Art Journal Prompt: 2014 Free Writing

I love opening my art journal to that bright yellow page of sunshine-{post here}....Oh how I have been craving those warm sunny days and looking at this page just makes my day! Now time to add on to it...


Find a quiet 15 minute block.
 Music- check.
Snack- check.
Journal- check.

Materials needed:
one image
glue or tape
a sharpie or pen

Find ONE image from anywhere that inspires you. I chose this one.

 Tape or glue it on to the page. 

Write out the new year anywhere on the page... or ALL OVER the page! Whatever floats your boat.

Then free flow any thought that comes to your mind as quickly as possible. Don't stop to think- just write. Don't worry about spelling or handwriting. Heck, just write in all different directions if you wish- no rules here! 

15 minutes is up. Put your pen cap on and just sit there. 

Sit with gratitude in your heart for the past year and all that occurred (good or bad)...and give gratitude for the year you are currently in and all the endless possibilities that your road will take you on. 

Make it a great weekend! 

Besitos, xo

Art Journaling Prompt: A Fresh Start.

Januray to me is missing something... I mean does anyone else feel like there is a huge void from the holidays...we need a major holiday in January to ease us into the year and get us out of the funk! 

How about celebrating and doing some ART JOURNALING!!!! It's a great way to relax, ponder, and meditate! And perfect to do along side of your kiddos as well!!

Okay-I know art journaling can seem... well... overwhelming. Who has the time right? We are all so busy...that is why it has taken me only two weeks to get this post up! 

But I am ready... and I have decided to break it down where all you have to do is spend 15 minutes a week or at the end of the month you could do the entire page if you have a bigger chunk of time and would rather do it that way. 

So. go grab a snack and put on some soft tunes...I for some reason chose honey-nut cheerios and almonds. It's actually a great combo! Who knew.

Close your eyes...well after you read what I have written- and think back to the past year. Think of all the great moments...not so great moments and anything in between. How fast time flies by. It feels like yesterday you were there...or maybe it feels like an eternity. Now, jot down thoughts and memories that come to mind from the last year.  No need to put value on it as good or bad- just put it down.

Now whether you had an amazing past year or hardships came your way...it's time for a fresh start and clean slate. Choose a color that reflects your mood. Don't think too hard- whatever you are gravitated to. I was in the mood of sunshine...so I chose yellow.

Now squirt it out on your paper and paint over your words...

Now you have a fresh start to your art Journal...and a fresh start to the new year.

Let it dry...and it's ready for next week's prompt.

See not so bad right?

Happy Weekend! 

Besitos, xo

P.S. Materials used

-Art Journal

-Acrylic Paint

-Paint Brush

Vision Board 2014: My Role as a Wife

I am over  >here<  today sharing with you how I went about my 2014 vision board this year. 

Today I share with you my vision board for my role as a wife.

Out of all my vision boards this is probably one I need to work on the most. At times I feel like I have given so much to the demands of my children that by the time Mister comes home- there is nothing left to give...I am tired, wiped out and ready to sleep. Oh how understanding Mister is... I keep telling him (and myself) that it is just a phase of life...I will get back to me- to us- one day I promise.

But I am so often reminded by the mistakes of my parents who slowly and quietly drifted apart and divorced later in life...that scares me. I can't let my relationship with my spouse be put on the back burner to focus on later. I always want to be working towards the ideal of what I want. Why can't I have it all? Who says it's not possible?

So I closed my eyes and envisioned what I wanted to see...

I saw us awake in bed one night- no kids- no phones- no laptops- just cuddling and pillow talking about our day and the funny things the kids did. I saw us laughing and flirting over dinner while holding hands. I saw little written notes of appreciation left behind for one another like we used to when we were dating. We were happy. We were in love and our kids new that. It was magical.

I see: 

-a partnership

-a team working together

-weekly meetings

-scheduled date nights

-serving one another

I feel:

-his embrace

-his kisses

-loved

-joy

I smell:

-the dinners I prepare

-popcorn at the movies

-my perfume I put on just for him

-chocolates and flowers

I hear: 

-words of appreciation and encouragement

-I love you every day

-flirty words

-laughter

-silence...kids are asleep. Cell phones and laptops are off.

I taste:

-ice cream

-food from our favorite restaurants

-my lip gloss 

Sigh... isn't dreaming wonderful? As I write this out and read it in my head...I realize that we are pretty close to this dream...It's nothing new... I just feel like there are so many more distractions that suck up time away from one another. It's about setting boundaries and scheduling time to make this just as much if not more of a priority as my role as a mother. It's the best gift I can give my kids...two parents who love each other and care enough to make their relationship a priority. Even if it just begins with me and what I do.

Don't forget to head over here on How Does She today and learn more about creating your own personal vision board!

besitos, xo

Vision Board 2014: Motherhood

Holidays are over and done. Sheesh someone should have warned me that the whole Santa gig... is a whole lot of work!

Now it's time to ease back into every day life... it's hard to do. I feel a slight emptiness. I miss my husband who is away at work. I miss my three- year-old who is away at preschool. I miss my sisters and family who are stuck in the Domincian Republic still due to flight cancelations. (I secretly wish I was there) I miss the anticipation of Christmas and New Years. I miss Christmas music and the smells.
sigh.

But here we are...time moves on whether we are ready or not.
2014. Hello.
What do you have in store for me?

This week's art journal will be on creating a mission and vision for 2014. Without a vision or a mission- how will I know where to go?

 I will be on How Does She tomorrow sharing how to get started and since I created 5 mini boards for each area of my life that I want to focus on- I will post one each day this week and share a little more about what I am striving for.
 Starting with today...

My first board is on Motherhood. It is something that is always on the forefront of my mind and a rather easy board to pull together.

I asked myself this: What do I see, feel, smell, hear, and taste this year in regards to being a mother. 

 This is what I envision.

in 2014 I hope 

to see:

-playing 

-reading

-learning
-swimming
-exploring
-traveling

to feel:

-the wind in my face as we bike ride

-the grass under my toes as we play outside
-the sand in my hands as we build sand castles

-the embraces of my little ones

-my lips against those chubby cheeks

to smell:

- warm dinner on the table

-clean home
-clean babies from the bath tub
-the outdoors

to hear:

-giggles

-family prayers

-my son's jokes and chatter at bedtime

-splashes from a pool
-music
-kind words

to taste:

-fresh bread

-homemade pizza
-ice-cream
-weekly donuts

besitos. xo

Recovering. Printable for toddler schedules.

Oh these little feet... how much I love these little feet. These little feet didn't want to get shoes on...

These little feet had a difficult time easing into real life from being sick the past week. Little man has been extra needy, demanding, clingy, and just plain emotional. His whiny voice (nails on a chalkboard to my ears) is pretty much all he knows how to talk in these days.

Here is a scenario that just occurred this weekend. Little man very capable of putting on his shoes- refused to do so and kept insisting that I did it. Me being tired of over doing things for him the past week was ready to have him start doing things for himself again.

Total and complete MELTDOWN.

 My parent brain was saying "Oh he is just doing it for the attention. He has been spoiled this week with all my attention and nurturing around the clock that he just wants to take advantage me some more. Don't give in."

My child counselor brian was saying, "He is emotionally regressed right now due to his recovery from his illness, disruption in his schedule last week, excessive amount of TV consumed, lack of nutrients due to his limited appetite, and most importantly is yearning to maintain the connection he had with his me all week because he still doesn't feel back to himself. What he needs is MORE positive interaction and attention with his parents and perhaps some reinforcement that he can do hard things."

Do you see what goes on in my head? Parent vs. Counselor dialogue! But I usually have to fight off that parent brain sometimes and dig deeper to understand where the child is at in his world and all the factors that play a part of his mood...and all of a sudden "ah ha!" I understand. 

So I pulled out the chart we used when he first started learning his daily routine. I had to go back to encouraging and motivating through external reward which in this case is a star that says he completed it and one "listening ball" which I will explain on another post later. 

And you know what happened after I pulled out the chart...

 Crying stopped...and he put on his shoes. Then he walked over to the sink and started to brush his teeth again. I didn't have to ask him- the chart did it for me.

Oh how I love this chart.

 Just in case you are wondering how I made this chart you can read this post {here}!
And if you want to download my printable for this chart- go ahead and do so below!

TODDLER DAILY/NIGHTLY ROUTINE (2 pages)

Download here

Anyhow- enjoy time as a family this holiday!!

besitos, xo

3 Secrets every parent should know about power struggles.

One thing is for sure I am consistent. 

If I say I am going to do something- I will so it. Okay that's a lie... I just thought about all the failed workout programs and diets I say I'll stick with... BUT when pertaining to consequences that I give my kids....let me tell you- if I say it- I do it. 

One thing that has made following through easier are three simple secrets that I think that every parent should know about fighting battles.

#1 Avoid threatening your child with things you KNOW you won't follow through with. 

If you aren't really willing to take something away- DON'T YOU DARE SAY IT. I can't tell you how many times I have regretted saying something and knowing I would have to follow through with what I said. I once overheard a mother say to her daughter, "If you don't behave we are canceling the trip to Disney Land!" Really? Do you think she would really cancel plane tickets, hotel rooms and the chance to take her family to the happiest place on earth? Don't say it!  Plus how in the world do you measure "BEHAVE?" That is way to vague. Which brings me to #2.

#2 Use very clear and specific language that empowers the child to CHOOSE.

If you set CLEAR expectations on what the child is to do and what will happen if they do or don't follow through- chances are they will finally figure out that listening gets them what they want. Plus they learn to think and choose for themselves. It places responsibility on them and not you. 

Let me give you perfect example...it happened yesterday. I was just about to put Baby Bean to sleep when Little Man burst into the room when he was supposed to be getting ready for a popsicle break before nap. Let me say that he knows I enjoy feeding and putting Little Bean to sleep alone in peace. It's my moment to be alone with just him. The conversation went something like this:

 "If YOU CHOOSE to walk in his room and disturb your baby brother again- then YOU CHOOSE to miss out on the popsicle we were going to have. If YOU CHOOSE stay outside the door then YOU CHOOSE to have your popsicle. What do YOU CHOOSE?"

What do you think happened? 

He walked in the room (pretty much in tears because he knew what I was going to say) and sure enough woke up his baby brother who was just about to fall asleep for his nap. So then I said in a calm and matter a fact voice (although- I was feeling mega frustrated), "Shoot- the minute YOU CHOSE to walk through that door was the very minute YOU CHOSE to not have that popsicle." 

Burst of tears... followed by more crying... followed by begging and pleading for me to change my mind....

As tempting as it was to just make the horrid whiny drama stop- I held my ground. I said it and I had to follow through. Now what would have happened if I would have said,  "Okay just don't do it next time." I would have ruined my credibility. 

So this is what happened next. I knew that it was obviously nap-time and that I really needed a mommy moment to pull it together after his crying episode- so I acknowledged his feelings of being sad and told him that I am totally okay with him crying if he wants to but that it was now rest time for both kids and he needed to be in his room. He didn't have to sleep but he needed to be in his room until the music was over (lullaby music playing).  

These were the exact words I used.

"If YOU CHOOSE to walk out of your room before the music is over, YOU CHOOSE to miss out on another popsicle. If YOU CHOOSE to stay in your room while the music plays, YOU CHOOSE to have a popsicle tomorrow."

He cried for a minute or two but shortly after...silence. He had crawled into bed and fallen sound asleep. It is completely normal for kids to test limits with you. But they will be less frequent if they understand in advance and know you mean it. Brings me to the final one...

#3 Avoid battles around things that are out of your control.

There are three and they have to do with your child's physical body. Something we have no control over.

1. Eating.

2. Bowel Moments. 

3. Sleeping. 

Trust me you are asking to loose battle that you can't win. Unless you have a magic spell that can force a kid to chew and swallow- then it's out of your control. I could do a whole post on each of those so- I will save your eyes right now. Just trust me on this one- avoid starting battles during these moments. They have the power to win. More to come about these later!

Have a great weekend and go enjoy those kids!

besitos-xo

Printables For the Cleaning and Maintaining of the Home!

I am over here at how does she today talking about encouraging our children to work...


I have a little confession: I hate housework.
I really do.

Don't get me wrong- I love the feeling after it is all cleaned and organized but I really would rather be doing something else. Like playing outside or actually making the mess.

Pretty much anything else. 

Like I mentioned in the post, I have Adult ADD when it comes to cleaning. Monday rolls around and I feel overwhelmed about not knowing what part of the house to start with...so, I spin my wheels trying to get organized enough to organize... and before I know it- the day is gone.

Let's just say that I am easily distracted when it comes to cleaning...it can always wait right???

The only problem is I know how much more relaxed I am as a person in a clean home so I knew I had to make a change. I am not asking for a perfect imactulate home....just an organized and sanitary one that we can enjoy to be together in.

So, I had to come up with a system to be able to rotate through parts of the house and know what I was going to do on what day. It has changed my life. No, my home is not as orderly as I want it to be...but now that I took off the pressure to have it all cleaned at once- I am free.

And it feels good.

So here is my new system. 

So, I decided that I would dedicate one good solid 60-90 minutes a day cleaning some part of my home. NO MORE THAN THAT! In fact, I gave myself that rule...ONLY 60 minutes! I even set a timer. I wrote all the weekly and yearly things I could think of that had to get done in our home and created printables that I would attach to magnet strips.

Our family's Chore list 

Download these here (3 pages and 2 fill in the blanks)

You can find out the details on how I made the clipboards here but briefly-I found the metal clipboards at Craft Warehouse for 50% off ($3.50 each) and these sheets of metal at Home Depot for less than a dollar to adhere to my cabinet. I printed and cut out the strips and attached them to magnet. That's it!

My areas of focus for each day of the week have a corresponding color. Like Monday is this red. We cleaned that up yesterday.

The Mister and Little Man work together in cleaning up the kitchen and dining area after the meals. It feels nice to have a clean kitchen for the next day. That is their little daddy son job.

Yelllow= Saturday chores

Little Man has jobs in the morning as well and he gets to choose two to four to do each day in the area that I will be working at. So far he doesn't get any rewards at the moment except for Saturdays. On those days he gets 5 cents for each job and usually does about 5- so it roughly is about a quarter most Saturdays. Then he can save it or bring it along to spend when we walk by one of those annoying candy machines they put at eye level for kids at the grocery store! Grrrr.

Little Man is awesome in the bathroom!

Little Man's daily chore list that corresponds with my color code:

Download these here (6 pages)

What do you think? I know I missed some housework items...like walls? How could I forget those. Comment here and let me know what you would add to the next batch!

Also if you like these and want more- don't forget to follow me on FB or the blog for updates!

besitos

xo

Morning and Evening Checklists: My Printables.

 Why is it every time it is time to get dressed Little Man likes to run around the house in his underwear as if it is a game of tag? Cute at first. Not so cute when it becomes a daily habit. So, with the mister out of town last week and I found myself staying up into wee hours of the morning planning- organizing- creating.

I decided that it was time for little man to be able to do certain self-help skills on his own without me having to constantly remind him and hover over him. So, I worked in photoshop to pull together some basic self-help visual cards that a three-year-old should be able to do.

So this is what I did- I got a wooden clipboard from Target and painted it. 

Then I got the round velcro sticky thingies and put them on the clipboard to keep the images together in one place. 

Then, I cut a piece of 12 x12 paper into the right size for the clipboard and printed the words "do and done" on it.

And this is what it looked like. The velcro and images are under the sheet of paper.

Well, actually I ended up modifying it a but because I realized there needed to be more tasks then just 4.  So, here is what it ended up looking like. I have a place to change the moon and the sun to represent night and day. And also a place for his little "You did it" star that surprisingly he is so excited to get when he is done. Who knew!

It has been amazing- no more running down the hall when I mention the words "getting dressed!"

Here are the printables that work in my home. You can download them here. 

 besitos, xo

Own your Mess

Do you have your washable paints and large piece of paper?


First, start off by choosing a color and squirting it on the page.

Mindfully dip your finger in the paint...notice how it feels under your fingers and your initial reaction to the paint.

 Then, begin smearing it across the page. 

Squirt another color wherever you like on the page.

Smear. Mix. Observe.

Now, if you feel ready for the good stuff ...place your entire hand on the page and squish it between your fingers and see what happens as you mix.

I had to put the camera down...but I then placed both hands in there and just played in the paint observing how I felt while I was doing it.

It seemed like the longer I was in my mess- the more relaxing it became for me.

There you have it.

Now for you advanced mess makers: PURPOSELY wipe your hands on your shirt... and then LEAVE it there for the rest of the day.

I dare you.

I went into work with this lovely on mine... and no I didn't explain to anyone...I just owned my mess.

Can you own yours?

Let me know how it goes!

besitos,
xo