Engage your Abs while you engage with your kids!

My daughter, Sophie,  is at an age where board games are the next best thing since Olvatine mixed with peanut butter, ( don’t ask… you get the picture).  Regardless of what the activity is, board games, puzzles, coloring…. Kids demand and need  “one on one time” with us.

That being said, there’s no harm in completely engaging with our children from the waist up, while engaging with our bodies from the waste down!

Check out my little video and learn the art of “Taskersizing” while playing “Trouble”, (you may substitute this for monopoly, chutes and ladders, whatever

Are you so over the Jiggly thigh thing!? Try this convinient exersise any time, anywhere!

Watch video!

Although I am slightly “off the wall” by suggesting you do your leg lifts while fixing the inside of a car… (which by the way, I am clueless about), I am totally serious about doing leg lifts through out your day.

Here is the deal… you can’t just randomly kick your leg up and down and expect major results. It all comes down to technique and form. If you approach your leg kicks as if you were in a ballet class, doing a ballet bar while you wash dishes, and fold laundry, not only will you work your inner and outer thighs, but your core/ tummy muscles as well.

So if you are hanging out around your home with or with out your kids, get a bunch in.

Here is how!

-Start by standing straight and tall, as if a string were pulling you up from the top of your head. Make sure you keep your shoulders down and your tummy engaged, (tight). This will help you with your balance.

- Start with your right leg, ( it doesn’t matter, just pick one), and lift it to the side, (6-7 inches) while flexing your foot. Flexing the foot really helps work the outer part of the thigh.

-Make sure that your hips don’t wiggle and that they are squared off to what you are facing ie. a table, kitchen sink…. To maintain your balance, keep abs tight, and body pulled up.

- Bring your leg down and up 20 times on each side while you go through your day doing what ever.

THE KEY TO RESULTS… YOUR FORM! ( once you get the hang of it, you can really get a bunch in by the end of the day!)

Is your clutter creating chaos! Do this, it’s amazing!

It is sooooo hard to stay organized, specially when you are managing more than yourself. I can get an aneurysm just from sifting through my kids notes from school, bills, brought home pieces of art and random hair clips stuffed in tiny lunch box pockets. That being said… I stumbled up on this fabulous organizing guru, Debbie. I started following some of her advice and OMG… she’s amazing.

Read her blog below and learn how to makeover your clutter chaos.

P.S.

If you want to take it four steps further… throw in some squats, leg lifts and plies, while shuffling through your papers, hehehe

Post by Debbie:

One of the most frequent requests I get from potential organizing clients is help with the never-ending stream of papers that come and go every day. So this week I will start the first in a series of posts dedicated to helping you create The Ultimate Family Command Center . . .

How many times a week do you answer the same questions about where various papers are in your house?

“Where’s that piece of paper with my friends phone number?”
“What happen to that credit card bill that was due sometime this week?”
“Where’s the take-out menu for the pizza place?”
“Who has the invitation to the party the kids were invited to this weekend?”
”Where’s a pencil and paper to take down a phone message?”

Despite efforts to go paperless, most household are over-run with paper piles. And if the papers aren’t over taking your kitchen counters, they are most likely relegated to that infamous junk drawer.  It may be in the kitchen, or in an office desk.  (Or maybe you have multiple junk drawers.)  Some place where you throw those little bits of miscellaneous papers, clippings, and mail.  We’ve all been guilty at one point or another of this form of organization.  But when it comes time to find these various objects, how easily, and better yet, how quickly, are you able to retrieve them?

My answer to household paper clutter is creating “The Ultimate Command Center.”

Similar to an airplane’s cockpit, which is a place for everything the pilot needs to communicate with those on the ground and simultaneously control the aircraft, the Family Command Center is a central place for managing household communication and running the family’s daily activities.  A Command Center manages: input (papers coming in), processes (what we need to do with those papers), output (papers going out), supplies, and frequent references.  It is the go-to spot for all the things you need to help your house run smoothly. 

When I put a Command Center together for a client, I encourage them to locate it in a central location, preferably near where you most often enter and exit your house.  Since the kitchen is usually the hub of the house, an ideal location is in an upper cabinet in the kitchen near the phone.

But you can also create a space in your home office.  If you use your computer for scheduling or contacts, you might want to locate the Command Center near the computer.  Just make sure it’s a functional space and that the location works best for you.
Find a way to incorporate a cork board or magnetic board.  I usually try to attach a cork board directly to the inside of the cabinet door using wood glue.  This keeps the board out of sight, but very accessible.  Use this board to post a list of frequently called numbers, lunch menus, invitations, grocery list.

Setting up the System

Step 1: An Organized Junk Drawer

The first step is to create an “organized junk drawer” for all those office supplies you’re constantly asked for over the course of a day.  This will be their new “home.”  Each item will have its own space and the major rule here is:

ALL ITEMS MUST BE RETURNED TO THIS SPOT WHEN YOU ARE DONE USING THEM.

The goal here is for everyone to know where these items can always be found.  You can purchase inexpensive containers or you can re-purpose items you may already own:  small bowls, trinket boxes, clean baby food jars, the top of a glass butter dish, an empty mint box.  Have fun with it and make it as creative and attractive as you’d like, that way you’ll be more likely to keep it tidy. Another tip is to consider calling it something other than the “junk” drawer (you don’t want it to become a self-fulfilling prophecy, now do you?). How about “utility drawer” or “office supplies drawer”?

Step 2: Papers In/Papers Out

There are different supplies and products you can use to put your Command Center together, but the basic set-up includes slots or cubbies for each member of the family for papers that come and go on a daily basis:  mail, children’s permission slips, notices, etc.  It is also useful to have a slot for incoming bills, as this will be the place where you sort the mail every day. In the pictured command center, the labeled slots are in the black organizer inside the right half of the cabinet. These don’t have to be expensive, just functional. Most times simple black stackable paper sorters work beautifully.

When you first implement this system it may be hard to get your kids, or even your significant other, into the habit of checking and using their slot.  So I like to place little surprises in the slots occasionally to motivate them to use it.  A piece of candy, a new pencil, love notes . . . just something to create the habit of using the system.

So what will become of all those papers once they make it into the cubbies? Wednesday I’ll post Part 2 of this series, which will focus on creating a family resource binder, so stay tuned for more! In the mean time, if you have any questions about setting up your own Command Center, please leave a comment below.

Simply yours,
Debbie