Disney Autograph Book

   When I started scouring Pinterest for Disney World planning secrets, I was surprised to find such an emphasis on autograph books.  Surely my children are too young to understand the nostalgia and magic behind acquiring an autograph from someone they admire.  And surely we'll be too busy running from one ride to the next to stand in additional lines for autographs.  I was unconvinced but I figured I would plan ahead and bring some, just in case.  You just never know what is going to be the favorite activity, treat, etc.  I read autograph books can run from twenty to thirty dollars when purchased at the Disney Store or at the parks.  It is true.  So, I ended up making these and the girls loved them! 

Magnetic Movie Puzzle

   I love to travel.  It feeds my soul like no other.  I tend to revolve my entire life around road-trips and beach excursions.  Of course, when I became a mom, traveling became much more difficult.  My packing skills, patience, creativity, efficiency, and endurance are all tested each and every trip.  I'm no expert on traveling with babies, especially since we always fly or drive for pleasure, but I made these Magnetic Movie Puzzles for the plane rides to and from Disney World and they were a huge hit with my kids!  Now they are a permanent fixture on vacations, long days in the car, and even while we wait for my daughter to get out of dance.

Chore Chart

   I decided to pursue a dream of mine to become an author one year ago. As soon as I began to pull attention and energy away from my first dream, being a stay-at-home-mom, I disrupted our family dynamic. After writing about some of my early struggles in "My Galapagos. The Spacebar.", I realized my home was in desperate need of structure. In my never-ending quest to improve my mothering/home management skills and especially after reading Coach Mom by Brenna Stull, I decided it was time to start teaching my daughters the importance of contributing to the family, i.e. chores. Of course, the chore concept is only part of the bigger picture to create a sense of teamwork, pride in one's accomplishments, appreciation and respect for us parents, and the preservation of the last of mommy's sanity. Since Baby Girl was only two years old, I suspected her short attention span would prevent her from completing many tasks. But Little Girl was four. It was time. Then, my husband planned a trip to Disney World. Long story short, my first trip to Disney was when I was twenty. My fears of creating tiny, over-privileged, ungrateful monsters (pictured below) took over and lit a fire under me. It was time.

Coach Mom

   I had the pleasure of meeting author of Coach Mom and mother of five, Brenna Stull, when she spoke at a PTA meeting a few several months ago.  Her presentation was hilarious and entirely relatable!  I bought her book that day and planned to study it forever ago.  Though I have the best of intentions to be a conscious mother and a stack of parenting books on my nightstand, I never seem to get around to reading them.  "Gasp!"  I know, I know. An aspiring author who doesn't find enough time to read?  Ironic, isn't it?  What can I say?  As the wife of a firefighter/EMT, I am on a heightened level of awareness of dangers and spend most of my days as a stay-at-home-mom chasing the girls around with bubble wrap, band-aids, and books- cushioning any possible fall, doctoring all collisions, and feeding their imaginations...which only spurs further testing of limits, countless more close-calls, bumps, bruises, scrapes, chipped teeth...and a partridge in a pear tree.  Luckily enough, I carved out enough time to finish this straight-forward, Bible-based, and accessible parenting book and our first Blueberry Martini Book, Coach Mom.