Routines are great for helping us get everything done so we can get out of the house on time each morning. Did you know that you can use routines to make a house run smoother, too?

Sometimes the best morning routines start the night before. If everyone in the family can get into the habit of selecting the clothes they want to wear the next day, it will make your morning run much smoother. You may even be able to get everyone out of the house on time and with little fussing.

Take time to develop a schedule that the entire family can follow. Find a calendar that has large squares to write in. Write down all regular family events such as practices or games if your children are involved in sports, scouting activities, weekly dates with your spouse, or religious activities if your family attends.

Determine which days certain household tasks must be performed. You may want to spend time each day cleaning a certain room in your home rather than waiting until the weekend to do everything. Do laundry one day, vacuuming and dusting another, clean the bathrooms on another day. You get the idea. If you have everything planned and do it the same way every week, it will soon become routine and you won’t even have to think about it.

One day each week, create a meal plan so you know what you’re going to eat. Write down what items are needed for each meal. This will give you an idea of what you need from the store. While you’re in the “food mood,” take the time to make your grocery shopping list and gather any coupons you may need. By having a plan and a list, this will allow anyone who cooks to be able to make dinner even if you’re not home to do it.

Having your meals planned out will also make it easier for you to get your family fed each day. You’ll know what you need to take out of the freezer, you can put everything in the crock pot to cook during the day, and you won’t have to make trips to the store on the way home.

After the evening meal, plan on setting aside time to enjoy as a family. Establish one night for family fun and games. Watch a movie or play board games. Have some fun with your family and watch the dynamics of your family change.

Set a bed time for everyone. Of course, you and your spouse will be able to stay up later than your young children, but everyone will benefit from getting to bed at the same time each night.

Creating routines to help your house run smoother is something every family can do. If you’re consistent in following the routines you’ve established, your day will run smoother and so will your house. It may take time to make the routines habit but the effort will definitely be worth it.

Ah, Summer. It brings shorts, flip-flops, popsicles, picnics, the beach…

… and the removal of excess body hair.

As a gal who is not blessed with pale hair or Scandinavian ancestors, I can’t get away with letting that aspect of beauty care go.

I’ve tried everything. Shaving of course (still have the scars on my left shin from when I shaved with baby oil at age 12 and watched the skin of my leg come out the other side of the razor!), depilatories (the natural mom in me shudders at the thought of that now!), strip waxes, hot waxes, cold waxes, etc.

I haven’t done laser or that method that involves electrocuting each hair follicle (sorry, the name escapes me at the moment!) because those seem awful risky as well as very expensive.

This Summer, I discovered sugaring.

I went to my local drugstore and brought home a package of Nad’s sugaring kit. Called “sugaring” because it’s basically made from a mixture of sugar and lemon juice, it’s natural and contains no harsh chemicals that might trigger allergic reactions (although you should probably still do a patch test).

I love this stuff.

It’s actually more effective (on me) than traditional waxing, and FAR less painful. I use it everywhere I need to remove excess hair before hitting the pool. It doesn’t leave my skin all red and angry, and it’s more environmentally friendly because one tub goes a loooong way, and the cloth strips can be reused indefinitely. For $20, it’s a great deal. I’ve done several treatments and have plenty of “sugar” left in the tub.

Since it doesn’t require heating, there’s no risk of burning yourself. I’ve had that happen with hot wax kits and it’s a double pain whammy! And the trouble with “cold” wax kits and strips (that have wax already applied) is that they simply don’t remove nearly as much hair.

The nice thing about waxing and sugaring is that since the hair is removed from the root, there is no stubble. Even when the hair starts to grow back a bit, it’s far less noticeable. It also tends to make the hair follicles appear smaller which makes your legs look more attractive.

Eventually, if you keep it up, the hair follicle weakens and your legs will permanently have less hair. That has certainly been my experience.

I shared some more tips and tricks for successful sugaring on my blog.

Last week we found ourselves the somewhat unwitting owners of a new puppy.

We found her outside when we walked out to take a jaunt around the neighborhood.

As a kid, I always had dogs. They were the outdoor variety, but they were loved and well cared for. In fact my parents bred Shetland Sheepdogs for years.

I didn’t want my kids to grow up with a fear of dogs. Thankfully when my parents got a set of puppies several months ago, they were able to spend a lot of time with those dogs and watch them grow up. That helped a lot.

But, I feel the timing still isn’t right for this new addition. Although I do have a nice fenced backyard, I’m not sure I have the resources (money, energy, time, etc) for a new “baby”. Puppies require a lot of training (she has bitten me in play many times and has drawn blood – although it is getting much better). They need monthly vet visits (not something my budget allows presently). And I couldn’t bear it if something was terribly wrong later on and she required surgery.

This puppy is adorable but was likely abandoned. I’ve tried to find her owner through various means but no luck yet. I don’t have the heart to take her to the county shelter where I know there is a possibility she’ll be “put down”. So she’s ours for now. We’re reading up on puppy care and training, and giving her as much love and affection as we can.

It occurred to me today that dogs, like babies, often come when least expected. Anyone have suggestions on how to locate a loving home for Sally?

(If you live in the metro Atlanta area, you can contact me through my website if you’re interested!)

Last summer we hired our neighbor’s daughter to help our daughter with some basic education.  We have been trying to get our daughter caught up with the other kids so when she starts kindergarten she won’t be too far behind. She has some learning issues and cerebral palsy so it has been a challenge getting her ready for school.

I would suggest this to anyone who has a kid that has trouble keeping up with the other kids in school. I pay her $5 per session and they last an hour a piece, generally 2 to three times per week. My neighbor’s daughter is 12 years old and very mature and patient, she is wonderful with my daughter. We bought a kindergarten readiness package off the internet and they use that to work from.

I cannot tell you how much my daughter has benefited from these sessions. I have seen such improvement and she likes it because she gets to hang out with an older girl but not an adult. We have already started it again this year and I hope by the end of the summer she will truly be ready for school and not spending the year trying to just keep up with the other kids.

This month we had our third annual rodeo and the turnout was less than spectacular. The economy had a bit to do with that but I don’t understand why there isn’t a better turnout for such a great local event.

The rodeo is great, I went the first two years and couldn’t this year because I didn’t have anyone to watch my quadruplets. I didn’t think the rodeo was a good choice for them to sit thru in the hot sun but my oldest daughter loves it. They have professional bull riders and fighters as well as other events for all ages and are good cheap fun for two days with the family. I even built the website and maintain it for them for free to show my support for my community.

I love it when small towns put on fun things for families to do together, whether it is a rodeo or festival celebrating a local achievement. Every year I see fewer and fewer and less support for the ones that are still going. Some of my fondest memories growing up are from events like these and I think we need these to keep our communities together. Some of my neighbors are more like family to me than my real family and one of the best ways to meet them is large gatherings like these. I just wish people would slow down and take time to participate in local events.

People are in a real crunch out there. They’re losing jobs and in order to keep themselves afloat, they need to come up with their own income opportunities.

(By the way, if you’re looking for business ideas, go here.)

With the present state of the economy on the minds of people all around, many would consider this not the ideal time to start any new business endeavor. This is not necessarily true, considering a large number of popular high-end businesses who stepped out into the world during a time of recession.

There are many companies well known to us today whose businesses were started during a recession period. Popular names such as Johnson & Johnson or Burger King come to mind and they are still well know and thriving today. You can find many business opportunities you can adapt to this current economic period.

Start By Thinking About What You Want To Do (And Discover If There is a Market for It)

• If you’re a victim of job cutbacks, but have a marketable skill that you acquired through your education or employment, starting up a service business related to that skill is one of the quickest ways to get started. In addition, a home-based service business is often relatively inexpensive to get started.
• If you’re on a budget, there are plenty of home based business or Internet business options. 
• Of course, if you have the funding or can get the financing (and you’re not in dire need to put food on the table now), you may go the more traditional brick-and-mortar route.

Whatever you do, realize it can take time to build a steady income. Do your research, watch out for business opportunity scams (you know, the ones that are too good to be true or promise thousands of dollars each month, but don’t tell you what they are) and put together your plan.

Here are some business ideas recently added to Business Idea Library:

• Open My Own Boutique - a brick-and-mortar option that could be taken online.
• Open a Bookstore – another brick-and-mortar option that could be taken online (sell printed books or even ebooks and information products)
• Art Gallery – Work with a clientele that has plenty of disposable income.
• Become an Archaeologist – It’s contract work that won’t likely make you rich, but sure is thrilling for those interested in human history.
• Open a Home Store – brick-and-mortar or try online…the choice is yours.

Nothing makes me yawn more than teenage pregnancy.  This hot button debate that has been raging on for years with no end in sight is now encapsulated on MTV’s series “16 and pregnant”.  I could only stomach watching one episode of a teenage girl named Maci who was formally a cheerleader and outstanding student who got knocked up by her extremely immature boyfriend, Ryan.

Maci managed to graduate highschool at the age of 16 due to being such a great student, yet was too dumb to figure out how to use birth control or have Ryan use a condom…

This show will definitely disappoint, in the end, the “revelations” about these girls is what you would expect.  They thought having a baby wouldn’t be as hard as everyone says it is.  Duh.  They thought the father of their illegitimate child would be more involved…um, double duh.  I am sure there are 14-year-old girls sitting at home on Saturdays watching this show and dreaming of being on it.  I mean come on, these pregnant girls ended up on a reality t.v. show, what’s not to like about that?

I have to wonder if Jamie Spears pregnancy is what caused MTV to come out with this series in the first place, I mean heck, that certainly made headlines.  What I’ve always really wondered is how 300 years ago, women had babies at 14 and 16 and didn’t dump them in trash cans or sign up for a reality t.v. show where their loser boyfriends were followed around with a video camera documenting what a bad father they are.

Maybe it was because they were married and “settled down” at such a young age due to having a life expectancy of 40.  Maybe that put things in perspective and made you realize that you really ARE capable and don’t need to be coddled all through your 20′s and can wear your big girl panties NOW.  I don’t pretend to have the answer to this stuff, but I definitely think it doesn’t do anyone any good by documenting it on t.v. and giving these girls even more negative attention than what they are already receiving.

HBO’s Trueblood series had their 2nd season premier this month and it was great!  The characters are still going strong, very sexy and meaty storylines.  There is definitely a shocking opener to the 2nd season where the audience was clearly “tricked” at the close of Season 1.

I continue to be baffled by Maryann Forrester’s character – what is this weird vibrating woman? Is she a Greek Goddess? Time Traveler? Soul Stealer? I am so confused and she scares the hell out of me!  Pretty lady though.

I am also in love with newcomer Eggs “Benedict Talley” who is currently playing Tara’s new love interest.  His demeanor is very soothing and since I like him, it probably means he will be killed off soon.  This show reminds me a bit of The Sopranos where you shouldn’t get too attached to the actors because they will likely be killed off or otherwise suffer an untimely departure from the show.

After seeing an overall “season preview” at the end of episode 1, this season promises not to disappoint – their fan base is definitely increasing.  Tune in and get your vampire fix!

Last weekend we took our kids to a nearby town for a firework display and I don’t think it was a good idea in hindsight. We like to give our kids every experience that we possibly can and fireworks seemed like a good thing.

Earlier in the day we went to a birthday party for one of our friend’s kids and they have a pool so we had our kids out swimming and playing with many other kids. After the party we brought the kids home to take a nap and relax before the fireworks. They slept for almost 3 hours but had no early nap so I figured it was a little makeup sleep. They woke up around 9:00 and we fed them and left to meet our friends and watch fireworks.

My oldest daughter was excited and my quads were not, to say the least. I got a good mix of crying and mean spirited hitting/throwing. It didn’t get much better when we arrived, The fireworks scared the kids and they didn’t want anything to do with the pretty colors that came with the loud booms. It was hot and sticky and the darkness made my kids think that they should still be in bed, even after the extra long nap. I think I will wait until the kids are old enough to really enjoy fireworks before I try this again.

I have a couple things to try this summer if you hate insects. The first is a mosquito, tick, and fly spray. Some people I have talked to say this works well but it does have to be reapplied every 45 mins to an hour, it is safe for kids and pets too.

2 cups white vinegar

1 cup Avon skin -so -soft bath oil

1 cup water

1 tablespoon eucalyptus oil (available at most drugstores and health food stores)

This homemade spray does not contain aerosols or chemicals to pollute the environment and it smells good.

The next one is just a simple way to get rid of mosquitoes for a day or two. Just spray Listerine (or generic equivalent) and they won’t come near the sprayed area for about a day. I can’t get a clear answer on if you can dilute it with water and have it still work as well. The professionals say that it won’t work but all the blogs I have read say that it works great and lasts longer than anything else. I have yet to try this one yet but I plan on it soon. Hopefully these help you have a more enjoyable summer or at least you’ll smell pretty.