With so many different smart phone apps these days, paper phone books are becoming obsolete. If you are anything like me, you have a stack of old phonebooks and yellowbooks just piling up collecting dust.

Instead of letting those old books just keep piling up, put them to good use by repurposing and reusing them.

5 Ways To Reuse Old Phone Books

• Create gift wrap: If you have small gift items that need to be wrapped, you can take a few pages out of your old Yellow books and create gift wrapping paper. Dig around at home for some silver spray paint and lightly spray your pages, giving them a shimmery look. Allow it to dry and then wrap your gift, finishing off the look with some red ribbon.

• Use the pages as liners for animal cages: One of the best ways to reuse pages from a yellow book or phone book is by lining the bottom of cages for your pets. This works extremely well for birds, rodents, snakes, turtles, and lizards.

• Use the pages as window wipes: For those of us who are trying to do what we can to help the environment, try making your own homemade vinegar and water cleaner. This works great for cleaning windows and you can use the pages from your old phone books and yellow books to create a beautiful streak-free window.

• Make a pinata with your kids: During the holidays, my kids and I do a lot of crafting! Create a glue-like consistency with cornstarch and water. Blow up a balloon and set it aside. Rip strips of paper from the old books and dip them in the glue like substance and place all over the balloon. Let each layer dry before you add another one. Once the layers are dry, pop the balloon and create a neat pinata for the kids to have fun taking a whack at!

• Make a booster seat for your little one: Make it into a booster seat. If someone is short, he or she may not be at an appropriate height when sitting at a table. Take clear Con-Tact paper or packing tape and wrap up the entire telephone book.

Calling All Tacklers!

We’re looking for YOU – guest bloggers to post about your own tackles right here. If you are interested in showing off your tackles (we all need some tips and ideas!) then send a quick email to lolli.5m4m at gmail (link in the About Lolli section at the bottom of the post). Thanks for your inspiring tackles!!

Mom Bloggers — what are you tackling this week?

Link up your Tackle it Tuesday post…

Tell us what you’re up to with all your other tackles… housework and otherwise… add your link to your tackle in the Linky below!

We are Tackling Our To-Do Lists Together and making housework bloggable — Each week on Tuesday, we are posting before and after pictures of a project or trouble area that we tackled this week.

Find out more about how Tackle It Tuesday began.
The project can be little or big – whatever you want.

Basically, Tackle It Tuesday is about giving ourselves incentive, deadlines and satisfaction in tackling all our tasks — whether household or otherwise.

If you tackled a project this week, just add a comment and add your link below.

Here is a fun thumbnail linky:

And here is a basic linky if you prefer your linkies the good old fashioned way!

Written by 5 Minutes for Mom Advertising and Communications contact, Jennifer. You can find me blogging at For Such a Time as This and tweeting at @jennifer_sikora.

Have you ever discovered something so simple…so easy….yet it totally revolutionized a daily task?

I had that experience this past week.

The best laundry tip ever

Like Janice and Susan, I’ve been spending quite a bit of time on Pinterest. Not only has it given me lots of food inspiration, but it has provided me with a ton of ideas for improving the way I am managing my house.

One of my biggest challenges with doing my laundry (read: the thing I always save til last) is sock sorting and folding. Seriously, if you peeked in my basement almost any day you’d find a basket FULL of clean, unsorted socks. Seven people, fourteen feet, times seven days a week….oh my!

I seem to end each week’s laundry with a few dozen socks with no matches. I’ve never been able to figure out where those lone socks disappear to, but it makes sock sorting a huge frustration. Plus, I have the hardest time keeping track of whose socks are whose.

Basically, I hate sorting through socks. Period.

So this amazing and amazingly-simple trick for keeping track of socks (which does away with the need to sort later) has literally blown me away.

I wrote all about how we made our special sock laundry bags on my blog. You’ve seriously got to try this. Unless, of course, you have a better system. In which case, you MUST share.

Calling All Tacklers!

We’re looking for YOU – guest bloggers to post about your own tackles right here. If you are interested in showing off your tackles (we all need some tips and ideas!) then send a quick email to lolli.5m4m at gmail (link in the About Lolli section at the bottom of the post). Thanks for your inspiring tackles!!

Mom Bloggers — what are you tackling this week?

Link up your Tackle it Tuesday post…

Tell us what you’re up to with all your other tackles… housework and otherwise… add your link to your tackle in the Linky below!

We are Tackling Our To-Do Lists Together and making housework bloggable — Each week on Tuesday, we are posting before and after pictures of a project or trouble area that we tackled this week.

Find out more about how Tackle It Tuesday began.
The project can be little or big – whatever you want.

Basically, Tackle It Tuesday is about giving ourselves incentive, deadlines and satisfaction in tackling all our tasks — whether household or otherwise.

If you tackled a project this week, just add a comment and add your link below.

Here is a fun thumbnail linky:

And here is a basic linky if you prefer your linkies the good old fashioned way!

 
Written by 5 Minutes for Mom managing editor, Lolli. You can find me blogging at Better in Bulk and tweeting at @1momof5.

We’re joined today by guest tackler, Jessi Snow, who is walking us through a mini bedroom makeover.

The guy’s room

When I made the decision to move in with my boyfriend Ryan, I assumed that with time his home would eventually start to feel like my home too. Unfortunately, that feeling didn’t come as quickly as I had hoped. For months I felt like I was invading his space and worried that he might feel like my belongings were starting to take over. Finally, one day I decided that the best way to transform the space from his to ours was by giving it a makeover – beginning in his very bachelor bedroom.

When I started, the room looked every bit a guy’s room, sporting brown walls, a blue bedspread and lots and lots of cutter.

Making it “our” room

Giving a room a whole new look doesn’t have to happen overnight and in our case, it certainly didn’t. I began with the small stuff I knew I could change with little effort.

One of the things I disliked the most about the room was the unmatched furniture – the bed and the dressers were two totally different colors. Using leftovers from my old apartment, we replaced the dark brown tallboy with a light colored one that matched the bed a lot more.

Aside from a mirror, there wasn’t one thing hanging on the walls. Ryan had picked up a big photo of New York (his favorite place on earth) a little while before so we decided to hang that just above the bed. Because of its size, it was a perfect fit.

Next, it was bedspread time. I had hated the current one for ages – while you can’t really tell in the photo, it was actually a really faded denim material and two sizes too large for the bed. I did my best to take Ryan’s style into consideration when picking out a new one and ended up choosing a neutral gray and white, modern design.

Around the same time that I began project-makeover we decided to upgrade from our little double bed to something a bit larger. Considering everything would be out of the room I figured this would also be a good time to tackle the paint. I snapped a picture just before we moved the bed out – at that point it was nothing fancy – in fact, it kind of felt worse, but I knew it was slowly but surely moving in a direction we’d be pleased with in the end.

Tackling the paint

If you’ve ever painted before I’m sure you can appreciate that this was definitely the most difficult part of the process. I chose a grey paint and because I was tight for time I decided to go with BEHR Premium Plus Ultra Paint And Primer In One. I’d heard lots of horror stories but I can’t tell you how impressed I was. One thick coat and the dark brown disappeared entirely.

The whole painting process, including moving things out and putting them back in, took me roughly 48 hours from start to finish. I wanted to make sure everything was dry before deciding that one coat was really all I needed, and to my surprise it was!

Once again, we switched around the furniture a bit, opting for a darker antique dresser we had in the basement. I also went out and purchased five baskets to control and organize all the random clutter. Finally, everything had a place! Here is the room toward the end of the project:

A few things have changed since then, I replaced the purple lampshade with a neutral one, purchased a bigger bedspread and found some different curtains that worked perfectly, but for the most part it looks the same. There are aspects of the room that make it mine as well as those (like the 52 inch TV) that appeal to him too.

Finishing our bedroom makeover

In the end, we were both very happy with the turnout and I have to admit, I was pretty proud. While Ryan was on-board with the whole thing, I made it clear from the beginning that this was my project and one I wanted to complete on my own. This was really my first attempt at a room makeover, and while it wasn’t much it definitely gave me the drive to keep on going. I’m happy to say that since then, I’ve managed to redo our bathroom and spare bedroom too!

If I could pass on one word of advice to anyone thinking of making some changes it would be to take your time. Spreading things allowed me to be extra confident in each and every decision I made and more importantly, it made the whole experience a lot of fun.

Best of luck to anyone considering making a change – I promise, the hard work will be SO worth it in the end.

About the guest tackler

Jessi’s love for DIY began when she joined the team at PartSelect.com, an online resource for do-it-yourself appliance repair. Since then, she’s become involved in many online communities and is dedicated to encouraging homeowners, especially women, to tackle projects on their own. When I’m not working or blogging, I can be found on Twitter and as of late, Pinterest.

Calling All Tacklers!

We’re looking for YOU – guest bloggers to post about your own tackles right here. If you are interested in showing off your tackles (we all need some tips and ideas!) then send a quick email to lolli.5m4m at gmail (link in the About Lolli section at the bottom of the post). Thanks for your inspiring tackles!!

Mom Bloggers — what are you tackling this week?

Link up your Tackle it Tuesday post…

Tell us what you’re up to with all your other tackles… housework and otherwise… add your link to your tackle in the Linky below!

We are Tackling Our To-Do Lists Together and making housework bloggable — Each week on Tuesday, we are posting before and after pictures of a project or trouble area that we tackled this week.

Find out more about how Tackle It Tuesday began.
The project can be little or big – whatever you want.

Basically, Tackle It Tuesday is about giving ourselves incentive, deadlines and satisfaction in tackling all our tasks — whether household or otherwise.

If you tackled a project this week, just add a comment and add your link below.

Here is a fun thumbnail linky:

And here is a basic linky if you prefer your linkies the good old fashioned way!

Today’s tackle message is a short one, and I fear it’s nothing new or phenomenal.

On Monday I cleaned my house. It’s been too long since I’ve done a thorough cleaning of our little space. Every Saturday, as I try to get a few things done on my computer, in my bed room, in my kitchen (the typical mommy over-load) I give my kids their list of chores to get done.

Have you ever noticed that as many times as kids are told what their chores or responsibilities are, they still ask what they should do every time?

Every weekend, I run into the same problem. I stay busy and the kids don’t clean. They do the minimum (depending on how much I remind them throughout the day) but they rarely get the house really clean.

Yesterday I took a different approach (really, I went back to the way I used to work…). I got down on my hands and knees with them. I scrubbed the kitchen floor. I worked alongside each of them. I encouraged instead of nagging.

And this time, the house got really clean. The only thing I changed was ME; my attitude, my approach.

And we ALL benefited from it.

Calling All Tacklers!

We’re looking for YOU – guest bloggers to post about your own tackles right here. If you are interested in showing off your tackles (we all need some tips and ideas!) then send a quick email to lolli.5m4m at gmail (link in the About Lolli section at the bottom of the post). Thanks for your inspiring tackles!!

Mom Bloggers — what are you tackling this week?

Link up your Tackle it Tuesday post…

Tell us what you’re up to with all your other tackles… housework and otherwise… add your link to your tackle in the Linky below!

We are Tackling Our To-Do Lists Together and making housework bloggable — Each week on Tuesday, we are posting before and after pictures of a project or trouble area that we tackled this week.

Find out more about how Tackle It Tuesday began.
The project can be little or big – whatever you want.

Basically, Tackle It Tuesday is about giving ourselves incentive, deadlines and satisfaction in tackling all our tasks — whether household or otherwise.

If you tackled a project this week, just add a comment and add your link below.

Here is a fun thumbnail linky:

And here is a basic linky if you prefer your linkies the good old fashioned way!

Written by 5 Minutes for Mom managing editor, Lolli. You can find me blogging at Better in Bulk and tweeting at @1momof5.

Photo from BigStockPhoto.com

Grace Pamer, the love letters lady behind Romantic Frugal Mom, is joining us today for a fantastic guest tackle. We are so thrilled she is sharing these powerful tips for tackling new years resolutions with kids.

Honoring New Years Resolutions

Every year both adults and children start off with the best intentions; this year is going to be better than last year, you just watch! We are going to be healthier, neater, more productive and determined to improve our lives. But, oh how quickly so many New Year’s resolutions are abandoned! By February, many people, both kids and adults, have completely forgotten their good intentions.

So, how can we help our kids to honor their New Year’s resolutions? What will make it easier for them to stick with their plans and feel that great sense of accomplishment that comes from actually achieving their goals? In short, how can parents prevent their children from becoming discouraged and help them learn the valuable lessons of perseverance and responsibility?

A touch of reality goes a long way

One of the main factors in so many abandoned New Year’s resolutions is not making the goals realistic and achievable to start with. This is an area where parents can certainly help children devise and refine goals so that they are attainable.

Overly general or ambitious goals are usually the quickest ones to be abandoned within weeks of making them. “I will be better at keeping my room clean,” may be too general and hard to accomplish due to its vagueness. “I will pick up my dirty laundry and toys every night,” might be a better goal. The desired behavior is clearly defined, and it will be quite obvious to both the child and parent if the task is accomplished as stated. “I will eat healthy food,” is also too general and vague. A more precise goal might be, “I will eat two pieces of fresh fruit every day,” or “I will eliminate soft drinks from my diet.”

Parents can also help by assisting the kids during the first week or two. Show them exactly what is expected and how to complete the given task. By modelling the behavior either for or with them, they can clearly see what is expected. If food goals are made, it is up to us, the parents, to have the targeted foods available at home. If it is an elimination goal, then be sure that these foods are simply not in the home to tempt the kids in the first place. This makes it so much easier for kids to stick with their goals!

Rewarding accomplishments

The biggest reward for a thing well done is to have done it – Voltaire

Whilst you don’t necessarily have to quote the great French philosopher Voltaire, he does make a worthy point. The biggest reward is usually accomplishing one’s goal and yet, as we all know, that is not always easy and so, as with adults, kids enjoy accomplishing their goals if some kind of reward or fun is involved along the way.

A New Year’s resolution always starts with high hopes and a great feeling of potential accomplishment and control. If the goal is overly burdensome or achieving it requires continual nagging, it quickly becomes something to avoid. Young kids can keep a chart handy where they are rewarded with stickers or a little treat when they meet their daily goals. Older kids can work towards a weekly reward. It doesn’t have to be a physical or monetary reward; it can be as simple as an extra hour of time on the phone or watching an extra TV show on the weekends.

If you use rewards, be sure to emphasize that achieving the goal is the real reward. This helps prevent an attitude of expecting some form of payment for correct behavior; it is the behavior itself that should bring satisfaction. And parents, it is your job to stay alert to helping your kids attain their goals until they become a permanent part of their lives. Easier said than done I know but it would be a miss of me not to point this out (says she who is just as guilty at this failing at times as anyone else!)

Grace Pamer is a mother of 3 and widely known as the love letters lady. She runs a popular section called love letters for him on her blog www.romanticfrugalmom.com, a guide to help couples compose love letters for their nearest and dearest.

Calling All Tacklers!

We’re looking for YOU – guest bloggers to post about your own tackles right here. If you are interested in showing off your tackles (we all need some tips and ideas!) then send a quick email to lolli.5m4m at gmail (link in the About Lolli section at the bottom of the post). Thanks for your inspiring tackles!!

Mom Bloggers — what are you tackling this week?

Link up your Tackle it Tuesday post…

Tell us what you’re up to with all your other tackles… housework and otherwise… add your link to your tackle in the Linky below!

We are Tackling Our To-Do Lists Together and making housework bloggable — Each week on Tuesday, we are posting before and after pictures of a project or trouble area that we tackled this week.

Find out more about how Tackle It Tuesday began.
The project can be little or big – whatever you want.

Basically, Tackle It Tuesday is about giving ourselves incentive, deadlines and satisfaction in tackling all our tasks — whether household or otherwise.

If you tackled a project this week, just add a comment and add your link below.

Here is a fun thumbnail linky:

And here is a basic linky if you prefer your linkies the good old fashioned way!

Edited by 5 Minutes for Mom managing editor, Lolli. You can find me blogging at Better in Bulk and tweeting at @1momof5.

Thumbs up photo from BigStockPhoto.com

I am still in denial.

Could it really be 2012? A new year?

A year closer to 40?

I used to be extremely anti-New Year’s Resolutions. I fought against the idea of setting a goal (or a handful of goals) on January 1st. I figured that I should be working on a better ME every day, all year, and January 1 was just a cliche. New Years Resolutions were made to be broken, right?

I took several years off from making New Years goals of any kind. Then, at some point (after I started blogging), I heard about people coming up with a “word of the year.” And finally something clicked with me.

As much as I rebelled against the idea of setting a once-a-year resolution, I did like the idea of starting a new year off with a FOCUS.

This weekend, as I reflected back over 2011 – the things that I accomplished and the things that I would change – a single word stood out to me.

Balance

I’m only two days into the New Year, and already I feel my word penetrating everything I do. I can work AND be a good mom to my five kids AND keep up with my house and errands. I can do it. It’s just a matter of balance. (Something I fear I had lost sight of towards the end of 2011).

Here’s to a balanced (and prosperous and enjoyable) New Year.

Do YOU have a word-of-the-year? (We’ve got a place to link up your resolutions and words!)

Calling All Tacklers!

We’re looking for YOU – guest bloggers to post about your own tackles right here. If you are interested in showing off your tackles (we all need some tips and ideas!) then send a quick email to lolli.5m4m at gmail (link in the About Lolli section at the bottom of the post). Thanks for your inspiring tackles!!

Mom Bloggers — what are you tackling this week?

Link up your Tackle it Tuesday post…

Tell us what you’re up to with all your other tackles… housework and otherwise… add your link to your tackle in the Linky below!

We are Tackling Our To-Do Lists Together and making housework bloggable — Each week on Tuesday, we are posting before and after pictures of a project or trouble area that we tackled this week.

Find out more about how Tackle It Tuesday began.
The project can be little or big – whatever you want.

Basically, Tackle It Tuesday is about giving ourselves incentive, deadlines and satisfaction in tackling all our tasks — whether household or otherwise.

If you tackled a project this week, just add a comment and add your link below.

Here is a fun thumbnail linky:

And here is a basic linky if you prefer your linkies the good old fashioned way!

Written by 5 Minutes for Mom managing editor, Lolli. You can find me blogging at Better in Bulk and tweeting at @1momof5.

Photo source

I am terrible about getting my photos sorted, edited and freed from the confines of my hard drives. Seriously. I am really, really bad about it.

I always procrastinate and get overwhelmed, leaving myself in a constant state of frustration that the images I want in photo books, on my walls, and sent to family and friends are trapped inside my laptop and external hard drives.

But, because I have to get photos up here at 5 Minutes for Mom, a handful of photos do escape and at least make it online!

On Christmas Eve/Christmas morning, I posted shots of my kids I took before we left for dinner at my in-laws. You can see those photos at our Holiday Photo 2011 Link Up post.

On Christmas Day, when Susan was over with her family, I grabbed some sweet shots of her girls.

So, before it is Christmas 2012, I am going to send off these photos to their grandparents – and hey, maybe I will even get some printed.

Have you posted your holiday photos? If so, we have a Holiday Photo Link Up for you to link up your post and find others.

Calling All Tacklers!

We’re looking for YOU – guest bloggers to post about your own tackles right here. If you are interested in showing off your tackles (we all need some tips and ideas!) then send a quick email to lolli.5m4m at gmail. Thanks for your inspiring tackles!!

Mom Bloggers — what are you tackling this week?

Link up your Tackle it Tuesday post…

Tell us what you’re up to with all your other tackles… housework and otherwise… add your link to your tackle in the Linky below!

We are Tackling Our To-Do Lists Together and making housework bloggable — Each week on Tuesday, we are posting before and after pictures of a project or trouble area that we tackled this week.

Find out more about how Tackle It Tuesday began.
The project can be little or big – whatever you want.

Basically, Tackle It Tuesday is about giving ourselves incentive, deadlines and satisfaction in tackling all our tasks — whether household or otherwise.

If you tackled a project this week, just add a comment and add your link below.

Here is a fun thumbnail linky:

And here is a basic linky if you prefer your linkies the good old fashioned way!

Written by Janice Croze, co-founder of 5 Minutes for Mom.
Wanna chat? Find me at: @5minutesformom, @janicecroze and Facebook.com/5minutesformom.

Early this afternoon, like most afternoons, I was busy at my computer, working on another post while I flitted back and forth between WordPress, twitter, Facebook, and email.

All was calm in my little home office (really just a corner of my bedroom) until I opened up an email from someone that I had met at an event last week.

It was the normal follow up. Happy to meet, would love to work together soon….

“BTW, I went to your blog today, and the site appears to be down.”

“Your site is down.” Horrible words to hear. Of course, these are also words that inspire immediate action. So instead of working on the other items on my to-do list, I tackled my blog.

What do you do when your my site appears to be down or formatting is a mess?

I’ll assume that, like me, you aren’t a WordPress whiz. Sure, I can do a lot behind the scenes, but when it comes to diagnostics, I am typically lost. Here are the steps I usually take (luckily my site doesn’t go down too often!):

1. I repeat these words: Don’t panic.
2. Take a look at the blog myself – is it down for me? What kind of message am I receiving?
3. Post a shout-out on twitter and Facebook to see what other viewers are experiencing.
4. Ask myself: have I added or updated any plugins on my site? Plugins seem to be the biggest culprit in site-wide mess-ups.
5. Deactivate any recently added or updated plugins, one by one. See if getting rid of a problem plugin could fix the site issue.
6. If my initial trial doesn’t work, then I call for help, first from my blog host and then from my friends and followers on twitter and Facebook. (Sometimes I find that friendly people on twitter are my best resource).

Hopefully, within those 6 steps (or less), the site is back up and running properly. Every once in a while It’s not a problem with my blog, but it’s a server issue, and all I can do is wait. In those cases, I turn off my computer and enjoy some peaceful time offline.

Have you had problems with your site not working or showing up properly? Do you initially panic like I do?

Calling All Tacklers!

We’re looking for YOU – guest bloggers to post about your own tackles right here. If you are interested in showing off your tackles (we all need some tips and ideas!) then send a quick email to lolli.5m4m at gmail (link in the About Lolli section at the bottom of the post). Thanks for your inspiring tackles!!

Mom Bloggers — what are you tackling this week?

Link up your Tackle it Tuesday post…

Tell us what you’re up to with all your other tackles… housework and otherwise… add your link to your tackle in the Linky below!

We are Tackling Our To-Do Lists Together and making housework bloggable — Each week on Tuesday, we are posting before and after pictures of a project or trouble area that we tackled this week.

Find out more about how Tackle It Tuesday began.
The project can be little or big – whatever you want.

Basically, Tackle It Tuesday is about giving ourselves incentive, deadlines and satisfaction in tackling all our tasks — whether household or otherwise.

If you tackled a project this week, just add a comment and add your link below.

Here is a fun thumbnail linky:

And here is a basic linky if you prefer your linkies the good old fashioned way!

Written by 5 Minutes for Mom managing editor, Lolli. You can find me blogging at Better in Bulk and tweeting at @1momof5.

I have never been a last-minute holiday shopper. I tend to have an extensive list, which I keep in my purse all November and December, hunting for the best prices for the gifts that my family wants the most.

Where did the time go?

Typically by this stage of the holiday season, I have all of my gifts purchased, sorted, and mostly wrapped.

I put myself into a panic this weekend when I realized that, not only was it exactly two weeks til Christmas, but my whole family would be leaving for a 17-hour drive to Florida in a little over a week.

Yes, I am panicking a little.

Dedicating TIME to finish the Holiday shopping

Luckily, there really is time to get the shopping done. All it takes on my part is some dedicated time for shopping (which until now I have not allowed myself). I realized that I don’t allow myself enough “time off.” There’s always something to do. Always something to occupy my time. The shopping will never get done if I don’t plan out time to do it.

It seems silly, but this week, I had to block out time in my schedule to go Christmas shopping. I’m not excited that I’ve saved so much of my Christmas preparations for the last minute, but I have to admit…I’m excited to go shopping.

Just like grocery shopping, my holiday shopping is so much more quick, frugal, and successful when I head out with a list. When I know what I’ve already purchased for whom, and what I still need to find, I can get in and out of the stores with a lot less headache.

I’m looking forward to that feeling of being done. More than anything, though, I am looking forward to a week on the beach with family. 8 days and counting…

Calling All Tacklers!

We’re looking for YOU – guest bloggers to post about your own tackles right here. If you are interested in showing off your tackles (we all need some tips and ideas!) then send a quick email to lolli.5m4m at gmail (link in the About Lolli section at the bottom of the post). Thanks for your inspiring tackles!!

Mom Bloggers — what are you tackling this week?

Link up your Tackle it Tuesday post…

Tell us what you’re up to with all your other tackles… housework and otherwise… add your link to your tackle in the Linky below!

We are Tackling Our To-Do Lists Together and making housework bloggable — Each week on Tuesday, we are posting before and after pictures of a project or trouble area that we tackled this week.

Find out more about how Tackle It Tuesday began.
The project can be little or big – whatever you want.

Basically, Tackle It Tuesday is about giving ourselves incentive, deadlines and satisfaction in tackling all our tasks — whether household or otherwise.

If you tackled a project this week, just add a comment and add your link below.

Here is a fun thumbnail linky:

And here is a basic linky if you prefer your linkies the good old fashioned way!

Shopping mall image from BigStockPhoto.com.

Written by 5 Minutes for Mom managing editor, Lolli. You can find me blogging at Better in Bulk and tweeting at @1momof5.

I have to admit that as I’ve gotten older and our lives have gotten busier, I’ve gotten a touch of the Grinch when it comes to decorating for Christmas. I’ve had my excuses. For several years it was being out of town Thanksgiving weekend and then having dress rehearsals and a church Christmas musical that took up the first weekend of December, and then visiting family at Christmas that often made me think “What’s the point?”

Last year all we managed to decorate the mantle with stockings and lights, but because we left our home in Connecticut a week before Christmas to move back to Houston, that was all we could — or wanted to — do.

This year I was determined to do it right. I even shopped for some more lights and garland and got the mantle done on Saturday morning.

Saturday afternoon we bought our tree, Houston-style. In Connecticut we did the New England thing and cut down our own tree at a family-owned tree farm. Here we walked the aisles of Lowe’s and bought one of the first ones we saw (at a great price — $30).

Then we put on Third Day’s Christmas Offerings and decorated. It’s done! Let’s not even think about the fact that in a month, we’ll have to take it down, okay??

What about you? Do you love decorating or have you come to dread it?

Calling All Tacklers!

We’re looking for YOU – guest bloggers to post about your own tackles right here. If you are interested in showing off your tackles (we all need some tips and ideas!) then send a quick email to lolli.5m4m at gmail (link in the About Lolli section at the bottom of the post). Thanks for your inspiring tackles!!

Mom Bloggers — what are you tackling this week?

Link up your Tackle it Tuesday post…

Tell us what you’re up to with all your other tackles… housework and otherwise… add your link to your tackle in the Linky below!

We are Tackling Our To-Do Lists Together and making housework bloggable — Each week on Tuesday, we are posting before and after pictures of a project or trouble area that we tackled this week.

Find out more about how Tackle It Tuesday began.
The project can be little or big – whatever you want.

Basically, Tackle It Tuesday is about giving ourselves incentive, deadlines and satisfaction in tackling all our tasks — whether household or otherwise.

If you tackled a project this week, just add a comment and add your link below.

Here is a fun thumbnail linky:

And here is a basic linky if you prefer your linkies the good old fashioned way!

Written by 5 Minutes for Books Managing Editor and 5 Minutes for Mom contributor Jennifer Donovan.

You can find a lot of information online these days, but I still reach for the Yellow Pages when I need to find info on a local locksmith, government office, or pizza place.

I think it’s great to keep a phone book handy, but you might want to limit the number of phone books you receive, or prefer not to receive one at all. If that’s the case, it’s easy for you to customize the number of phone books delivered to your home or cancel delivery altogether – just go to www.YellowPagesOptOut.com and personalize your options.

If you live in Canada, you can control your delivery at www.YPG.com/delivery.

Benefits to using Yellow Pages Opt Out:

• It’s easy to use and completely free.
• It shows the cover image of all directories in your area so you can easily identify which ones you want to receive and which you don’t.
• You’ll be saving yourself time in the long run.
• No need to recycle phone books you aren’t going to use.
• Your registration information will be kept private.

I was interested to learn that phone books aren’t a big contributor to landfills. Phone books are the smallest paper product in the waste stream (according to an EPA study), making up less than 1 percent (newspapers are 3.2 percent, office paper 2.2 percent and standard mail 1.9 percent). Most directories are made with recycled paper or leftover woodchips from the lumber industry, and recycling rates went up 15 percent last year.

Do you keep your phone books, recycle them, or opt to not get them delivered at all?

Calling All Tacklers!

We’re looking for YOU – guest bloggers to post about your own tackles right here. If you are interested in showing off your tackles (we all need some tips and ideas!) then send a quick email to lolli.5m4m at gmail (link in the About Lolli section at the bottom of the post). Thanks for your inspiring tackles!!

Mom Bloggers — what are you tackling this week?

Link up your Tackle it Tuesday post…

Tell us what you’re up to with all your other tackles… housework and otherwise… add your link to your tackle in the Linky below!

We are Tackling Our To-Do Lists Together and making housework bloggable — Each week on Tuesday, we are posting before and after pictures of a project or trouble area that we tackled this week.

Find out more about how Tackle It Tuesday began.
The project can be little or big – whatever you want.

Basically, Tackle It Tuesday is about giving ourselves incentive, deadlines and satisfaction in tackling all our tasks — whether household or otherwise.

If you tackled a project this week, just add a comment and add your link below.

Here is a fun thumbnail linky:

And here is a basic linky if you prefer your linkies the good old fashioned way!

Written by 5 Minutes for Mom managing editor, Lolli. You can find me blogging at Better in Bulk and tweeting at @1momof5.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about how to have your best Thanksgiving ever. I was ready. Pumped. Excited to be heading into the holiday season again.

“Where did the time go?”

Now I find myself staring at the calendar in horror. How could Thanksgiving be a mere 2 days away? Not only am I hosting yet another Thanksgiving dinner at my house (with all the trimmings, of course), but somehow I was the lucky host of book club this month – on Monday night.

Monday afternoon I headed to the grocery store when I really needed to be cleaning my house and baking treats for book club. Luckily, I went to the store with a list and thank goodness I cook the same things year after year for Thanksgiving dinner. I know exactly what I need at the store.

My house may not be beautifully decorated for Thanksgiving, I *may* have stuffed extra toys and unfolded laundry into the storage room to hide some of my mess before all of my guests showed up for book club, and I may not have my blog posts scheduled ahead so that I can take some time off for the holiday later this week.

Focusing on what’s important

But I have a refrigerator full of food for Thanksgiving, recipes are out, and the menu is decided. Last night’s Pumpkin Pudding Cake was a hit (and the house smelled wonderful when my guests arrived). I spent quality time with my friends, discussing a great book (Bel Canto) and my kids were good sports about letting a bunch of women act like kids as we giggled and chatted the night away.

And most of all? I am thankful. Thankful that I am surrounded by friends and family this week, that we have an abundance of good food, and that I have work to keep me busy. It reminds me that I have a job. And those are greater blessings than I could ever hope for.

So despite the stress of tackling so much this week, I have decided to simply enjoy this week of Thanksgiving.

Be thankful.

Calling All Tacklers!

We’re looking for YOU – guest bloggers to post about your own tackles right here. If you are interested in showing off your tackles (we all need some tips and ideas!) then send a quick email to lolli.5m4m at gmail (link in the About Lolli section at the bottom of the post). Thanks for your inspiring tackles!!

Mom Bloggers — what are you tackling this week?

Link up your Tackle it Tuesday post…

Tell us what you’re up to with all your other tackles… housework and otherwise… add your link to your tackle in the Linky below!

We are Tackling Our To-Do Lists Together and making housework bloggable — Each week on Tuesday, we are posting before and after pictures of a project or trouble area that we tackled this week.

Find out more about how Tackle It Tuesday began.
The project can be little or big – whatever you want.

Basically, Tackle It Tuesday is about giving ourselves incentive, deadlines and satisfaction in tackling all our tasks — whether household or otherwise.

If you tackled a project this week, just add a comment and add your link below.

Here is a fun thumbnail linky:

And here is a basic linky if you prefer your linkies the good old fashioned way!

Written by 5 Minutes for Mom managing editor, Lolli. You can find me blogging at Better in Bulk and tweeting at @1momof5.

Kat Tomasewski, mother of three, author of the blog Mom on the go in Holy Toledo and the book Minimize the Chaos in order to Maximize the Joys of Motherhood is our guest tackler today talking about how to prepare for and tackle those holiday road trips with kids…

Tis the season for travel!

With the Holidays vastly approaching travel is inevitable, and along with travel comes the travel torture. We all know it, even if you have been blessed with the best little traveler in the world eventually tormenting repetitive comments cometh.

Some of the classic tormenting chatter we hear in the car:

• Are we there yet?
• I have to go potty?
• How much longer?
• I am hungry!
• Done…Done…Done (my husband’s favorite, our son yelled this after only two hours into a 15 hour journey).

This is when mommy needs to pull out her fun bags…no, not those fun bags (where is your mind?) – bags filled with fun activities for the kiddos. These will vary depending on the age of your children but it is wise to have a small tub with a lid for each child that contains activities they will enjoy.

Items to include in the car for toddlers & preschoolers:

• Books
• Coloring books (only 3 crayons & watch them in extreme heat)
• Quiet toys- doll or action figure
• Stickers (might end up on car- vinegar & baby oil will get off any adhesive left behind. Sometimes ten minutes silence is worth the clean up later.).
• Legos
• Movie (If you have DVD player in car- if not, get one. Movies are perfect for long car rides. Must have strict rules, only watch movies during long trips, that way it is a special treat, and not the norm.).
• Car bingo
• Snacks
• Encourage older children to play additional car games together (20 questions, what animal am I, Name the healthy food- see hybrid time)

I suggest packing in your luggage new time filling activities for the journey home. This way they are not already bored when they get in the car to go home.

You are now prepared for travel. Happy trails!

Calling All Tacklers!

We’re looking for YOU – guest bloggers to post about your own tackles right here. If you are interested in showing off your tackles (we all need some tips and ideas!) then send a quick email to lolli.5m4m at gmail (link in the About Lolli section at the bottom of the post). Thanks for your inspiring tackles!!

Mom Bloggers — what are you tackling this week?

Link up your Tackle it Tuesday post…

Tell us what you’re up to with all your other tackles… housework and otherwise… add your link to your tackle in the Linky below!

We are Tackling Our To-Do Lists Together and making housework bloggable — Each week on Tuesday, we are posting before and after pictures of a project or trouble area that we tackled this week.

Find out more about how Tackle It Tuesday began.
The project can be little or big – whatever you want.

Basically, Tackle It Tuesday is about giving ourselves incentive, deadlines and satisfaction in tackling all our tasks — whether household or otherwise.

If you tackled a project this week, just add a comment and add your link below.

Here is a fun thumbnail linky:

And here is a basic linky if you prefer your linkies the good old fashioned way!

Written by 5 Minutes for Mom managing editor, Lolli. You can find me blogging at Better in Bulk and tweeting at @1momof5.

Family travel shot from Fotolia.

Guest tackler Cath from Constance Reader and 7 Million Wonders writes today about tackling a fear.

Facing a fear

A few years ago, I was in a car accident. The car was ruined but except for a few aches and pains that lasted a day or two, I escaped unscathed. Physically, that is…the emotional turmoil of that event has lingered with me. I’ve driven since then, but only when my husband J.D. is in the car with me, only on short jaunts to the store up the street, only during the day. I’ve always been too afraid to do try anything more.

It’s a big hassle. I spend a lot of time waiting for the Metro, the bus, bumming rides and offering to chip in for gas money, like I did in high school. J.D. has to run the majority of our errands and that’s a strain on his time. It seems like every week, we put it on our to-do list, we sit down and draw up a plan to work up to me driving again. We’ll start with J.D. in the car and we’ll only go a short distance. The next day we’ll go farther and even farther the day after that…

But then we get busy. And so we’ve never gotten as far as the day where I drive somewhere all by myself.

Earlier this week, I was working on another item on my to-do list, sorting through my vast store of books, deciding which to donate, which to keep. Of course I had to stop and read a little of each one I pulled off of the shelf. I pulled down a book that I read and enjoyed a few years ago and flipped through the pages, lost myself in it for a little while. And I came across this sentence:

“I have not ceased being fearful, but I have ceased to let fear control me.” — Erica Jong, What Do Women Want?

In that moment, I made a decision. I decided I was tired of the fear, tired of the inconvenience. I grabbed the keys and hollered to J.D. to watch the baby. I went downstairs, out to the driveway, got in the car and turned it on. And then I drove to the grocery store. I browsed the aisles and bought the fixings for arroz con pollo, my favorite dinner. I got back in the car, and drove through the Starbucks drive thru for a latte with all the trappings. I took the long way home, pulling over to take a picture of the beautiful autumn foliage that managed to survive our weekend snowstorm, to memorialize the moment for myself, so that I wouldn’t forget it.

When I arrived back at the house, I felt like a different person from when I set out.

My official to-do list is still a mile long. I didn’t clean the bedroom closet or pack away my daughter’s nine-month-old clothes. I never finished with the books, and they’re still strewn everywhere. But all in all, I am calling this week a success. Because this week I faced a fear. I ceased to let fear control me. And that is no small thing.

Tackle written by Cath, who blogs about books at Constance Reader and about parenting at 7 Million Wonders.

Mom Bloggers — what are you tackling this week?

Link up your Tackle it Tuesday post…

Tell us what you’re up to with all your other tackles… housework and otherwise… add your link to your tackle in the Linky below!

We are Tackling Our To-Do Lists Together and making housework bloggable — Each week on Tuesday, we are posting before and after pictures of a project or trouble area that we tackled this week.

Find out more about how Tackle It Tuesday began.
The project can be little or big – whatever you want.

Basically, Tackle It Tuesday is about giving ourselves incentive, deadlines and satisfaction in tackling all our tasks — whether household or otherwise.

Calling All Tacklers!

We’re looking for YOU – guest bloggers to post about your own tackles right here. If you are interested in showing off your tackles (we all need some tips and ideas!) then send a quick email to lolli.5m4m at gmail (link in the About Lolli section at the bottom of the post). Thanks for your inspiring tackles!!

If you tackled a project this week, just add a comment and add your link below.

Here is a fun thumbnail linky:

And here is a basic linky if you prefer your linkies the good old fashioned way!

Kat Tomasewski, mother of three, author of the blog Mom on the go in Holy Toledo and the book Minimize the Chaos in order to Maximize the Joys of Motherhood is our guest tackler today with some very helpful tips of tackling potty training when you have to leave the house.

Potty training on the go

Why is it that a child almost always has to go potty ten minutes into any excursion? When potty training in our household we do the three days of mommy misery (for girls) or five days of mommy misery (for boys). Mommy misery entails no pull-ups, just panties or underwear. This includes any, and all, outings and nights as well. Yes, this does mean a lot of messes for mommy to clean up but after those 3 or 5 days it is smooth sailing. This means mommy needs to be prepared for travel.

First you need to purchase a little travel potty with the plastic liners that can be easily used anywhere. I have had children use the travel potty in the car, side of the car, in public restrooms….It is amazing.

They are also great because once the child is capable of using the big potty the travel potty can be used as a small seat (once they can use the public toilets be sure to bring a sticker or old Halloween mask with the elastic band that goes around your head to cover the automatic flush toilets. The noise reverberates in the public restrooms and it can be scary for a child, and could result in potty training reversion). Once you purchased a travel potty you will need a small plastic/rubber tub (one that can fit in your trunk or somewhere in your vehicle) in order to have the most efficient experience the tub should include:

• 3 pairs of underwear/panties
• 2 changes of clothes (2 additional pairs of pants)
• Wipes
• 2 Hand towels
• Sanitizer
• Water bottle
• Plastic travel potty liners
• Book
• Stickers
• Small packet of child’s favorite snack

This magical potty training tub should be restocked when items are used and it is sure to ease any mom’s anxiety when facilitating potty training on the run. If you are past the potty training give yourself a pat on the back and go through the nearest drive thru and get yourself a treat (even if it’s been ten years- what an accomplishment for you and your child too!).

Calling All Tacklers!

We’re looking for YOU – guest bloggers to post about your own tackles right here. If you are interested in showing off your tackles (we all need some tips and ideas!) then send a quick email to lolli.5m4m at gmail (link in the About Lolli section at the bottom of the post). Thanks for your inspiring tackles!!

Mom Bloggers — what are you tackling this week?

Link up your Tackle it Tuesday post…

Tell us what you’re up to with all your other tackles… housework and otherwise… add your link to your tackle in the Linky below!

We are Tackling Our To-Do Lists Together and making housework bloggable — Each week on Tuesday, we are posting before and after pictures of a project or trouble area that we tackled this week.

Find out more about how Tackle It Tuesday began.
The project can be little or big – whatever you want.

Basically, Tackle It Tuesday is about giving ourselves incentive, deadlines and satisfaction in tackling all our tasks — whether household or otherwise.

If you tackled a project this week, just add a comment and add your link below.

Here is a fun thumbnail linky:

And here is a basic linky if you prefer your linkies the good old fashioned way!

Written by 5 Minutes for Mom managing editor, Lolli. You can find me blogging at Better in Bulk and tweeting at @1momof5.