The Shiny Ribbon Blog/Website

Hey everyone. Just thought I'd let you know that this blog may now be viewed at http://www.theshinyribbon.com/. My sister and I own a great designer gift basket biz and it is featured, as well, at this website. Enjoy!

Lacey

Raising Thoughtful Kids!!

Hey Everyone!!

Did your kids ever do something that just made you smile and think, "Hey, I must have taught them that!!" or "I bet they learned that from me!!!"? Well, I was thinking this very thing last week. My daughter Grace loves her teacher, Ms. Swanson, and really enjoys going to school. She also loves giving her little presents too. Last week she came out of the back office with a small bag of cookies, a State Farm calendar magnet and a picture that she had drawn and said she was going to give them to Ms. Swanson. I rolled my eyes and said, "Wow, what's the occasion??" And she said that they were for her birthday that she had missed months ago. At that moment I felt bad that I had rolled my eyes and I realized that Grace was just being her kind and thoughtful self.

Now, if you know my daughter, Annie, you know that number one she is CRAZY and number two she is a silly NUT BALL. But, underneath all that, she really is a sweet little girl just crying out for attention. She is my middle child and definitely fits that mold. One time while I had her with me at a doctor's appointment we were sitting in the waiting room and she was running around touching everything and singing really loud and being really stubborn with me. A lady was sitting close by and was watching her actions and after about 10 minutes she said, "She must be your well-adjusted middle child, right?  Was it that obvious? But when Annie snuggles up to me and says, "Mama yo my fav-rit and so is Maxwell Drew. I lub you!! I know she is a thoughtful kid and really has learned something good from me. She is also the best helper when it comes to taking care of the baby. Even better than Grace.

I feel that kids really learn by example and when you show great manners and thoughtfullness in your everyday living, than this is going to rub off on your little ones. When you say thank you and excuse me to the people at the grocery store every time you go, than hopefully your kids will see this and do the same. My girls and I have just started decluttering the upstairs, which includes their toys. I keep telling them that there are other kids in this world who don't have nice toys and would be very grateful for them. So when we do our monthly decluttering Grace always tells this to Annie to get her motivated to put toys in the give away box. How thoughtful is that???

Every day is a learning experience for our kids. They learn good and bad. I know for a fact that when Grace rolls her eyes and yells out in frustration, I KNOW she gets it from me because I get frustrated really easily. But when she says something nice or gives a belated birthday present to her favorite teacher I hope that she picked that up from her mother. Who wouldn't???

Have a great end of the week everyone!!

Super Mom Stressed!

Well, its day two of my meal-planning adventure and it went pretty well. I had all the ingredients ready and it was done by 5 pm. However, my computer was acting up and was really slow all day so I had to work an extra hour after supper to catch up.

AND OF COURSE, that is when the kids started acting up! What's that? What's this? Why do you do that? they ask me as I TRY to get my last two cases done. Come on!!! Can't they see that I have important stuff to do??? But they are only 5 and 3 and of course they want my attention. So after about 30 minutes of the chaos I put down my pen and just shut the computer off. They are more important than any work, for sure.

So, it just goes to show you that even a super mom can't conquer it all. Tomorrow is another day and another new recipe. Can't wait to do it all over again! Teriyaki Burgers here we come. Yummy!

Lacey

First Day Jitters!!

Well, today was the first day working in my home office. One might be jealous of working from home, but I think it's going to take a lot of dedication. While I was working today I really wanted to do all the laundry and clean up the family room upstairs and put away clothes. I tried my best but I HAD to do at least one load of dirty towels. They were calling to me through the wall!! Actually they were SCREAMING at me that they had been sitting there for more almost a week and really needed to be cleaned. So I gave in and threw a load in. What could it hurt?

A few chores throughout the day while working can't cause too much harm, but if I leave all the cooking and cleaning to do during the day I will get nothing done and probably end up with no job at all. But if I leave everything for the evening, supper would be rushed and I would be screaming at everybody until we fell asleep. Which wouldn't be good. (Trust me! I've done this before and it's not pretty)

So, to make my days easier and less stressful, I started using The Working Woman's cookbook. It is a twelve week menu planner that has the actual shopping lists clearly written out for you. You just print it off from your computer and take it with you to the store. Today was the first day I tried it and it went great.  It took me about an hour to shop for the entire week's ingredients, and I didn't even stray from the list. This morning I looked over the recipe and knew exactly what needed to be done to make a great healthy meal. So, before Grace got off the bus at 4 PM I had supper started and ready to go into the oven before we went to pick up the other kids. And they actually really liked it and because we ate and cleaned up early, I had time to finish my weekly cleaning and watch the first half of Dancing with the Stars  before getting the kids off to bed.

So click on the link below and check out the cookbook. It's an E-book that you can download immediately after purchase and it's only 20 bucks. Reasonable. Great for busy families looking for healthy, quick meals. I konw you'll love it.

Have a great week everyone!

The picture is of Annie wonka and she has two very large malted milk eggs in her cheeks. Too funny!!
Lacey

http://8241fawns-h-ds0j2lizdnva6i.hop.clickbank.net/?tid=S4ZY82HR

Happy Easter!

Hello and Happy Easter to all!

Sitting here drinking coffee and listening to my girls play upstairs while Max and the hubby sleep. I love getting up before everyone to have a little me time, but they woke up at 630 am today to find their baskets. Not much Me time!!

Yesterday, Blake and I had the girls decorate a dozen eggs and we helped out. Of course, Blake had to make a crazy one that said, " I love Bunny meat" in wax crayon. Grace was really scared that the Easter bunny wouldn't come and leave a basket for her when he saw that egg. So after the kids went to bed I was cleaning up the kitchen and I found the egg with the funny saying on it hidden underneath a towel on the counter. I'm sure Grace hid it before she went to bed to ensure that she would get a basket. Crazy!!

Already I feel like I don't want to take off my stretchy pants to go to my mom's for their Easter celebration. Too much food last night at our aunt's house and I know it will be the same situation today at my parents house. Holidays are so hard to keep on track of a healthy eating plan. I figure, though, that this next week to come will be my official start date for my diet and exercise plan as well as my new meal-planning adventure which I talked about in my earlier posts. Can't wait! I am all ready to go shopping for ingredients on Monday! Check out the great E-cook book that I have a link to, which is great for all you Super Moms out there. Hopefully you can try it out with me.

http://8241fawns-h-ds0j2lizdnva6i.hop.clickbank.net/?tid=S4ZY82HR

Happy Easter Everyone!!

Lacey

Working Woman's Cookbook!!

Hey everyone!

Today was a good day!! My high speed internet was finally fixed and I can actually watch a TV show online after I miss it on TV. Wooohoooo!!!! While the internet guy was working on the DSL line I had an opportunity to get some much needed cleaning done, which included sweeping and mopping the floors. I had a half day at work so I had some free time to also plan my dinner. Thank God I had some frozen chicken breasts on hand!! But, not every day is a half day!! What then?

Well, I believe I have found the answer! A great cookbook that does almost all the planning for me. It has 12 weeks of recipes (all pretty healthy, too!!)) with each week's grocery list attached. It also has the nutritional ingredients, calorie amounts and has point values if you follow weight watchers. OMG!! I wish I would have found this sooner. It was pretty cheap too!! Just $20.00 and it's an E-Book, which means that once you buy it you get to download it right away to your computer. How cool is that? You can just open up your computer and print the weeks grocery list and recipes and hit the super market.

I am starting this ever-so-awesome meal planning adventure the Monday after Easter!! I already have the grocery list printed off and all of the menus jotted down on my kitchen calendar. This is going to decrease so much stress I experience when it comes to supper time. Even when the hubby is gone, I still want to make my kiddos healthy meals and have a great supper hour. You've heard the saying, "Families that eat together; Stay together!!!" I love that saying and I believe it to be true.

The menu for this week is as follows:

Monday: Mixed up Lasagna Casserole

Tuesday: Garlic Lime Chicken

Wednesday: Teriyaki Burgers

Thursday: Skillet Fish with Vermouth Sauce

Friday: Sweet Potato Chili Taters

Saturday or Sunday: Country French Crock Chicken

Now, for each week there are 6 recipes so you have one free day to eat take-out or for when you get a babysitter and go out to eat on a date night. Which is a must for every couple with small kids!!!! We need time for ourselves too, don't we??

There is also a great crock pot cook book for sale, as well, with great easy meal planning recipes. Can't go wrong with the slow cooker. Easy prep and easy clean up!! (only if you clean out the crock pot immediately after you eat and don't let it dry up in the sink. I have done this on more than one occasion and it's not very pretty to clean)

So, follow me this month as I free up tons of time and stress by knowing what is for dinner every night and preparing ahead of time. And if you are a super mom and are experiencing the same issues as me, click on the link below to purchase your own Working Woman's E-cook book!! Very secure online payments and the beauty of it is you get the cook book immediately after purchase by downloading it to your computer. Brilliant!!!

I added a pic of my new baby Maxwell Drew to brighten your day!! My mother-in-law thought it would be funny to put a wig on him!! He didn't like it too much, either!!

Here is the link to purchase the Working Woman's Cookbook and/or the Crock Pot Recipe collection. I feel it is going to be a big time saver for all you Super Mom's out there. Not only for supper time, but you will have yummy leftovers for lunch the next day. Can't beat that!

http://8241fawns-h-ds0j2lizdnva6i.hop.clickbank.net/?=S4Zy82HR

Just click on the link that says, Working Woman's cookbook. Enjoy!!


Lacey

My Super Busy Life!

Hello to all you Super Mom's (or Dad's),

My name is Lacey and I am a super mom of 3 very active children. Grace is almost 6, Annie (a.k.a Annie Wonka) is 3 and Maxwell Drew is 4 months. How did I become a super mom you ask? Well, I work full time as a workers compensation nurse, my husband is an over the road truck driver and I care for my home and children solo when my hubby is gone. Any mom who has that much on her plate is considered a Super Mom.

Taking care of my family and household does bring me joy, but in has also lead to high stress and feelings that I am never going to get on top of any of the things on my to-do list. But lately I have started to take control of things in my life and I would love to share those ideas with all you out there who are feeling the same way. So, hopefully, my stories can inspire busy moms to find it in their power to keep their homes neat and tidy, as well as to prepare healthy meals all the while caring for their busy families and households. And just an FYI, I am by no means an expert in any of the above, so we will take on challenges together.

Every month I will showcase and promote an item or website that I believe will help all those super moms and dads out there. Some are items that I have tried already and some will be items that I am going to try out myself for that month. The first product is up and coming. It is going to really help out those super moms who wish for stress-free and healthy dinner planning. Can't wait to share it with you as it is a new concept for me as well, so we will have to take the challenge on together. Stay tuned!!!

Right now I am home from work with all three kids. Max is sick and Grace and Annie are home from school and day care as it is spring break here in Wausau, WI. Daddy was home with all three yesterday, but my super mom intuition told me that Max needed a little mommy time to get him all better. He is finally sleeping in his swing (after an hour of screaming and coughing) and the girls just got in from outside from an hour of squirting each other with water bottles. What fun!!! Tonight is date night and I couldn't be more excited. It's not very often that Blake (my hubby) and I get to do something together alone. I really want to get the clothes put away and the kids supper planned before we go. Here are some pictures of the three little ones. Enjoy and don't forget to check back!!! I might even need the advice from other super moms out there. Talk to you later!

Lacey