Happy Father’s Day!

Here is one of our all-time favorites. My dear friend Greta brought when my baby #3 was born. We have made them since for picnics, dinners, birthday parties, football games, and for other new moms. Adults and kids love them and they are super easy and do-able and make your house smell great!

I was sick and tired of rifling through bins trying to find the tissue paper for the gift bag, a card, and some darn scissors. I had pinned some ideas of wrapping stations on the back of doors, so I couldn’t stand it one more minute one Saturday morning so I stopped everything, and went to work in my little craft corner of my husband’s office downstairs. “Mom, can we have jolly ranchers and rice for lunch?” Sure. “Mom, can you forget about me playing wii all morning?” you bet.  Can I make a craft out of glue, powedered sugar, grass, and legos? go for it.
They love it when I’m in the nothins gonna stop me zone.
Here’s my version:

this is an interview I did over at Homemaker on a Dime~she did a great series on Blogging for Dollars.
1) Can you please share how you started earning income from your blog?I get most of my income from BlogHer ads. I love them because I really don't have to do anything, just post when I can. I don’t take private ads, because honestly, I don’t want to make the time to keep up with them and it would put more pressure on me to post, post, post. Occasionally, I also do product reviews for Blogher, I have google ads, and am an Amazon affiliate. It’s a perfect part-time job for me right now and I sometimes have to pinch myself that I’m getting paid to do something I love.

2) Can you give advice on how bloggers can attract advertisers without turning off readers at the same time?Most readers understand that blogs are awesome and chock full of crazy good information and insights. Because they are FREE, the ads have got to be part of it. It comes down to this for me: if I’m going to take time away from my family to write and manage the blog, it’s got to give back to me and my family. And it does: it’s a hobby/outlet for me and gives to my family financially.

I’ve decided one can usually gauge the craziness of my life at any given moment by looking at 2 things:
1. the inside of my car

2. my toenails
They just seem to be things that are extras: if I get around to them, that’s awesome, but if life gets crazy busy you’ll know by the smashed Goldfish in the van upholstery and my chipped toenail polish.

My friend Lynee taught me this trick when we lived in Idaho. Instead of cases everywhere, store all of your dvds in a protective dvd binder. We take the sheet out of the case, cut it to size, and place it in the sleeve so we know where it goes when we are finished.  Uhh, maybe I should clarify: so that I know where they should go when they are piling up on top of the dvd player. I’m pretty sure I’m the only one in the house that puts them away.

They are *somewhat* alphabetical~sometimes I give my girls the job of organizing it when it gets out of hand.

Here is one on Amazon ~ they can be pricey, but here is a BONUS tip :)  My Rite Aid is clearancing half of their store and these

were 75% off! Some of our pages are ripping, so it was perfect timing. You may want to call yours to see if they have some!

Happy Monday~

The posts this week have made me laugh, helped me know I’m not alone, lifted me and reminded me of why it’s the most important job in the world. If you didn’t get a chance to read them, you can click here. Thank you again

Shawni,

Chrissie Grace,

Robyn,

and Kate

for your beautiful words!

Happy Mother’s Day to each of you~

Our final guest for the week is the fabulous Kate from Centsational Girl.  She is a mother to 3 and a “bargain hunter, design lover, incurable DIYer, living in Northern California’s Wine Country.”
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I’m so honored to be here Melissa, thank you for including me in your “Things I’ve Learned About Being a Mom” series! Becoming a mom is a life changing experience and in my mind the most influential job a woman will ever have. I consider it an honor and privilege to be blessed with little souls and consider motherhood to be an amazing gift from God. I often marvel how I was entrusted with something so important as the ultimate caretaker in the life of another human being. I could talk for days about what motherhood has taught me but I’ll try to be succinct today and keep it short! Here are five things I’ve learned from being a mom.
A Swollen Heart. The heart’s capacity to love grows exponentially when we’re entrusted with the life of a child from the moment of their birth. Every step of their development adds a new layer so that after many years your heart swells as it grows larger and larger and by the time they reach adulthood, you’ve experienced great joy, pride, contentment, anxiety, and sometimes even sorrow all because of the layers of love that have built up on your heart.