvy woman named Chris. If you are looking for all-natural, handmade soaps, lotions, or other bath products, this is your go-to place.
My middle daughter, Abby, had a preschool field trip to Chris’ shop in York, PA back in the fall and I have since ordered from Sunrise Soap Company online.
In my first order I got the Spearmint, Orange, and Lime soap, and when Chis found out that I was a blogger she sent me the lip gloss and a few other soap samples to try as well. (I didn’t even tell her about the blog, but my PayPal account is named BlogU because of the BlogU Conference, so I guess it wasn’t that hard to figure out. 🙂 )
I don’t know about you, but this conversation comes up at least once a week in our house.
Should we get rid of the land line and just use our cell phones? It almost seems to be a battle of the sexes.
From what I gather in my personal experience and those of my friends, it’s usually the husbands who want to cut the ties and get rid of the land line because it eliminates an extra monthly bill and there are less telemarketers to deal with. Fair enough.
However, I’ve been really reluctant to give up our land line (as have many of my female friends). I shared a few of my reasons with the Binkies and Briefcases Facebook page, and you guys had so many more great reasons to add to my list!
I’ve put together a list of reasons why we ladies prefer to keep our land lines, thankyouverymuch.
Photo Credit: keeweeboy via Deposit Photo
I can’t believe it’s been almost 4 months!
And I’m still holding steady pretty much right where I started.
womp womp.
Hey, at least I haven’t gained any weight from my starting point, so I guess that’s something.
Actually, I lost 0.8 pounds this week. I weighed in at 179.2.
But it must be getting pretty boring for you guys to hear bout me going up half a pound, then down three quarters of a pound week after week. [Read more…]
I am posting this from the road because we are traveling for the second weekend in a row.
How are you doing with your weight loss goals? Me? Not awesome, to be honest.
I have been a very busy bee, and that probably shouldn’t be an excuse, but it is.
I have been on both sides of the parent/teacher conference table. I understand what the every day concerns are as a teacher and as a mom. I put together a list to help us as parents to communicate with our children’s teachers.
Here are my TOP FIVE TIPS for developing a good relationship with your child’s teacher:
1. Be pro-active in your communication, but allow a day or two for a response.
Teachers are busy! In addition to the traditional school hours, there are other tasks to be done. Papers must be graded, professional development trainings must be attended, and future lessons must be planned. If your child is progressing well and the teacher is sending a newsletter to update you on what is happening in class, then you probably will not hear from the teacher again until you have a scheduled meeting, such as back to school night or a conference. It is a good idea to send an email to “check in” or if you have a question, but understand that you may have to wait a day or more for a response. Casual emails should be limited to two or three times a month.
2. Ask what they need
Chances are you have something great to offer, and you might not even know it! Ask if there are specific classroom needs, such as hand sanitizer, extra pencils, or playground equipment for recess. You may be able to donate some gently used books to the classroom library or pick up a few jump ropes from the dollar store. Although they may be too gracious to tell you, teachers usually appreciate classroom supplies more than small trinkets, mugs, or candles if you are giving a gift. (You can check out my holiday gift guide for teachers for more ideas.)
3. Seek clarification
There may be a time when your child comes home upset about something that happened in school. Maybe she got a poor grade or thought something was unfair. Talk directly to the teacher before involving the administration or other parents. Many times these issues are misunderstandings that can be resolved quickly with just a phone call or email.
4. Understand that fair is not always equal
Just as every child must be parented differently, every child must be taught differently. It may not seem fair that your child got a different consequence than another for the same offense, but teachers know things about other children’s circumstances that you may not. It might not seem fair that the teacher extended the science fair deadline for Johnny, but marked down Susie’s project for being late, but she may have done that because Johnny’s mom was in the hospital or his family was evicted from their home. Try to keep an open mind.
5. Keep a business relationship, at least until June.
Unless you were friends long before your child entered the classroom, it’s best not to socialize with your child’s teacher outside of school functions. Becoming drinking buddies or even Facebook friends can muddy the waters and lead to awkward, embarrassing, and inappropriate situations for the adults as well as the children. It is easier to keep hold of your emotions concerning your child’s academic career and feel confident addressing your concerns during the parent/teacher conference when the person seated across from you has not seen your karaoke moves. If you absolutely love your child’s teacher and you are in the market for a new karaoke partner, a personal friendship can be explored after the school year is over.
These tips originally appeared in a 2012 article I wrote for Examiner.com.
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Over the weekend I had the incredible opportunity to speak at the Women’s Leadership Summit, which was hosted by the Junior League of Greensboro in North Carolina.
Eddie and I have never been to Greensboro, so we were super excited to check it out and enjoy a kid-free weekend.
The Junior League graciously hosted us at the O’Henry hotel, which was a beautiful hotel that is also a member of the Southern Living Hotel Collection.
We hit more traffic than we expected, so all day Thursday (10 hours) was spent driving. We got to the hotel around 9pm. Luckily, the hotel restaurant, Green Valley Grill, was still open and we were able to have a late dinner. Eddie and I split an order of their truffle fries. Seriously awesome. The restaurant was a really fun mix of elegant and casual. The food was affordable, but they had swanky options (like tapas and lamb) too. [Read more…]
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