So, to make this blog a little more interesting for everyone, I've asked a group of friends to contribute who are experts in their respective fields. If you know of anyone who would like to contribute, please feel free to let me know, the more the merrier! Kudos to Tara who answered the call first. She is a trainer here in Wellesley - bio is coming - and if I didn't have so many kids in tow at all times, I know I would be going to her boot-camps more (especially on a gorgeous day like today!) Enjoy!

Spring Workout!

Outdoor Workout Inspiration

Are the birds singing your name? Have you had it with the gym? Well it’s time to set your sites to an invigorating outdoor workout. Now that hints of spring are in the air, everyone gets anxious to get outdoors. The sights, smells and sounds of spring can give you an extra kick in your step. But before you jump outdoors, there are a few important things to consider. First is clothing. Temperatures can still be chilly and you will want to dress in lighter layers. A nice lightweight, water resistant jacket is a perfect top layer. Secondly, don’t get in over your head too quickly. Warm, fresh air can make you feel like you want to run for miles and miles! But if you have been in the gym –running or not- the great outdoors take a bit of adjustment. Pavement is a less forgiving surface and injuries can occur if you take off too fast. So slow down and smell the flowers for your first couple times out on the road.

Check out this inspiring and invigorating outdoor workout.

Find yourself some outdoor stairs or stadium steps. Usually your local college or high school will have them at the track. Run the steps two times, then do these interval exercises in between sets. Do 10-15 repetitions of each exercise and repeat the whole thing 3 times.

Tricep dips on a step.

Pushups

Jumping jacks

Sit-ups or crunches

Walking lunges

Plank (30-60 seconds)

These exercises will keep you moving, tone your legs and arms and prepare you for tank top and shorts weather!

Be inspired by the spring, your able body and your willpower. Strength is within you.

Special thanks to Tara Downie for contributing this piece for me! She is a wonderful personal trainer in Wellesley who is the mother of 2 of my favorite kids. If you'd like to get in touch with her, just let me know!

Ok - so a little over two hours with my kitchen folio and believe it or not, the random drawer is empty and the bookshelves are clean. Literally, start to finish, 2.5 hours. That included the cleaning out, putting stuff in and printing off the info from the downloaded sheets on their website. I officially love it. I talked to them today about coming up with an app for their calendar stuff too; fingers crossed that will happen :). Here are the after shots of the shelves and drawer as well as the actual folio and the business card insert I used.

Now... if only I could find something to help me organize all my recipes; ripped from magazines, written on post it notes from friends, photocopies my mom has given me.... any ideas???

Ok - so about two hours into it, I feel a huge sense of accomplishment. I am not quite finished, but have gone through most of the random drawers, shelves and bags. I really do love this thing! One thing I did do was adapt some old three-ring binder business card holders to simply put in business cards for the home-related phone numbers. I also found old paint samples which I labeled and put in the card holders as well for when we need to touch up or repaint. Once I cut off the three ring binder things, they fit easily into the pages. So far I have a section for each kid (which may turn into two), I had to add a section for the home-related things, one for car stuff, coupons and then other random things (zoo membership card, gift cards, library cards -- I did the same thing with these as the home-related business cards). I am very excited about what random things I found in chaos of drawers and shelves... our extra DPW sticker so that Chris can now go to the dump in his car from time to time :) as well as some random gift cards -- who knows if there is any $ left on them. I'll find out! Plus, I think I found enough change for Ainsley and I to go get our nails done! Very productive two hours.

There are a couple things I wish I could change, but not many.

1. I do wish it was 3-ring binder style so that I could just add to a section without redoing everything.

2. I do like my business card adaptation, but would like that already in there.

3. I'd like some sort of closure on it; mine looks like it is filled to its max and I think it would look better on a shelf or somewhere else if it didn't have the overflowing look.

4. The thicker the paper, the easier it is to slide into the different compartments. Once I got the hang of it my cheapo printer paper went in fine, but their heavier one was much better.

ooooh, it is that easy. Just filled out the important information tab on the momAgenda site. You just click on the area you want to fill out, type it in and print it up. They even have the downloads to match which kitchen folio you get so when you print it out it matches!!! One section down and we'll see how many I get to tonight. The hardest part was finding all the phone numbers (just copying them from my cell phone actually) but now they are all in one place for anyone here (babysitters, grandparents...)

Ok... have gotten the momAgenda Kitchen Folio, which I love in theory, but will now try to see if I can actually organize it and have it be the "command central" that I envision.... Here are some pics of my kitchen bookshelf, two random drawers and a bag when I travel (and have time to thumb through all those wonderful how-to-be-a-great-parent-effortlessly magazines) that everything gets thrown into when I don't have time to think. I should make it known that I am a hard copy fan... recipes, I tear things out of magazines, I love my schedule written down... so yes, I know that I could find something that might take up less space, but then I'd have to learn how, research it... so here goes my old school organization, and yes, that is a glass of wine on the table while I work on this.

Happy New Year

So, this year, one of my resolutions was to learn how to blog... yes, I know, very behind the times, but better late than never. I am thrilled with the new iteration of the website, but do miss the community aspect of the site. I am hoping that this blog helps bring that feeling and added value back.