Stronger Families is an advocate for healthy marriages and strong families with the goal of more marriages saved from the ravages of divorce, communities banding together to drive down the divorce rate, and our next generation of kids seeing healthy blueprints for marriage and family. They also have great programs to help military families reconnect after long (aren’t they all) deployments.

Krista Fogelson is the Communications Assistant for Stronger Families and the proud new mama of a 6 month old little girl.  In her spare time, if she has any, she enjoys reading, cooking, organizing, and learning new ways to be thrifty. Thank you Krista for your advice on strengthening our marriage in the New Year.

Strengthen Your Marriage

My little girl just celebrated her first half birthday. She is growing so fast! I was not prepared for the amount of work and sacrifice it takes to be a mom (especially constantly feeling like I am “on alert”). I was equally unprepared for how much I love her. As a new mom I’ve come to realize why it is so important to intentionally work on my marriage to keep it strong. Having a strong marriage (and the act of focusing on it) not only allows our child to see a good example of a healthy relationship, but when I’m fighting with or just downright frustrated with my husband, my parenting suffers. I find myself more stressed, easily bothered by little things and I lacking a joyful spirit.  Even when I may not think I have the time, I’ve realized it is essential to prioritize my spouse. Can you relate?

If your marriage has been placed on the back burner to parenthood, here are 5 ways to strengthen your marriage in the New Year.

1. Serve Your Spouse

Look for specific ways to say “I Love You” every day. This can be as simple as saying, “thank you for working so hard,” clearing off his favorite chair in the evening, or making her favorite meals. The possibilities are endless. To help remember, keep a daily list of ideas or compliments. For more ideas, sign up for the 7 Day Love Challenge at Stronger Families.org.

2. Re-Invent Date Night

My husband and I still reminisce about dates we took before our daughter was born. It is no longer possible to get away whenever we feel like it. Instead of using this as an excuse to skip dating, we re-invented date night to fit our new lifestyle. Sometimes dates include splitting homemade sundaes after she goes to bed or eating fast food in the car while she sleeps. We just need to be flexible, and creative. Most marriage experts recommend at least 1 date night a week.

3. Take Time for Yourself

It isn’t easy to give myself permission to take a break….sometimes I even forget. But, when I don’t take a break, the stress builds and I take it out on my family. Schedule downtime into your week. It may not be every day, and it may not be long. Sometimes, my downtime means leaving dirty dishes and going to bed 30 minutes early to read a magazine. Just make sure you don’t forget to rest.

4.  Connect Once a Day

Try to set aside time to connect once a day without your kids being the focus. This keeps you in tune with each other and teaches your kids that mom, dad and the marriage come first and they don’t have to be the center of every event. Currently, my husband and I can visit over dinner while our daughter plays in her bouncy seat. Growing up, my friend’s parents used to set aside the first 15 minutes when he came home to visit together. She and her siblings learned this was their parent’s time and not to interfere.  f you are apart, try to chat via e-mail, write a letter or call on the phone or even Skype.

5. Maintain physical intimacy

At the end of the day, many mamas feel “touched out.” With a nursing baby, this is often the case for me! It is important not to think of our husbands as another pair of hands who want us. Instead, think of physical intimacy as an essential part of helping you reconnect. As Jeff Kemp, Stronger Families founder and chief advocate notes, intimacy is more than just meeting physical needs, it allows women to feel more connected and allows men to feel masculine and wanted. If busyness gets in the way of intimacy, schedule it. It will give you both something to look forward to!

For more ideas, visit Stronger Families at http://www.strongerfamilies.org/ or on Facebook. You can also donate to support Stronger Families’ programs (like workshops for military families).

What do you do to keep your marriage first? Can you share any advice on how to keep your marriage strong?

photo: colonial-photography.com

Charlie Banana brand diapers are the hot new thing hitting the cloth diaper stage and The Shopping Mama is fortunate to have had the chance to get the scoop on living green from Gaëlle Wizenberg herself. Charlie Banana, the international, luxury brand of modern cloth diapers and eco-friendly, organic baby products are now available at Target.com, Amazon.com, Babies R US and CharlieBanana.com as well as at select retailers. Thanks to Gaëlle for all her advice.

The Shopping Mama: Is going green going to cost me a lot of green? I want to help the environment, but my budget is really tight right now.

Gaëlle Wizenberg: Actually, quite the opposite. I find on most cases going green saves money. In some cases the upfront cost is higher but in the long run it saves you a LOT more. Just to name a few examples – make your own cleaning products,  grow your own veggies, purchase energy efficient  appliances, use cloth diaper, use organic cotton handkerchief, fabric table napkins purchase a hybrid car, use solar panels,etc. If you are looking to use cloth diapers, for example, you can save nearly $3,000 by not purchasing disposable diapers.

TSM: If you could only do ONE thing “greener” (cloth diapering, reusable products, going organic), what would you choose?

GW: Definitely use reusable products whether its reusable towels, cloth diapers, cleaning materials, toys, furniture, clothes, etc. Use what is available and can be reused versus throwing away and purchasing new!

TSM: I hear a lot about going organic. I totally get eating organic, but what is the benefit to using organic cotton, organic diapers, etc?

GW: The epidermis is breathable and whatever you apply on your skin, it soaks in. It is like a sponge really. if you wear a shirt made of fabric that has been grown, processed, dyed with loads of chemicals they will not disappear after 2 washes. Your skin will absorb all those chemicals. Babies are even more sensitive as their epidermis is even more porous. Organic cotton is grown without chemicals, it is better for the body and better for the soil. It is more expensive and the yield is a lot less. source

TSM: What made you want to live a more earth friendly lifestyle and do you have any goals for this coming year to be even more environmentally minded?

GW: Being eco-friendly is my passion – both in my work environment and personal home life! It’s one of the reasons I started Charlie Banana®– to encourage worldwide parents to be more environmentally minded. Starting with hybrid cloth diapers and reusable baby products is one great step!

My family tries to live a very earth friendly lifestyle and I make sure to encourage and teach my children the importance of this as well. They are our future! We use eco-friendly paint in both home and office, I change all light bulbs in our house, purchase the best eco Miele appliances (they use the least power and water), live 5 minutes from my work which is less driving, travel less or when only really necessary. Our family eats tons of vegetables (grown and produced close to here) and less meat meat in meals. I only use organic products in general including the heath and beauty.

I want to try to make a different on an individual basis and also as an entrepreneur. 5 years ago cloth diapers were barely found in Hong Kong, Now we are in the main stores and doing lots of awareness. The trend is growing here and most parents when asked; cloth diaper because they want to make a difference and want healthy babies. In the Charlie Banana®office, we use only recycled paper, use lots of natural light, turn off air conditioning and open windows as much as possible. All our packaging, boxes and printed materials printed are made from recycled materials.

Charlie Banana®is all about promoting reusable products and I emulate this in every aspect of my life !

I also want solar panels for our house for my birthday – hubby, are you listening?

TSM: Can you recommend some simple changes to make in the new year to live greener? (Editor’s note, I’m sure she intends you to pick and choose from this list. I’m not sure 31 items could be considered “simple changes” but each one on it’s own is simpler.)

GW: Yes!

1. Trash all toxic cleaners in your house. Use vinegar, baking soda, lemon juice, peroxide, and eco detergents clean really well. You do need to worry about your potentially harming your children with poisonous cleaners. The air in your house will be cleaner and you will feel more energize.
2. Only shop for the things you really need or are special.
3. Go to the organic market and support your community and eat organic vegetables and meat as much as possible.
4. Try to do more vegetarian meals as meat production is really high on carbon emission and it is not healthy to eat too much of it.
5. Buy a fuel efficient or hybrid car if you have to replace yours this year.
6. Turn off the light  when you leave a room.
7. Turn off the tap when brush your teeth
8. Take a shorter shower
9. Carry your own utensils and use reusable coffee mugs when you go to Starbucks!
10. Minimize your airplane trips. take the one that are REALLY necessary
11. Grown your own vegetables: fun to do and you can share with your neighbors
12. Turn off your night light to reduce light pollution.
13. Live close to your work place or work for home if you can.
14. Explain to your kids when they waste not to do it and explain why
15. Stay away from all processed food
16. Buy quality items that last, you will save, you will have only worthy things and you won’t need to do garage sales or live in clutter.. (such as quality toys for your children, quality furniture and clothes and shoes)
17. Less is more
18. Recycle
19. Use cloth diapers
20. Buy stuff at consignment store and reuse and save before buying new.
21. Put stuff in consignment store if you do not need them anymore.
22. Drink tons of water – buy a good home filter
23. Unplug electronics if not using.. standby mode uses power
24. Use eco paint if redecorating.. not much more expensive but a whole lot healthier
25. Take public transportation or shuttle as possible, carpool with co worker and take then if living close by
26. Have plants in your home to purify the air freely.
27. Use your bicycle to go run errands and buy locally when possible
28. Carry your own shopping bag when going to grocery store.
29. Use an organic shampoo, cream soap, toothpaste etc…
30. Go to the library with kids to borrow books and DVD… great selection, free, and reuse reuse..,they always have a fun time too.
31. Breastfeed if you are able.

Thanks again to Gaëlle Wizenberg for all her going green advice. What changes have you made or are you planning to make this year to live greener?

earth photo Credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Image by Reto Stöckli (land surface, shallow water, clouds). Enhancements by Robert Simmon (ocean color, compositing, 3D globes, animation). Data and technical support: MODIS Land Group; MODIS Science Data Support Team; MODIS Atmosphere Group; MODIS Ocean Group Additional data: USGS EROS Data Center (topography); USGS Terrestrial Remote Sensing Flagstaff Field Center (Antarctica); Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (city lights).

These are my favorite organization tools that you can use to get started to organize yourself and your home:

1.       A laundry sorter for each bedroom.  A laundry sorter that lets people sort while they are taking off their dirty clothes (whites, darks and dry cleaning) is a huge time saver for Mom when it comes to laundry.  This stand up one – Supreme Laundry Sorter - is great but there are many options to choose from.

2.       Lazy Susans.  Lazy Susans are my favorite tool for maximizing cabinet and under sink storage.  Use them in the kitchen, bathroom and even playroom and you will see how much easier it is to find what you need.  Target and Walmart have many reasonably priced options.

3.       Over The Door Shoe Organizer.  These are great to maximize space and store your shoes but also are useful in playroom to hold small objects or art supplies.  One I like a lot is from The Container Store.

4.       Trash Can in EVERY ROOM.  Yes, every room needs a trash car from kitchen to bedroom to bathroom to den….even the closet.  Put a trash can in every room and the mess will be much easier to control.

5.       A Car Organizer.  You need something to wrangle all of the stuff that makes it into your car.  Any who among us doesn’t spend way too much time feeling like we live in the car?  This is a great one to try from Organize.com.

So will these 5 things solve everything?  No!  You will still need:

• Time set aside to get things done
• A good paper or electronic calendar for 2011
• A pad of paper and a pen to write down what you need to get done so you do it

One you have all of that, you are armed for the organizational battle.  Go out there, get things done and have fun!

Alicia Rockmore is a co-founder of Buttoned Up, a company that seeks to help busy stretched women get successfully organized.  Come visit our site or follow us on twitter @getbuttonedup.

Is one of your goals /resolutions this year to be organized? Organize your home, organize your schedule, your kids, your life?
It can be done! But be careful not to bite off more than you can chew and end up in “it is too overwhelming and I don’t think I can do it” land.

Here is how to start.

Planning

1. Sit down with a pad of paper, pen, calendar and cup of coffee in a relaxed atmosphere.
2. Make a list of all the things you would like to organize.
3. Now number them in order of importance. (at least the top three areas that drive you the most CRAZY)
4. Put a date beside those top 3 of when you would like to have them completed by.
5. Block out at time on your calendar to start #1 on the list.

Supplies

Do not go out and buy a bunch of things to organize with. Until you know what you are going to end up with after your “sort” you don’t know what you will need. (unless you want to purchase some clear storage bins..but if you do be sure you have shelves to store them on and measure to be sure they will fit.

1. Black trash bags – trash
2. White trash bags – Donate (separate colors so you don’t throw out your donate items in the trash)
3. Labels for boxes or bins (masking tape & sharpie marker will be fine)
4. Boxes for storage (my favorite are clear bins)

Sort

Make 5 signs for each of the piles you are going to make while sorting. Then for each item only give yourself 5-10 seconds to make your decision (no time to wander down memory lane). Be tough if you want to reclaim your space.

1. Keep – Love it, Use it, Can’t live without it.
2. Donate – Others would put to better use, doesn’t fit, don’t like it, don’t use it (use the white trash bags)
3. Storage – Holiday decorations, speciality items you use (camping, skiing)
4. Move – Items that need to be kept but don’t belong in this space.
5. Trash – Broken, un-donatable. Try to recycle if possible. Use the Black trash bag.

Tips

* It will seem messier before it gets better. Don’t get discouraged and keep going.
* This takes time, don’t think you will get an entire room done in 2 hours.. Start with a small area.
* Once you have sorted your items you are ready to reorganize them in an orderly way.

In addition to sharing great organization tips and tricks on Organize with Sandy, Sandy can be found chatting away on her MomTV show Mondays at 1 PM Eastern and chat blog Chat with Sandy.

Here are 5 easy peasy crafts that you can do with 5 or fewer materials. Told you it can be easy!

Potato Masher Painting

Shape Snake

Paper Plate Ladybug

Cookie Cutter Prints

Recycled Rainbow

Allie is the brilliant, creative mom behind No Time for Flashcards – a must-see resource for parents looking for craft projects and children’s book recommendations. I know I’ll be hitting up the Letter of the Week posts to help Preschool Boy with shape and sound recognition. Follow No Time for Flash Cards on Twitter and Facebook for the latest projects and parenting discussions.

What most people don’t realize is you can get a LOT of things cheap or even free at the drug store.  Things you need everyday like shampoo, deodorant, makeup, paper products and even cereal and snacks for the kids lunches.  No one says we need to buy everything in the food store.  Yes, it does require stopping at two or more stores each week but if you plan ahead of time, you can stop when your in the neighborhood of the stores while you there for other reasons.  For instance, if you have a doctor’s appointment and you know CVS is near there, then check out the CVS ad and see if there are some good deals and then stop on your way there.  You may find that you don’t even have to go out of your way much most weeks.

If you save money on these basic items that we all use every day, then you will have extra money for the things that rarely go on sale or perhaps to go out to dinner once a month, if that’s what you like to do.

In order to get the most bang for you buck at the drug stores on these products, you will need to do some homework before hand.  First you need to find out what’s on sale this week and what the best deals are.  Then you need to locate the coupons that are available to maximize your savings.  You also want to take advantage of the store discount programs.  Each store does something different.  CVS has Extra Care Bucks (ECB), Walgreen’s has Register Rewards (RR) and Rite Aid has Single Check Rebates (SCR).

Once you start finding all the great deals, you can begin to build a stock pile and then you’ll never pay full price for the items you and your family use everyday.  Still not sure where to begin?  Visit my blog and read this post which will explain it just a bit more.

Happy Saving!

Karen is a stay at home mom of 2 girls and she loves finding the best deals around and sharing them with her readers on her blog, Koupon Karen.

Erin of The Mom Buzz

I would guess that 90% of women have a New Year’s resolution that involves losing weight, being healthier and/or exercising. Of course, I have no statistical data to back me up, it’s just a guess from listening to friends talk. I personally think it’s a great resolution and there are so many ways that you can get a handle on your well-being! Now, I am going to preface my advice by saying I am not a personal trainer or a dietitian. I am “simply” a mom of two boys who has the same goals – to be fit, for myself and my family. So how do you get started. There are three parts to creating a NEW YOU – Diet, Exercise and Motivation.

1. Diet: Start now. Food is fuel. It is meant to energize you. You put good food in, you will feel good. Put bad food in, you’ll feel bad. Easy. Anything in your house that is a snack for the kids, keep it for the kids. Do not even take one bite of your children’s snacks – it’s a bad habit! Don’t worry, you get a snack too! I call it a Cheat Meal. So if I eat my greens, protein and carbs throughout the week, on Saturday I can have a care-free meal of whatever I want – and it includes dessert. If you want to start even easier, go for a whole Cheat Day. It doesn’t mean eat 5 gallons of ice cream all day, but feel free to have some leeway on your three main meals.

Eat throughout the day – but healthy snacks and meals. Start with breakfast! Oatmeal and Eggs is a great way to start the day. Think protein and carbs. For a mid-morning snack, try almonds in yogurt. It gives it a satisfying crunch. Lunch is time for more protein and healthy carbs. A potato and chicken? Maybe a sweet potato and fish? Midday snack – reach for something that grew in a tree! Apples, bananas or … my personal favorite… pineapple. Finally, have a healthy dinner without carbs. I know, it sounds strange, but you get used to it. Broccoli is a great veggie that helps burn calories and you can eat it with your choice of protein. And at the end of the day, you get one more snack. I often reach for a protein shake made with milk. Stay away from protein bars, they are glorified candy bars!

2. Exercise: I absolutely LOVE the gym. I go to a 24/7 gym so I can workout at night, when the kids are asleep. If you get a membership, you might want a gym that has daycare. Otherwise, ask your significant other to support you on this endeavor and watch the kids while you go. Try to go to the gym 4 to 5 times a week. Concentrate on a certain body part every day, don’t just try random machines. For example, Monday could be the day that you work out Triceps and Shoulders. Tuesday could be Biceps and Calves. Just have a plan. Need ideas of how to work out? I loved Hardbodies by Gladys Portugues! It’s an old book, but the information and workouts are good.

Let’s say you can’t go to the gym. There are plenty of options for at-home too. I personally find it harder to workout at home, because the kids are all over me. But if you have kids in school, P90X might be for you. It will work you out HARD and you will definitely see results if you stick with it. Plus, it comes with a book all about diet! If you have a Wii, you might be interested in trying the Wii Fit or EA Active. Otherwise, look for ways to resistance train with your own body weight. I’ve posted some great ideas that would work out your entire body at the Mom Buzz.

Whatever you do, don’t count on cardio alone to give you a body you want. Cardio won’t build muscle the same way lifting weights or resistance training will. And if you build muscle, it will burn more calories. Make sure you sweat a little and you’ll soon love pushing your body.

3. Motivation: Okay – so you understand that you have to eat healthy and move your body, but how can you make yourself MOVE off the couch to do it? The simple answer I hear from people who go to the gym is … they just do it. It needs to be routine … and you need to have motivation. Whether your spouse encourages you with compliments, or put a picture on the fridge of a fitness model you love or have a goal to work towards. A bridesmaid dress you have to fit in? A svelte dress for Valentine’s Day? Or in my case, a Figure Suit that shows off a heck of a lot of skin in front of a heck of a lot of people! You bet I’ll forgo the Oreos and drink my Protein Shake like a good girl!

So, is your New Year’s Resolution to be a more fit version of yourself? Well, sit down and form a plan! Figure out how you will work out, what your meals will be and how will you stay motivated. You can see some great before and after pics of women like you at BodyBuilding.com to prove you can do it. You can even look at my before and after pictures at the Mom Buzz. I have to say, it’s hard to compile everything I want to share about creating a new you for the New Year in one post. So if you have any questions, please feel free to e-mail me!

Erin of the Mom Buzz is currently training to compete in a Figure Contest for 2009. If interested in sponsoring Erin on this endeavor, feel free to contact her via e-mail.