Home Management Notebook

I am a huge list maker! Everyday I have a list of things to do, things I want to do, and places to go; the only problem is I am not always realistic when making my list and often start to feel overwhelmed. For my birthday this year my mom got me the book Every Girls Guide To Life by Maria Menounos. The book has a bunch of great ideas on organization and one of them was what she called her "black book". The book contained all of the information needed for the house and her life to run smoothly. I thought this was a great idea and decided to make one for myself.

When I sat down to start my book, I decided to do things a little different then Maria, I mean she's a t.v. host and I'm a stay at home mom, our priorities are a little different. I choose to call my book the home management notebook and I included the following categories...

• Daily Sheet
• Weekly Meal sheet
• Future Projects
• Notes
• Shopping List
• Mom Kit Check List
• Monthly Calendar 

I picked up a 1" D-ring notebook from Staples and a 3-ring pencil bag (for coupons, pen and highlighter; I love to highlight).

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Summer Mom Looks

Splurge 

Practical

4th of July Photo shoot

For every holiday I take Madison out and we have a little photo shoot. I pick up a few props from either Target, Party City, or the Dollar Tree and we head out and take a bunch of fun pictures. We normally go with a couple other moms but this time Madison and I did it by ourselves. 

For this photo shoot I dressed her in a 4th of July tank top from Old Navy and a tutu made by my friend Krista. The props we used were an American flag, red bucket, and pin wheel from party city...Oh and her new radio flyer wagon!

We went down to the beach and it was a perfect day for pictures. It was an overcast day, there was no wind and not a lot of people. We normally go to a local park to take pictures but there's something about the beach that says 4th of July to me.

Mom
xoxo

The Perfect Father's Day Gift

I'm so exciting for Father's Day this year! My husband is such a fantastic dad and I'm so excited to give him his gift. I wrote him a "little hands" poem listing off all the little things that he and Madison share and I'm pairing it with her hand prints.  I found the perfect frame at Michael's to showcase it all, it has a 5x7 spot in the middle (for the poem)  and 2 4x6 spots on the sides (for hand prints). I can't wait to see his face when he reads the poem!

DIY Child Picnic Table

So on a whim I decided to build Madison a picnic table. I searched online for plans for the perfect sized table and after hours of measuring and outlining the area with tap,  I finally decided on the plans from the site Shaw Creek General Store ( I added a hole in the middle of the table to add an umbrella). Madison is only 16 months old so I needed a table small enough where she could sit comfortably but also large enough so it could be used for several years.

Once I had my plans, I headed to Home Depot. I gathered the wood and supplies that were needed and asked an employee in the lumber department to cut my pieces to size; the staff was extremely helpful. In fact, the Home Depot staff was so helpful that this once Lowe's girl was converted into a Home Depot girl, my husband is very proud.

When the weekend rolled around I was ready to start building the table. My pieces were cut to the proper length but I still needed to cut the angles. After a little math and my husbands help I was ready to start assembling. The process went pretty smoothly and after a couple hours the table was completely assembled. 

When it came time to paint I tossed around many ideas. Paint it (red, pink, green, or teal), stain (natural or green), or add a clear satin polyurethane for protection. After contemplating for an embarrassing amount of time I decided on the clear satin polyurethane. The first couple of coats where completely absorbed by the wood but after 5 coats it was exactly how I had envisioned it.

Once the table was complete my husband helped me attach the umbrella (that Home Depot so kindly gave me from one of their floor displays), I added rubber mats to the ground incase Madison were to fall and for the finishing touches, flowers and place mats were added to match mommy and daddy's picnic table. 

The table has only been complete for a week and already we have eaten dinner twice outside. I see many  outdoor dinners in our future this summer!

Mom

xoxo