Must Have: The True Story of Saint Nick

This year, we gave the boys an amazing book from The Voice of the Martyrs. It is the true story of Nicholas of Myra, who is now known to us as Saint Nicholas. I highly recommend this book! (grab it now. It is on sale!)

Did you know that Nicholas was tortured for Christ?
actually did sneak into a house in the middle of the night?
was spared from a storm at sea?
was made Bishop in response to a prayer?
lost his Bishop's 'crown' for standing up for our Lord?

Our boys love the book! We have been getting multiple requests for lots of re-reading.

And clearly, they love Saint Nick:

Must Have: A wise mother joining you for tea

I have to recommend these two amazing books to you. I am pouring over every word of them right now, and they are like sweet manna to a mommy's heart. I promise you will love them.

Reading a Sally Clarkson book is like sitting with a wise mother and mentor, and having her lovingly encourage you to make wise choices as a parent. "The Ministry of Motherhood" has me realigning my priorities, and changing my own images of the purpose of mothering. "The Seasons of a Mother's Heart" is a treasure of encouragement and offers inspiring examples of fruitful mothering, as well as including extra special encouragement for the homeschooling mother.

I cannot tell you what a treasure these two books have been to me:

Must Have: Daily & FREE blemish treatment

Recently I read a book about natural health, and from it, I picked up a new habit.

Here it is:
Must Have: A daily salt-water immersion.

Basically, you fill your sink with tepid salt-water, every morning. You immerse your face in the water and blink your eyes several times. Then you open your eyes for 3 seconds. Then, you inhale salt-water up both of your nostrils, and blow it back out.

The idea is to cleanse and disinfect your mucous membranes, thereby leading to more optimal health.

The concept is an ancient one, and I have known about it for a long time, but never actually committed to doing this every day.

It stings a bit at first, but then I sort of got hooked to the cleaned-out feeling I get afterward.
But here is the amazing part,

Since I started doing this, every single morning, for 3 months now:
I have not had one single blemish on my face.
Not one.
So, now, it is definitely a Must Have for me.

Let me know if it works for you!!?? I am so curious.

Must Have: The Word Whammer

I'm tellin ya.

This thing is great... and definitely helped both of my boys learn all of their letters and their sounds.

This thing works! Our boys both love it, and still play with it. It helped Christian learn all of his letter sounds before he turned two! And it definitely helped Caleb learn to read.

Here is Christian, {who will be 3 at the end of October}, and we took this picture because he spelled Cat all on his own, without the Word Whammer prompting!! Wow. A proud mommy moment. {Christian looks rather pleased himself as well!}

Just yesterday, Caleb came running in to tell me and Matt that:
"Awesome!!! I spelled Awesome!!!!"

We were eager to see, how in the world he fit the word "awesome" into the 3 openings of the the Word Whammer.
Well.
Here you have it folks:

It does, indeed, spell 'awesome.'

So cute!

Kinda reminds me of the time he spelled "Gator" {as in, the John Deere variety}:

"GADR"

I love it!

Must Have: Bread Maker. My new favorite toy

Ever use a bread maker?

This is my new Must Have!!!

ok. so if you are a purist... you may poo-poo my new favorite toy.

but.

If you are a lady who never made her own bread...

or, seriously, you don't have the time to beat your flour to a pulp...

this thing is awesome.

If you have one in your cabinet,

pull it out, my friends.

The time has come for yummy, really inexpensive, melt-in-your-mouth, fresh

homemade bread.

{oh. and try this recipe. I adapt it by replacing some of the white flour with 1 3/4 whole wheat flour. I also use honey, and I don't use the double rise... it deflated on me. but never fear. It still tasted delicious and we ate it all without a gripe.}

{oh again. For more Must Haves, click here. And to shop some of my favorite Must Haves, click here. Girl's gotta do her share of bread-winning, ya know.}

Must Have: A cute little outfit for your laptop

Yes. 

My laptop has a cute little outfit.

As it should.

It doubles as a laptop sleeve.

But I prefer "outfit."

You know you want one.

So, this is where I found mine. For 19.99, no less.

Here is a pic proving that, indeed, my laptop's cute outfit can be used for practical purposes, like lap support:

And here is my love, carrying the laptop, adorned in beauty and plush protection from scratches... or kids:

A Must Have, if I do say so myself.
Love it, Miss. Bellamela,
love it.





For more wonderful Must Haves, visit my Shop, and shop to your heart's content because, goodness knows that the .06 cents referral is a penny saved and penny earned. Or something like that. Just Sayin.

Must Have: Best Exfoliation for your buck

Do you exfoliate???

Here is why you should:

1. It is another good excuse to escape to the child-free refuge of your bathroom.
2. Your face will feel lovely and smooth like a baby bottom.
3. It just feels nice, people.
4. It really does help your cells regenerate and scuffs off your dull, dead, old skin.
5. And I, personally, think it makes your skin look fresher and brighter.

And with that being said, may I introduce to you the best exfoliation bang for your buck:

Must Have: St. Ives Invigorating Apricot Scrub: 

my very own, well-loved scrub:

Smells yummy. Works great. Feels fantastic. Cheap and accessible. Must Have.

And when you wanna get your own, wanna get it from my shop? why not, right?? Thanks, bloggettes!

Must Have: Grocery-Bag meals

I just wanted to share a favorite Must-Have link of mine.

Must Have {or am I supposed to say: "A good thing"...} :
Martha Stewart weekly meal-planning Grocery-Bag Meals

I just love these meal plans. They account for 5 days of meal planning, and include the grocery list. I save money this way, since I don't buy more than I need for dinners. Plus, it is built in variety.

I am currently on a watch-your-budget kick, so I am gonna be doing these over the next few weeks:
Grocery Bag: Shop Smart, Eat Smart
Grocery Bag: On Hand Ingredients

But there are also Grocery Bags based on Healthy Meals, 5 ingredients or less, Around the World, One-pot comforts.

Enjoy! Let me know if you try any.


You can find more of my Must Haves in my very own Shop.

{photo credit: Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia}

Must Have: The best hairspray ever

So, I am the first to admit..

this is pricey hairspray.

Way more than I think one should spend for hairspray.

Which is why I refused to use it again, for years.

But, alas. Age and grey and the coloring of my tendrils have just made humidity-control a MUST HAVE.

And, I am tellin' ya: This hairspray will not disappoint.

It DOES NOT freeze your hair. AT ALL. In fact, if you want to freeze your hair: this is not the spray for you.  

But if you are tired of putting any effort into your hair, just to walk out the door and have it disobey... this baby will become your new best friend. I now think it is worth the cost, and it should last you a very long time :

A Must Have: Redken Hairspray Workforce #9 {be sure to get the #9}:

A Must Have.

{trust me. I am originally from New Jersey, and therefore, hairspray hails from my mother-land}

Must Have: Toilet Training in Less than a Day

So, it is true:

this Must Have is not for everyone....

BUT, if you have potty training age children, this book/method is a Must Have in my humble opinion. {wink}

Toilet Training in Less Than a Day WORKS! {click on the link to read more about the method}:

The method was originally created to train special-needs adults who were diaper-dependent.

My mom used this method in the 70's to train her first-born, who is developmentally and mildly physically disabled {also known as my wonderful sister, Cheryl}. She subsequently trained me and Tammy and even my cousin Evan... in less than a day.

Well, as of yesterday, I have now officially used the method to train my two kiddos! It is official: Christian graduated from daytime diapers yesterday!! {Woohoo}

So, here is the gist (although I definitely recommend getting the book to fill in the gaps and keep you on track):

• You start by having your child teach a wetting doll how to go pee on the potty:

• You pump your kid full of sugary juices {that you usually don't give them. treat-factor}.
• You also emphasize that "wet pants are bad." You also remind the child that they are not bad, but wet pants are bad. This is an ESSENTIAL part of the training, and what I think really makes it work
• You make a list with your child of all their favorite people who wear big-kid-pants and keep them dry.
• You practice running back and forth to the potty and teach your child how to quickly pull their pants up and down

• You ask your child non-stop, "Do you have dry pants?" and if the answer is yes, you reward them with a treat. I gave Christian one dried Cranberry for every yes.
• You head to the potty quickly on regular intervals. Tell them of their huge reward that they will get when they pee in the potty {Christians is tractor fruit gummies. Caleb was M&M's or holding Daddy's Drill}.
• Don't forget to keep pumping them FULL of juice. My kids definitely both got sick of this part, but I continued to stick the straw in their mouths {lovingly, of course, but firmly}.
• When your child invariably wets themself {Christian and Caleb only had one big wet}, you have to remind them that wet pants are bad, none of their folks on their list have wet pants, and that they are good and dry pants are good. Then, you have them practice running to the potty back and forth several times.

• You do need to devote an entire day to this task. No excursions. No phone-calls. And, if you have a challenging child, it would be best with no sibling.

Potty training.

Check.

Must Have: teeny ties

Too bad for them: At Janie and Jack, they were on sale for $15 + more for shipping, and not the right sizes in stock.... At Nordstrom, they were downright homely and came in one-size-fits-all for $19.99 + more for shipping.... On random tie websites, they were so cheesy that I never even clicked on the price.....

I heart Etsy.

I heart Mellon Monkeys.

I heart handmade ties at 2 for $22

I heart how stinkin' cute my boys looked in these ties:

My boys wore ties for the first times in their lives {granted, for one of them that only amounts to 2.5 years....} to my sisters wedding 2 weeks ago. We had yet another wedding last weekend, and my guys both asked if they could wear their ties again! score.

I may have to get some more in all the other cute colors....

Must Have!!

Must Have: Summer Spearmint Sun Tea

This Summer Must Have is one that takes me right back to being a little girl...

Spearmint Sun Tea

Ingredients:

Water

3-5 Teabags; I used 4 Bigelow Mint Medley Herb Tea

Sugar to Taste

Fresh Spearmint; if desired

Directions:

Fill a CLEAR, GLASS pitcher or jug (my mom used old Grape Juice Jugs) with water. Place Tea bags in the water. Set in the sun on a hot day. Allow tea to steep for several hours, or until you remember that you have tea sitting out on your deck:

While tea is still warm, add desired amount of sugar and stir until dissolved. Add spearmint leaves and put the tea in the fridge to chill:

Once chilled: ENJOY!!!!

Must Have: Whirl and Worship DVD

A Must Have: Whirl n Worship DVD

If you have toddlers (or need a toddler friendly gift), this is such a great DVD! We just love the music - it is never lame, but fun, worshipful and enjoyable. Plus, you can use it to help your kiddos get up and move around on a cabin-fever day {I would recommend that you help them participate!}. I can say, this is a highly-requested kiddo video in our family. Our guys LOVE it!

My favorite thing about this video is that it fills my guys' hearts with the Word of God and His promises! An eternal investment.

For example:

The other night at bedtime prayers and Bible time, we all busted out in this song {never mind the loud Mommy in this video... but check out how proud the cute Daddy is!}:

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Must Have: My favorite Planner

A Must Have: Touted as a form of "Imperfect Organization," I just gotta say that I am loving my new "buttoned up" planner.

I have tried the digital planning, and alas... unless I write it down and can see my life on a visual calendar grid: I tend to miss my appointments.

So. It is Paper Planning for this girl!

But finding a great paper planner that suits your organizational reality is easier said than done, right?? {take note: I said 'reality'!!}

Enter the cutie-pie, simple-as-can-be, get-the-job-done, "buttoned-up planner."

so what is so great about this little guy?

um. let's see:

1. Cute!

2. Simple

3. Compact

4. Cheapola at $10 bucks and change.

5. Has a place for an overall calendar and for to-do lists too

6. Has a great pep-talk in the back on how to avoid the trappings of perfectionism organizing.

7. Cute!

Click Here, and you can find this darling little paper planner, and the whole line of "buttoned up" cuties. Definitely a Must Have!!