Stay at Home Mom

2014 was a great year for bad movies. There were tons of Horror movies that I will probably not even watch when they come out on Amazon Prime or Netflix. But there were also a pretty wide variety of family movies. There were more "teen" movies than we remember seeing in recent years. The Fault in our Stars was a big hit primarily because of it's massively successful internet campaign before the movie was released and then it's excellent script and perfectly cast actors. SURVEY Take the Stay at Home Mom Best Movie of the Year survey. We did not include every family movie but have included 8 of the most popular with room for you to add your favorite movie. This is a quick survey and will only take a few minutes. At the end of the 10 question survey you will have a chance to enter your email. This is optional. Please only enter your email if you would like to be entered to win the Stay at Home Mom 2014 Movie drawing. ($25 dollar value). CLICK HERE TO BEGIN T

The holidays can be a time of whimsy and magic. At the same time, admit it, all that whimsy and magic are a little bit exhausting. We clear out the living room to make way for the tree which must be maintained and decorated. If you have pets in the house you also have to make sure they are safe from all the things in the house that may be toxic to them - chocolate, certain holiday plants, and of course the tree. It's not so much that the tree is toxic to them but the tree typically takes up the dog's favorite place in the front window in the livingroom.  Dog's may not understand this displacement and want to get under and around the tree to regain their typical space in the front window which may knock the tree over depending on the size of the dog. Then there is the whole timing thing. Every time I walk through the grocery store and see one of my neighbors they enthusiastically say "Are you ready for Christmas!?" They mean well but NO - I'm not ready. Sh

The holidays offer family and friends a chance to gather together to celebrate the season's joy. In order to enjoy the revelry of family, food and fun, it helps to have a plan in place prior to the celebration. Here are 5 tips to think about to prepare your home for the holidays: Plan Your Meals With family and other guests arriving, you will have extra people dining with you. Make certain that enough food is on hand so that you aren't rushing to the grocery store at the last minute. First, create a list of basic items you will need like milk, butter, bread and other essentials. In addition, include snack items on your list so that in-between meals you avoid hunting for suitable foods in your pantry. Ask guests prior to arrival if there are food allergies and what foods are acceptable substitutes. Shop for your items prior to hosting your guests. You may want to plan your grocery shopping in phases over a few days to build in time to return to the store for forgotten i

It's late on a Sunday night and the kidlets are all tucked into bed. The livingroom glows with the lights from the Christmas tree and it is quiet (for now).  Memories of Christmas's when I was a kid fill the living room. This next week will zip by in a split second but for now it's quiet. My mom always made the Holidays so special for us and she did it so seamlessly. Thinking back on it now she really put tons of work into making it look easy. I was a little bit worried that I might have a harder time getting into the holiday spirit this season because my kids are a little bit older now and the To-Do list for other un-holiday tasks is pretty long. But on Friday an amazing thing happened. On one of my scheduled errands I found that it was taking me less time to get things done than had been planned for so there was an extra hour before I had to be at the next designated Mom Duty. There was not enough time to run home but more time than I had expected to have. In my pu