12 Things

Happy New Year!

I enjoyed a long weekend with my family. Of course, it was still too short. Since I have been a bit quiet lately, I wanted to share 12 things on my mind.

1. Project Life:Tomorrow I have a big post scheduled all about Project Life. In it, I discuss my 2011 album, plans for 2012, tools and organization, and linking up to Project Life Tuesday 2012 (which starts next week). If you are planning to do Project Life or are curious about it, you will not want to miss this post!

2.Annual photo books:I spent a lot of time working on Elias’s 2008 annual photo book this weekend. I completed 75 pages using Picaboo and still have about 20 more to go. I hope to get it ordered this week. For more about annual photo books, click here.

3. Potty training: We are on day six of potty training today! Before Christmas we talked with Elias about starting to go on the potty after the holiday. He agreed to the plan and no joke, started using the potty the day we got home from WI. He has not had one pee accident in his big boy underwear. We are having some trouble getting him to use the potty to poop, but are taking it in stride. Thank you to those of you who shared some tips on Facebook yesterday. Speaking of…

4. Facebook: Do you follow The Mom Creative on Facebook? It is such a great extension of this blog community. I post extra deals, interesting posts from other blogs, pictures, questions, etc. Like the page here

5. Blissdom: Will you be attending Blissdom in February? I am so excited to be a community leader. Check out the list of leaders here.

6. Thank you cards: If you have lots of thank you cards to write from Christmas, check out this idea. I am working on these this week for our thank you cards. Much cheaper than custom cards and just as loved by the recipient.

7. Pinterest: I love Pinterest. If you aren’t using it to bookmark all the cool stuff online, you are missing out. I have found that the more narrow my boards, the better. So, instead of recipes, I have crock pot recipes, breakfast recipes, dessert recipes, etc. Instead of holidays, I have Valentines, Christmas, etc. Make sense?

Also, my “completed pins” board rocks my world. I find that it motivates me to take action and DO some of the things that I pin. My goal for 2012 is to complete 1-3 Pinterest pins a week (usually recipes/kid crafts).

8. Free bath and body products: If you haven’t taken advantage of the free Vitacost $10 gift certificate for all new shoppers to the site, you really should. I tried this site out in December and got three bath and body products for the kids for just the cost of shipping (around $5). Who doesn’t love free – especially on stuff you really need/use.  Vitacost has a huge selection of bath, body and health products. They also have a ton of burts bees stuff, which make great gifts. I will definitely be ordering from them again soon.

9. Date nights: Matthew and I have two dates in the next two weeks. We are going see The Addams Family (musical) tomorrow and The Civil Wars next week. I am so excited.  A new baby + sleep deprivation + working full time means that we have suffered a bit. We have been working really hard to be more intentional with each other.

10. One Little Word: Have you chosen a word for this year? It won’t surprise many of you that my word is Joy, inspired by Sara.My hope is that this year I will choose joy in all circumstances. My sister refinished this beautiful side table for me for Christmas, which says Choose Joy on the top. Isn’t it beautiful? I love, love, love it and will cherish it for years to come.

11. Go Badgers!: Today my alma matter, the University of Wisconsin, plays in the Rose Bowl. We’ve got the kids decked out in Badger gear to celebrate.

12. Upcoming posts: I have a bunch of post drafts/topics that I am already planning for 2012. Is there anything special you would like to see here on The Mom Creative. If so, just fill in the blank below with your post idea, topic, question, etc. I would be so grateful to know what YOU want.