Tuesday, February 28, 2012

2002 Olympics 10th Anniversary

Last week, we had a very special event going on. Ten years ago this month, we had the 2002 Olympics right here in our backyard, so of course we had to make a big fuss about it!

First was the torch re-lighting ceremony.

This was up at Rice- Eccles Stadium, but these banners are still all around town, Hard to believe that they still look so good ten years later!

The famous Holberman Arch. It doesn't open and close any more, but it's still on display at the stadium. Most of the medals were awarded under this arch in the evening.

Lots of volunteers managed to scounge up their uniforms out of closets. I even found my Roots hat and my USOC credentials.

Here's our beautiful torch. It really was a work of art - fire and ice! It was so cool to go about my day around town and see it burning from all over the valley. I don't think any town that has ever had the experience of the real Olympic flame will ever forget it.

This is my favorite picture. I was part of the Mascot team, so this brings back a lot of memories for me and I never got a picture with BOTH my Olympic uniforms before!

They had some technical difficulties in actually getting the torch to light. We were just leaving when they finally got it going. It only stayed lit for a total of about 10 minutes, so I was lucky to get a shot of it!

Next up was the Roots beret parade at the Gallivan center. I'm bummed that I didn't get a picture of that. But I did get a picture of me with my Silver Medal! Well OK, it wasn't exactly mine, it was this guy standing next to me - Bill Schafenhauer of the US Bobsled Team. He was the first Puerto Rican to receive an Olympic Winter Medal. It's pretty heavy and they created a different one for each sport, something they hadn't done before, I think. You can see that I've got my Mascot gloves under my arm. One of the souvenirs were were allowed to keep.

Probably the biggest event was the one at the Gallivan Center. It was an all-day event, but I only got to go for part of it. this was supposed to be a picture with Mitt Romney, but I guess he slipped off to go to his fancy-dancy private party, so this is us with former Governor, Mike Leavitt. I'm way off to the left side at the bottom.

This was one of the rare Trumpeter coats. They were so beautiful and my husband wants one BAD. But they are pretty rare. Only about 130 of them were ever made, so I'm sure they'd be out of our price range. They are pretty though.

This is my friend Cheryl. I met her at church about a year ago, but our names are very similar so they are right next to each other on the wall behind us. So I made sure we got a picture in front of "our" section of the wall. Small world, isn't it?

I tried to get a picture with all 3 mascots, but they were being mobbed. So I got this picture with some random volunteer. They do look pretty cute, don't they?

I'll leave you with a very cool video. These were Olympic hopeful snowboarders doing a bunch of awesome tricks on a trampoline, with the snowboards on! Hilarious and very cool.

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Monday, February 27, 2012

Clutterbugs: Living with a Messie

Did you ever (poke) wonder what it (poke) is like for a cleanie (poke poke) living long-term with (poke) a messie? I'd imagine (poke) it's just like living with someone poking you all__the__time.

I mean, we've learned to tune it out, but it's just not possible for them. And every piece of paper, cup, and all that clutter everywhere they look is just one more poke to them.

Those of you who are Moms can relate to that. How many times have you had a kid who is pestering you like that and just getting on your last nerve? You know, the kid that says mommy. Mommy. MOMMY! about one thousand times until you think your ears are going to bleed. Or the one who kicks the table leg or snaps her gum for the 85th time? How hard was it to just not snap back at them? That's the way your cleanie partner feels about your situation when he or she has to come home to a messy house day after day after day.

If you love someone, why would you want to do that to them? They have probably been trying to tell you about it for years, but you've just ignored them or discounted their feelings. But look at it this way. This is their HOME - it's the only place they have where they can go to unwind every day and if there is no corner of the house where they can have the peace and beauty they crave - that's just sad.

Maybe you can't change your ways 100%, but you can start being a more considerate partner to the cleanie you love. Start talking. And start listening. Maybe between the two of you, you can come up with a compromise that will work for both sides of the coin....

Come back every Monday for a fresh dose of Clutterbugs. If you'd like to view past offerings, just click on the Clutterbugs label at the bottom of this post for a complete list.

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Monday, February 20, 2012

Clutterbugs: Painlessly Teaching Kids to Clean Up

Today, we have a treat - a guest blogger, who is only 17 years old! I think you'll enjoy what Alex has to say.

Is it really possible to get kids to put away their own toys? Do children understand how to clean up after arts and crafts, and put everything away CORRECTLY? Will my children ever desire to help mom/dad clean up after the mess they’ve made?

If you answered No, to any or all of these questions, it’s time for a cleanup intervention!!

Rule #1: KIDS LEARN HOW TO BE ORGANIZED BY DOING.

This is not a trap. Kids want to help be a part of the organizing process. They want to tell you where they want their things to go, along with helping to pick out the kind of containers they think would be the most useful to them. (Helpful hint: Keep things in a child’s reach. It’s not easy to clean up when everything is taller than you.)

Example: When I was little, my mom gave us our own cabinet in our kitchen that was a lower cabinet. It was called “The Kid’s Cabinet.” Not only were things easy for my siblings and I to reach, but we decided how we wanted everything placed, so everything was stored correctly the first time!!!

Rule #2: KIDS REALLY DO SEEK REWARDS

Who doesn’t love a treat after they have done what they’re told? If you’re not into the literal edible treat, then an extra five minutes of TV time, or an added two minutes to stay up is a good option. (Helpful hint: Every child is unique. Their reward should match who they are.)

Example: My sister is the Case-in-Point for a reward seeking personality. If she’s told to do a chore, and gets a reward, such as playing with a friend 10 minutes longer than usual, she is all game. I was an artistic child, so my mom bought “Reward Crayons.” Whenever I helped clean up, or did something really great, she would give me another special crayon (They were sparkly) to add to my art bins.

Rule #3: ORGANIZING AND CLEANING ARE NOT PUNISHMENTS

As I’ve been babysitting, I have found that the most resistant children are the children who are forced to do extra chores as punishments. A child’s mind places things together. When the equation of chores equals “I’ve done something wrong,” then a child will assume that whenever they have to clean up it’s because they have done something wrong. (Helpful Hint: Do not threaten your child with chores. They are less likely to complete the work, and resist it. Rather offer help with the chore, and make it something you two get to complete together. Spending time with a parent is much more rewarding than being punished with a chore)

Example: I babysat and nannied for this family for years. They punished their children with chores, and therefore I often struggled to have their kids help me with messes. When I realized they correlated being in trouble with chores, I made cleaning and keeping things organized into a game. “Who can get the dishes in the sink the fastest?” Reward: High five. “Who can clean up all the markers and get the crayons put away the happiest?” Reward: Tickle hugs. Once her children realized they weren’t in trouble, and having a good time, they were a lot less resistant to helping me.

I hope this helps you and your little ones bloggers!! Give Adrian a shout out if you have anything else you know that helps.

All my love,

Alex

Bio:

Alex is an exuberant 17-year-old senior who has a love and passion for kids and family. She is currently working on her Nursing Assistant training, and hopes to one day become a Nursing Midwife. She enjoys painting, blowing bubbles, and singing in the shower. She is certified in CPR, and loves babysitting. If you have any questions on how to get your kids involved, or would like to ask her about her babysitting (how much she charges, how far she can travel, etc.), contact her at: ajgustonrouge@gmail.com.

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Thursday, February 16, 2012

Smart Money: My Secret Weapon for Finance

I don't pretend to be perfect with my money. I still spend too much on clothes and other impulse purchases, save too little, and don't pay as much on my credit cards as I should. The fact that I have credit card debt at all clearly demonstrates that I don't have my act together as much as I wish I did. However, I make progress on it steadily and I like to think that I've done what I can to prepare us for college, retirement, and various emergencies. That's more than many people are able to accomplish, so I try to share what financial advice I can on my blog.

After I wrote about all the finance-related topics that were rolling around in my head, I started poking around the Internet for inspiration. And I definitely found it. There are a ton of websites and blogs out there offering some great financial advice on every topic from couponing to retirement accounts.

The best one I've found is called GetRichSlowly.org. I've been reading them for a year or so (I signed up for their daily Email updates). One thing I'm smart enough to figure out is when I need to turn to someone smarter than me. In reading their posts, time after time, I've found myself flagging at least a couple of them a week because they had great ideas I wanted to re-work and share with you on my own blog. They have a number of staff writers who cover posts from a lot of different perspectives and they have some great think-out-of-the-box ideas that I really enjoy. One of the most recent ones I enjoyed was from Barry the Irish Polyglot who told us how to learn a foreign language without spending a cent. It led me to a great free flashcard program called Anki that has helped my son a lot with his Spanish homework.

However, you might want to check it out yourself and if you're smart, you'll sign up for their daily Email list. You might end up just a little richer for it. Here's a link to their "Best of 2011" post. It has a lot of great tips and resources in it. Best of GRS 2011

Come back on Thursdays for my Smart Money posts. If you'd like to see a complete list, just click on the Smart Money label at the end of this post.

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Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Summer Camp with The SITS Girls

My dear sweet friends over at the SITS Girls are having an extra spectacular giveaway. You see, Tiffany, the head SITS girl is the Director of a kids camp, so they are offering a chance for not one, but two kids to go to a gorgeous camp in Catalina California for a whole week.

I've been to three of their live events (so far!) and I've had such a wonderful time with them, I figure it's about time I gave my son a shot at it. He'll even get to bring a friend with him. Maybe even one of my four grandkids - hmmmm.

The camp is being held at Catalina Island Camps. I took a quick tour of the website, and it looks spectacular. They are for boys and girls from 2nd to 11th grade and go from one to four weeks per session in one of the prettiest areas of all California. The camp is held on a gorgeous private beachfront in Catalina and it offers a climbing wall, a ropes course, archery and riflery, wakeboarding, sailing, tubing, kayaking, and paddleboarding. And Mama's little darling would be all over these activities, especially the archery and riflery - he already has earned Scout badges in these areas.

Blake is the youngest of my 3 boys. He has two much older brothers - ages 22 and 30. I'll tell you, he is pretty darn amazing. When he was in in elementary school, he endured some pretty severe bullying for almost two years. These kids hit him, chased him, tormented him, chanted songs about him in the lunch room, just about everything you can think of. He was completely ostracized by nearly his whole class. I finally had to get the School Superintendent involved to get it to stop.

After a situation like that, most kids would end up very uncertain, withdrawn, and even sullen and defensive. Not this kid. You can take this boy anywhere, in any group of people, and he will just jump right in with both feet. He has boundless enthusiasm, doesn't know the meaning of shy and he will talk your leg off at any time day or night on some surprisingly intelligent subjects.

The first time I took him to camp, he was just 7 years old, in 2nd grade. He was going for a whole week and most parents would have been worried about homesickness, but I had a feeling that wouldn't be a problem for Blake. He's about as shy and withdrawn as your average Labrador Retriever puppy! I did make sure that a neighbor of ours was working as a counselor, so he would have someone to go to if he had any problems, but that was about it. I drove him up to the camp, prepared for nerves or tears, but the minute we got there, he was off and playing with a group of kids he'd never seen in his life. I barely managed to grab him long enough to get a kiss goodbye!

Today at age 13, he's a very active Scout and an experienced camper. Our Troop camps for a full weekend every month and a week in the summer and he's already earned his year 'round camping badge - twice. Additionally, he is a part of the Order of the Arrow, the invitation-only Scout Honor Society and he does leadership events with them several times a year.

He's already making grandiose plans for his Eagle Project - he'd like to either build an enclosure for an animal in the zoo, or a firepit for the homeless people in the park. He also will be attending his second week-long church Mission Trip where the kids spend a week doing home repairs and other service in a depressed area. This year, they are headed to Joplin, MO for tornado recovery work.

I think having a chance to go for a camp experience like this with Catalina Island Camps, would be such a treat for him. It would be an experience that he would always remember and enjoy. I'd love for him to have a fabulous opportunity like this.

Disclaimer: I am entering to win a session of summer camp for a child at Catalina Island Camps from The SITS Girls!

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Monday, February 13, 2012

Are You Running a Homeless Shelter?

Take a minute to mentally look around your house and see how many "homeless" items you have taking up space around your house. These can be items that have an established home, but are "vacationing" in another area. Or truly homeless items that don't have a home to begin with. How many of these freeloaders are you willing to put up with?

Keep in mind that these items are taking up space that is needed for legitimate items, and also clean, open space that is needed for your sanity. And after all, how much is THAT worth?

These items really just represent the postponed decisions in your life. You don't necessarily want them, but you haven't made the time to really sit down and take the time to evaluate them and take the steps necessary to either find them a permanent home, or send them on their way.

It doesn't have to be a big chunk of time. Even five minutes is enough time to go through a shelf, or a drawer, or a pile of papers sitting in a corner. You can spare five minutes can't you? Shoot, that's one round of commercials during a TV program. And after a few five minute sessions here and there, things will start looking a whole lot better!

I read a great quote this week "When you clear the clutter out of your life, the stuff you really want has room to show up".

Think about it. When you clear all the excess clutter in your schedule, you have time to do the fun stuff with your friends and family. When you clear the excess "clutter" from your body, you have room for new, pretty clothes and a more fun and active lifestyle, not to mention a few extra years of time on this earth.

When you clear the excess clutter out of your home, you are not only freeing up physical space, you are freeing up your time from cleaning as much. You are also freeing up more space that makes it easier to store and use the items you want to have and enjoy using.

Most importantly you also free up your spirit from the stress and guilt of all that clutter. And honestly, what is it about all that junk that is worth all that hassle?

I have done countless decluttering missions in my house over the years. Everything from clothes, to toys, books, movies, and papers. I've sent boxes and boxes of stuff to charity and you know what? If my life depended on it, I couldn't tell you 5 things that I've gotten rid of. Honest!

Don't forget to stop back on Mondays for my Clutterbugs series. If you'd like to see some of my previous Clutterbugs posts, just click on the Clutterbugs tag at the bottom of the post for a complete list.

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Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Clutterbugs: How to Organize your Pantry

This weekend, I decided my pantry was in need of a little tune-up, so I decided to turn it into a photo tutorial for you.

Here is our starting spot. It's been about six months since I re-did it. Yeah, I know I have a lot of junk food - don't judge! Even though I label the shelves and try to keep order, everyone always just shoves stuff in wherever there is room. Typical guys!

This is the upper section where I keep most of the basic staples and items for side dishes.

On the bottom, there are drawers where we keep our soups and all our little snacks and goodies. They're even more of a mess because the kids get in there and shove stuff all around when they're looking for something or when they're putting the groceries away so they can move onto something more fun like video games.

Here is my starting point - rather than clear out large areas, I start with just one section of one shelf. I just take everything out and put it on a shelf or a chair, just to get some breathing room. Then I start sorting stuff out and grouping it by type. It's important to put like with like so you can clearly see what you have and where to find things. Also, once you get things stacked up and put away neatly, you'll find a lot of additional space.

This is about the halfway point, which really only took me about 10-15 minutes to get this far. See I have all my staples and boxed items stacked up, all my spaghetti and beans are neatly stacked in my little bin and see how much clear space I have and how easily I can see things.

I also threw out a lot of out-of-date items and combined a few things that were in multiple containers. All my baking supplies are up on the top shelf, all my spices and soup mixes are all organized and it's just nice to have so much room and visibility.

My snack drawers are all sorted out and organized, so the kids will be able to find items to pop in their lunches, and we can see what snacks need to be replenished when we go shopping.

Total time spent - about 30 minutes, and it was so worth it. I love that feeling of aaahhh when I open up the pantry and see all that empty space and have everything all organized.

Come back again soon for a fresh dose of Clutterbugs. If you'd like to see more posts on the subject, you can click on the Label below for a complete list of posts.

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Pages

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

2002 Olympics 10th Anniversary

Monday, February 27, 2012

Clutterbugs: Living with a Messie

Monday, February 20, 2012

Clutterbugs: Painlessly Teaching Kids to Clean Up

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Smart Money: My Secret Weapon for Finance

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Summer Camp with The SITS Girls

Monday, February 13, 2012

Are You Running a Homeless Shelter?

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Clutterbugs: How to Organize your Pantry

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