The Sensible Mom

10 Goals for the Week

July 8, 2013 by Sandra 10 Comments

I was able to accomplish most of my goals last week, but I waited until the last minute to get on the treadmill, so I almost wasn’t able to cross that off my list.

Thankfully, my husband took care of our two youngest so that I could exercise for an hour before I went to bed yesterday. I’m still working on getting up before Elisabeth, my 18-month-old daughter, and I haven’t been able to be consistent. I’m going to work on being steady with my wake up time this week.

I’m shooting for 6:00am.

Here’s what I was able to get accomplished last week:

Family/Mothering Goals:

1. Take Breanna to get her hair cut — This just didn’t work out last week. It’s back on the calendar for this week!

2. ~~Go on a fun family outing~~

Personal Goals:

3. Drink juice or smoothies 2 days this week — I only had juice once last week. The holiday threw things off for me diet-wise. I was actually doing well and had lost weight (brought my weight down to 181 lbs.) only to bring it right back up again to 185.5 lbs. Oh well! I’m back to eating healthy today.

4. ~~Read 10 pages of the book Desperate~~

5. ~~Walk on the treadmill for 1 hour~~

Home Management Goals:

6. ~~Clean the sink in the kids’ bathroom~~

7. ~~Check out Restaurant.com and see if I can use some of the rewards I have for certificates to places we can eat later this month when life gets crazy~~

Business Goals:

8. Get caught up on work — There is one thing I have yet to finish that I wanted to get done last week.

9. ~~Return emails~~

10. ~~Write 4 blog posts~~

Here are my goals for this week:

Family/Mothering Goals:

1. Take Breanna to get her hair cut

2. Make a kite with the kids

Personal Goals:

3. Drink juice or smoothies 2 days this week

4. Read 10 pages of the book Desperate

5. Walk on the treadmill for 1 hour

Home Management Goals:

6. Clean the downstairs bathroom sink

7. Make a homemade face scrub

Business Goals:

8. Get caught up on work

9. Return emails

10. Write 4 blog posts

What are your goals for this week?

Naturally Sparkling Teeth with the Philips Sonicare PowerUp Toothbrush

July 8, 2013 by Sandra 6 Comments

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias® and their client. #powerupursmile

I’m the mother of a Type A firstborn son, and the Philips Sonicare PowerUp naturally fits his personality.

Nathan’s Routine
My conscientious firstborn literally brushes his teeth and showers every day around the same time — like clockwork. And if we’re not home during his normal routine time, I can almost guarantee you that the minute we walk through the door of our house, he’s going to jump right back into his routine. My husband and I will turn around and ask each other, “Where’s Nathan?” and then we’ll know because that’s usually followed by the familiar sound of him brushing his teeth in our upstairs bathroom.

Philips Sonicare PowerUp Toothbrush
Nathan has been brushing twice a day with the Sonicare PowerUp toothbrush, and as a result, his teeth are naturally more sparkling than before. I actually noticed that his teeth looked cleaner and shiner from the very first use.

The Sonicare PowerUp is a battery operated toothbrush that does all the work. You guide it over your teeth, and it vibrates and moves to get your teeth cleaner and brighter.

Like Your Dentist’s Office
One of the things I like best about the Sonicare PowerUp is that it deep cleans. It made my teeth look and feel like I’d had them professionally cleaned and the only way I can describe it is that it’s like going to get your teeth cleaned at your dentist’s office. Seriously.

Imagine being able to have that awesome clean feeling all the time and not just twice a year.

Repurposing Nathan’s Old Toothbrush
Since Nathan has made the switch to the PowerUp, he no longer needs his old toothbrush. And instead of tossing it right into the trash, I decided to repurpose it by using it to clean our white kitchen sink, which (as you can tell from the picture) was in desperate need of a cleaning.

Some baking soda, water, elbow grease, and Nathan’s old toothbrush, and we were able to get our brilliant white sink back.

We’ve come a long way when it comes to Toothbrushes
The Sonicare PowerUp is pretty amazing, and it happens to be the right toothbrush for my routine-driven, conscientious, Type A, firstborn son.

Trust me. He would tell me if it wasn’t. 😉

P.S. The Sonicare PowerUp is available at Walmart stores and on Walmart.com. It’s a totally brand new, battery operated toothbrush for under $20.

Want to stay current with Philips Sonicare? Then be sure to follow them on Twitter and Facebook for their latest updates. Oh, and there’s a cool video on their Facebook page showing the evolution of toothbrushes. It might be fun to watch that video with your kids. 🙂

Beauty Review: Fysiko Eyelash Growth Serum (Month 2 Results)

July 6, 2013 by Sandra 6 Comments

Thanks to Influenster for the fabulous Fysiko Eyelash Growth Serum that I received for review purposes.

After two months of using the Fysiko Eyelash Growth Serum, I can tell that my lashes are longer and stronger.

In particular, I recognize that I have noticeably longer lashes after applying mascara. I can tell that my lashes extend further than they did before, so the lash serum is definitely working. It’s pretty amazing, actually. I would’ve never imagined that I could grow longer lashes naturally, but with the Fysiko serum, it can be done.

In case you missed the ‘before picture’ in my previous update, here’s what my lashes looked like before I started using Fysiko:

Here’s what my lashes look like after using the eyelash serum for the past two months:

Fysiko has Exceeded My Expectations
I’m very happy with the results I’m getting while using the Fysiko lash serum, and I’m truly loving the look of my lashes now. They’re fuller, lengthier, and even healthier looking.

Side note: Please excuse the less than perfect lighting in these pictures. I shot them in the library, where I often go to get work done. Next time, I’ll be sure to shoot them at home in natural light. 🙂

3 Reasons I Enjoy using the Fysiko serum:

It’s easy to apply and takes only seconds.

You only have to apply it once a day for great results.

It works.

What’s Next
I’ll be posting two more updates before I finish up this beauty review series on the Fysiko eyelash serum, and in my next update (at the end of this month), I’ll be sharing a photo of what my eyes look like before and after mascara, so that you can see how long my lashes extend when I wear mascara. Stay tuned for that!

Have you ever tried a natural eyelash growth serum to achieve longer lashes? Would you be interested in trying a product like Fysiko?

10 Goals for the Week

July 2, 2013 by Sandra 4 Comments

Last week was ‘Conference Recovery Week’ for me.

This week, I’ve started an improved work schedule, and it’s going great. I’ve also taken on quite a bit more work, so this new schedule is much needed. Besides a changed work schedule, I’m in the process of looking for a virtual assistant to work with. I know once I find the right person, my workload will feel a little lighter.

I’m looking forward to that.

Anyway, I managed to accomplish some of my goals last week:

Family/Mothering Goals:

1. Take Breanna to get her hair cut — I have it on the calendar for this Friday.

2. ~~Plan which days I’ll cook with the kids in July~~

Personal Goals:

3. Drink juice or smoothies 5 days this week — I think I managed to drink juice/smoothies 4 days last week.

4. ~~Read 10 pages of the book Desperate~~

5. Walk on the treadmill for 2 hours — I’m struggling with getting on the treadmill. If I don’t get on before my baby girl wakes up, then she wants to join me. In the past, I’ve used a baby carrier to ‘wear’ her while I walk. She doesn’t seem to really enjoy it, though, so I didn’t even try last week and logged 0 minutes on the treadmill.

Home Management Goals:

6. ~~Clean the master bedroom~~ — Yay! Got this done, and my husband was happy and surprised to see that I was cleaning our bedroom! 🙂

7. ~~Unpack our suitcases from the trip to Ohio~~ — Ruben unpacked our suitcases before I could even get to them (which probably would’ve been Sunday night), so it’s done.

Business Goals:

8. Get caught up on work — I’m still working on this…

9. ~~Return emails~~

10. ~~Write 4 blog posts~~