I am so happy because my boys are finally at any age where they can REALLY understand how to ask Santa for what they want for Christmas; and understand that you need to be GOOD in order to receive your requests.

We decided to visit Santa in person and headed to Del Amo Mall in Torrance, CA. We arrived just in time, Santa was returning from feeding his reindeer. A long line had already formed and my two boys were getting a bit wild; but then when they saw Santa walking up, they suddenly turned into well-behaved creatures! Oh the power of Santa!

When we finally got to see him, we took some pictures first (very important to record these historic meetings!). Next, Santa asked the boys what they wanted for Christmas. Dillan said he wanted a remote control helicopter and Devan asked for yet another Thomas the Train set (motorized this time!). Next, Santa asked them if they have been naughty or nice, of course they both said “NICE!”.

Santa then asked me what I want and I said I wanted continued healthy, happiness and love in the new year.

After our time with Santa, our pictures had printed (super fast- those elves know what they are doing!)

Now we are eagerly awaiting the BIG DAY to see if our requests are granted!

We also wish everyone very HAPPY HOLIDAYS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Disclaimer: I received a gift card from Simon Malls in exchange for reviewing our visit with Santa.

Halloween is one of my family’s favorite holidays and now that the kids are really into it, I want to make sure that it is memorable and fun! I went to Del Amo Mall in Torrance to get the process started…. My 5 year old wants to be a ghost for Halloween, my four year old wants to be a train conductor and they both want me to be a princess (thank goodness they picked something cute for me!).
I started at the Disney Store which is princess dream for little girls. Everything from classic princesses like Cinderella to modern princesses like Tiana- you can get shoes, crowns, dresses, everything. They had great options for boys as well- Buzz Light Year and Woody to of course everyone’s favorite- Captain Cook! (they even have swords that make clanking sounds!). My personal boy favorite was the Lightening McQueen race car driver outfit- cool and fast.
To get some more ideas for myself, I went over to Claire’s. They had so many great options for women’s costumes- I ended up getting a leopard “kit” – ears, tails, gloves and bling bling whiskers. I can wear it with black pants and a black top and it will be perfect to wear to the boy’s school (if I don’t want to get in full princess gear). I also got a gorgeous rhinestone tiara and big chandelier earrings for my princess costume. Claire’s had other great ideas from vampire accessories (tattoos, ghoulish nail polish and scary false eyelashes) to boas for a flapper, angel wings and my personal favorite for tween girls: a Drama Queen tiara!
I also went over to Ahhs- always perfect for fun holiday gear. They had everything to make the Halloween atmosphere- for your front yard- tombstones, spider webs, ghoulish sound machines, hanging decorations, black lights and fog machines. I loved the fun jello molds- brains and hearts (I’m talking about the heart in your body!). I also thought the interior products like spooky slip covers for your couch were so creative. My other favorites were the costumes for your pets and cars- yes, Halloween costumes for your car! It will really make the whole day seem much more festive if everyone is involved.
My last stop was to Joann’s- the perfect place if you want to be super creative and make your own costume. I picked up some white felt fabric and fabric paint for my son’s ghost costume. I also loved the Halloween cookie molds and the candy making kits. I picked up some great Halloween crafts for the kids too so we can make our own decorations- pumpkins and ghosts (I love keeping them busy and they felt so proud of their work). My final purchase to make a great Halloween was the best purchase…a Flash Brite Stick on Reflective Patch (in Ghost design). You put these on your children at night so you can see them and they can be seen for safety- now that is genius.
I feel so ready now and prepped for the big day… now … if I can only get my husband to dress up it will be perfect!

Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary membership to Kidgits Club (a service of Simon Malls) to review my Halloween shopping experience.
These posts do not necessarily represent Simon Property Group’s positions, strategies or opinions

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Kitchen: Always start with the sink. A sparkling sink becomes your kitchen’s benchmark for cleanliness and tidiness.

• Wipe down the sink after doing the dishes or loading the dishwasher.
• Wipe down the stovetop.
• Wipe down the counters.
• Sweep, Swifter or vacuum the floor.

Bathroom: Make cleaning the basin as routine as washing your hands.

• Wipe out the sink.
• Wipe the toilet seat and rim.
• Swoosh the toilet bowl with a brush.
• Wipe the mirror and faucet.
• Squeegee the shower door.

Bedroom: Make your bed right before or after your morning shower.

• Fold or hang your clothing and put away jewelry.
• Straighten out the night table surface.

Family room, living room, foyer: Start with the sofa; as long as it’s in disarray, your living room will never look tidy.

• Pick up crubms and dust with a handheld vacuum.
• Fluff the cushions and fold throws after use.
• Wipe tabletops and spot-clean cabinets when you see fingerprints.
• Straighten coffe-table books and magazines, throw out newspapers, put away CDs and videos.

Toys:

I also found that with two children, toys and books are everywhere.  Here are some tips to help organize the toys in your home (more tips can be found in The Chic Mom’s Guide to Feeling Fabulous):

• Limit the amount of toys that are used at one time.  You can put some away and bring them out at a later time.  An added bonus is that your child will feel like they have new toys.
• Try wall-to-wall shelving if you can.  Your child can see all of the toys at once and place them back when they are finished.
• Use separate containers for different types of toys.  For example, cars go in one container, dolls in another, puzzles in another, etc.

“People might think of seasonal cleaning as old-fashioned, or just another thankless chore,” says the author of Organize with Confidence. “But taking control of something that you actually have power over, such as your space and storage, can be emotionally uplifting and energizing.”

Hagen, who served on the board of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO), continues: “Not only is cleaning, decluttering and organizing, indoors and outdoors, good for your psyche, but it also helps you to make better use of time and save money.

“When your mind is cluttered you lose focus,” she explains. “It’s the same when you have a cluttered house: you waste time by not being able to easily find things and you waste money by making duplicate purchases inadvertently. Whether it’s running out for another roll of tape when you know that you have one somewhere, or spending 30 minutes searching every time you need a hammer, just living with disorganization every day can be costly, debilitating and depressing.”

For those who might not know where to start when it comes to cleaning, decluttering and organizing, Hagen recommends making a plan, starting small and setting goals.

“Organize your project before you start,” she urges. “And don’t attack simultaneous projects or anything too big to begin with. Instead, focus on small projects, one at a time.  The feeling of accomplishment, satisfaction and peace that go with an organized life can be addicting!”

Elizabeth Hagen’s tips for tackling cleaning, decluttering and organizing

During her frequent motivational talks to groups around the country, Hagen offers the following:

• Visualize what indoor or outdoor spaces you’d like to free up for more important or enjoyable purposes. How will they look after you’re done? For motivation, picture yourself enjoying the revamped space.
• Prioritize your approach to cleaning, decluttering and organizing. What will you tackle first? When will you do it? Will you have help? What’s next?  Make a list and check off your “assignments” as you go.
• Determine your decision-making philosophy. What will guide decisions on things to keep and things to part with? For example: How often do you use an item? Do you love it? Establish your criteria in advance and stick to them. It will speed up the process.
• Decide what you will do with excess items. Make a pile for donations, for trash, for a yard sale or for alternative storage, like a backyard storage shed.
• Put your decluttering and organizing project on a calendar – and follow through.

“I believe in the old adage, ‘A place for everything, and everything in its place,’” says Hagen. “Taking control of the space around you, with the right storage solution, can be emotionally empowering and make for an easier, happier, more enjoyable life.”

1) Getting Dressed.  Have a contest with your child to see if they can get dressed by the time you count to twenty!  Be sure to give praise for a job well done.

2) Breakfast Time.  Make conversation during the morning breakfast rush, and ask your child what he will be doing in schoo that day.  This is a great way to start the day by letting your child know you care about him and are interested in his life.

3) Drive Time.  This is the perfect way to interact with your child, as you have a captive audience.  You can talk, sing some songs together along with the radio or CD, or play a game of “Count the Red Cars” as you drive along.

4) Lunchtime. Take a break from your work and have a picnic with your child.  Whether shis is two, eight or fifteen, taking this special time together will certainly let your child know you care.  Be sure to stop and smell the roses!

5) Food Shopping.  Children love to help their parents, especially in the supermaket.  Have your little helpers assist you in picking out the fruit by asking them to get you three oranges or four apples.  Talk to them about the different colors of fruit and how healthy they are to eat.  Now, you’ve just had a lesson on counting, color recognition, and nutrition all at the same time.  Older children can help you cross off the items you select as you food shop.  This is a fun way to get them to read and learn life skills.

6) Playtime.  This is a great time to bond with your child.  As they play, whether it’s with dolls, cars, or coloring, play along with your child.  Sit on the floor and pretend you are young again.  Make pretend voices and sounds, and be sure not to stay in the lines when you color!  Before you know it, your little one will be smiling and laughing with his new playmate!

7) Mealtime.  Have the kids give you a hand getting dinner together.  They can assist you by setting the table and helping you cook.  Older kids can assist in the measuring of ingredients, and younger ones can hlep fold napkins and place plastic cups at each setting. During this special time, you can also make conversation with your children, which will enhance the experience.  Be sure to have them help with the cleanup as well. This teaches responsibility within the family unit.

You can find some of my own tips as well as more from Dr. Cindy Bunin Nurik in my book, The Chic Moms Guide to Feeling Fabulous (available at Amazon.com).

The premise of the movie is that Mars needs moms from Earth- preferably those that tell their kids to take out the trash and eat their broccoli- to infuse their brain power into their “nanny-bots” that raise their children. The dialogue and scenes are so familiar for moms everywhere!

Nine-year-old Milo (Seth Green) finds out just how much he needs his mom (Joan Cusack) when she’s nabbed by Martians who plan to steal her mom-ness for their own young. Milo’s quest to save his mom, involves stowing away on a spaceship, navigating an elaborate, multi-level planet and taking on the Martian leader (Mindy Sterling). With the help of a tech-savvy, underground earthman named Gribble (Dan Fogler) and a rebel Martian girl called Ki (Elisabeth Harnois), Milo finds his way back to his mom.

This was such a great adventure movie; however I thought it might be too scary for younger children. I was even a bit scared of the concept of mommy being taken away in the middle of the night. I think better for a date or moms night out movie or taking kids age 8 and up.

And… yes…. once you see the movie you will understand that Milo was right… Mars needs Botox!

You can view the trailer at http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/marsneedsmoms/

A disorganized home can make for a disorganized mind, a new survey shows. In fact, the vast majority of respondents feel so stressed, anxious and overwhelmed when their homes are cluttered that they don’t even know where to begin with home organization, according to a new Rubbermaid survey conducted by Russell Research. Rubbermaid commissioned the survey to determine homeowners’ needs for help with home organization projects.

According to the survey, 91 percent say they are overwhelmed at least some of the time by the clutter in their house — so much so, that 88 percent want less clutter, nearly half won’t invite their friends over to see their home, and a third say they don’t even know how to reduce clutter. In addition, 57 percent report feeling “stressed” and 42 percent are “more anxious” when their house is unorganized or cluttered. Others get so disgusted at the condition of their home that they “want to run away from the room” or feel their clutter is “insurmountable.”

 Moms with children in the home have a particularly hard time, with 90 percent saying they want less clutter and 60 percent feeling stressed about it. The more kids, the higher the stress: 91 percent with three or more children want less clutter and nearly a third (29 percent) say their kids are the top barrier to de-cluttering their home.

 ”It’s clear from the survey that people know they can make a difference in organizing their home but are feeling overwhelmed and need help getting started and staying motivated,” said Virginia Murray, Rubbermaid’s Director of Marketing. “Fortunately Rubbermaid has deep expertise in providing solutions to help people get their homes and lives in order, and ultimately reduce the stress that comes from trying to get and stay organized.”  

 Get a Grip on Clutter

 To help Americans get a grip on clutter, Rubbermaid has just launched a new organizing service offering expert advice to help users get organized and stay motivated to de-clutter year round. Rubbermaid Personalized Organizing is an online service that offers direct, personal access to professional organizers and many motivational tools to help people accomplish their goals in getting organized. It provides action plans to attack clutter bit-by-bit to help overcome the initial overwhelmed feeling and even provides a way to track the amount of clutter removed from one’s home pound-for-pound.

 Rubbermaid launched this service in partnership with Lorie Marrero, a nationally recognized Certified Professional Organizer® and creator and author of the best-selling program and book, The Clutter Diet: the Skinny on Organizing Your Home and Taking Control of Your Life.  Anyone can join Rubbermaid Personalized Organizing, detailed on http://www.rubbermaidpersonalizedorganizing.com, for as little as $11.95 per month.  The service includes:

 Unlimited access to direct, personal advice on organization projects from an expert team of organizers via message board support

• Exclusive weekly action plans for projects covering an entire home in a year’s time
• More than two hours of easy multimedia tutorials to learn organizing concepts and methods at one’s own pace
• A personalized e-mail reminder system that sends alerts on birthdays, regular home maintenance schedules or other recurring tasks and events that call for de-cluttering
• Personal tracking or progress monitoring via a weekly “weigh-in” to see how many “Clutter Pounds” have been lost to date
• An automatic 10 percent member discount for organization products available on  www.rubbermaid.com, along with advance notice of specials and new offerings

Get a large calendar that allows you to write in the individual dates. There are a number of “family calendars” that are perfect for this activity.  Assign each person a particular color – use their favorite color unless more than one person has the same favorite – and then create a centralized calendar for the whole family.

Here’s an example:  Your family has five members – Dad, Mom, Mary, John, and Susan – and their favorite colors are green, pink, purple, blue, and yellow.  Purchase some highlighters of those colors to make this organizational tip work. When you have your calendar and your markers, you’re ready.

Have all family members write down every regular activity that they are involved in each month – business meetings, doctor’s visits, sports practices, sports games, volunteer activities, religious activities, play dates, spouse date nights, known school vacation dates, birthdays, etc. Write each activity on the calendar and highlight it the color of the person who is involved.

When new activities are added, use the same color coding system so that everyone in the family can see at a glance if when they have activities they need to be prepared for. This will also allow you to know if your family’s schedule is too busy.

If your children each have activities on the same day, get someone to help you. Teach your children that there may be times that both parents won’t be able to attend an activity or important event. If Mary has a dance recital on the same day and time that John is graduating from Cub Scouts, there’s just no way both parents can be at both events. Get the kids’ grandparents or other special people in their lives to be there for them when you can’t.

You may want to consider limiting the amount of activities each family member is allowed to be involved in.  If John plays all sports available at his school and wants to add guitar lessons, he may just be too busy.  The same would go for Susan being in Brownies, playing soccer, and wanting to learn to horseback riding. Look at your already packed calendar and learn to say ‘no’ so your family has some time to spend together rather than running hither and yon.

For moms who work from home, balancing the home and business sides of their lives can feel downright impossible, especially when the reason they began working from home was so they could spend more time with family. However, many home businesses actually fail because moms don’t manage to balance business and home life. How can you juggle your family’s needs, your business needs and occasionally find some time for your needs without being a super hero?

The first thing any mom should do to achieve balance is to get the family involved. If your children and husband support you, you will find that they interrupt less often and are more likely to pitch in to get household chores done. You’re probably thinking that will happen the day the moon turns to blue cheese, right? However, if you mention that you need to get a major project done and will be able to buy a pizza and rent a video when you are paid, you may be surprised at how quickly everyone pitches in to help out.

If you have young children, they may not be able to understand the concept of waiting for a reward. To get your younger children involved, try explaining what you are doing in very simple terms and having them help you. Set up a small desk or table for your toddlers and add crayons and paper so they can help you with your work by drawing some pictures or writing a letter. Children that are a bit older can put stamps on envelopes and seal them, paperclip papers together or do other simple organizational tasks.

Of course, no matter how supportive your family and friends are, they are not going to be happy if you work 15 hours a day. Make sure that you ask for uninterrupted time to do your job or run your business, but also make sure that you schedule time for your family and friends. While you are making up that schedule, don’t forget your significant other. If you sit at your computer all evening after the children are tucked away for the night, you may end up with some serious relationship issues!

Once your family and friends are involved and you’ve scheduled time for them in your life, it is time to consider a few ways to make the most of your valuable work time. While you may be tempted to work non-stop during the time you have dedicated to your business, you should actually try to take some breaks. Taking a half-hour walk or having lunch away from your desk can really help you recharge your mind and keeps your body from growing stiff and tired. When you sit back down, you can do so with a clearer view of your goals and fresh energy and focus.

Also, don’t be afraid to make a “to do” list for your business. Write the four or five items you absolutely must do on your list and promise yourself that you will get them done before you visit your favorite forums or check your email. This can really help you get more work accomplished in less time.

So, although you may not have super powers, you can still have a home life, a business life and some time for yourself. The next time you are feeling overwhelmed, take a deep breath, ask your family for some help and try out a few of these great ideas for balancing your life.