This morning I read an excellent article in the latest issue of Parents Canada Magazine that got me thinking. It was about how knowing the different learning styles of each member of your family can make it easier to find an organization system that actually keeps your home organized.In my never ending quest to find a way to keep my house more organized (or even a little bit organized) they immediately had my undivided attention. You can read the article on the Parents Canada website.

• Visual (learn by seeing)
• Auditory (learn by hearing)
• Kinesthetic (learn by doing)

The idea is that once you know everyone’s personal learning style you can put in place organization solutions that work for them.  If the solution fits their learning style, they will be more likely to stick with it.  And by recognizing that your style may not be the only one in the house, you can better understand why past attempts have failed!

Not sure what your learning style is?  Take the quiz to find out. 

My result is that I am a Visual Learner. Which I already knew so no surprises there. I am going to figure out what learning styles best describe my husband and children as well and then work on ways to organize everyone’s toys/clothes/books/miscellaneous stuff in a way that makes sense for them.

Should be an interesting experiment!  If nothing else I am uncharacteristically excited about organizing my house so that can only lead to good things!

I mentioned last week in my post I Finally Got My Groove Back that I am making some big changes in my business and in my life.  One of those changes is getting my body back to what it was before I had two babies 17 months apart.

I am lucky that I have never really been overweight. Even after having my kids I was back in my pre-pregnancy jeans within a few weeks.

But (or should I say butt) things never went back to where they should be. 

Drooping, sagging, extra fat where no fat should be. NOT attractive to say the least.  And something I have been self conscious about for a while.

So a few days after my 33rd birthday in March I decided to do something about this once and for all. I talked my friend and husband in to starting the Prevention Magazine Flat Belly Diet with me and I haven’t looked back!

The basis of this diet is controlling your calories and heating healthy fats instead of unhealthy fats.  These good fats are called MUFAs (mono-unsaturated fatty acids) and are found in foods such as avacadoes, nuts, seeds, olives, certain oils and dark chocolate.

Here are the Flat Belly rules:

1. Start with a 4-day anti-bloat jumpstart. The food is rather bland during the jumpstart but definitely gets you off on the right foot. I am actually redoing the jumpstart this week because I am straying too much from the rules.

2. Drinks lots of water (and nothing but water). The book includes a recipe for Sassy Water which is a great alternative to boring plain water.

3. After the jumpstart, eat 1600 calories a day spread over 4 meals. To make this easy to do in a household with children, I modified our favorite recipes to fit the rules. We eat breakfast, lunch, dinner and save our fourth meal for an evening snack.

4. Eat a MUFA with every meal.  We try to find a way to work the MUFA in to the meal like adding nuts to our salad, sauteeing in canola oil, putting flax seed in our muffins.  Sometimes though we just eat a tablespoon of nuts after our meal.

5. Never go more than 4 hours between meals. This rule I find difficult because in our house it would mean eating dinner at 4pm.  So we usually go 5 – 5 1/2 hours between lunch and dinner.

6. Avoid overly processed foods like white flour, refined sugars and fatty foods like fried anything and full fat dairy. For us, we have been able to modify our favorites so we don’t even miss them.  We now make pizza on wholegrain tortilla shells with just a little cheese.  A favorite is fajitas on the grill with  guacamole as the MUFA.  It is easier than you might think to make healthier choices.

Overall I have found this diet really easy to stick to.  It certainly helps that my husband is on board with it (and has already lost 25 lbs!) and that my friend lives right across the street so we make each other meals on days when we feel we might cheat.

What I like best is that I feel we have changed our eating habits so there will be no end to the diet where we start eating our favorites again and put all of the weight back on. 

As of when I am writing this I would still like to lose about 7 more pounds and get my belly truly flat.  We’ll see how my second “jumpstart” goes.  I’ll keep you posted!

In April I wrote Cool Site Alert: KneeBouncers.com, and since then I have been thinking about other great sites for kids.  This list has something for children of all ages and is full of educational, informative ways they can use the Internet.

1. It is so exciting to make something that actually flies.  Discover the magic of flight with this great website that provides easy to follow instructions for making different kinds of paper airplanes.  You and your kids will be amazed with the cool ways these planes can move through the air.
2.  Help your kids understand the natural world and how they can take care of it with these two great environmental websites for kids from EcoKids and the EPA.
3. Learn all about oral health and what goes on inside your mouth.  This fun website will teach kids about the importance of brushing and taking care of their teeth.
4. Space!  Help your kids explore the final frontier and discover strange new worlds.  Boldly go to these websites from the Canadian Space Agency and NASA.
5. Your kids can learn about music, different instruments and the people who make it with this interactive website from the National Arts Centre.
6. Discover the story behind the story.  This website explains how a children’s story book is created, from the idea, to illustration, to publishing.
7.  Uncover the fun at the Discovery Kids website with lots of games and activities, including Tutenstein – make your own mummy!
8. Dig up the past and find out about the age of the dinosaurs at this website for younger kids and at this one for slightly older kids.
9. A young Leonardo da Vinci guides kids through interactive games and activities that teach the basic principles of art.  Most kids are so creative and this is a great way for them to explore and learn more.
10. Your chldren will love this cool, kid friendly website that talks about books, comics, movies and has fun and educational games.
11.  This whole website is fun, but I especially love these science experiments for kids.  Just a quick warning, this website contains ads.
12.  This website is definitely for older kids, or maybe something to look at together if you have younger kids.  Explore this informative website and find out how stuff works.
13. If your kids are old enough to watch tv and go on the internet on their own, it is important to teach them to be media savvy.  This wonderful website uses interactive games to teach media literacy and critical thinking to kids.
14. Even though it is now called snail mail, it is still fun to get something personal in the mail, especially for kids.  This website helps kids safely find penpals and build friendships.  It also helps them practice letter writing and literacy skills.

Since I started the Parents Only Zone blog in 2006 I’ve struggled with what type of blog I wanted it to be.

It has been so severly neglected at times I considered just shutting it down (if it weren’t for my friend Cassie from Baby Tips Online there wouldn’t have been ANY content at all in 2008.)

But it never felt right to give up on it.

Now I am so glad I didn’t!

A couple of months ago it hit me like a bolt of lightning that if I want to see changes in my life and in my business that I would have to go out and make those changes.  That’s not to say that I ever thought someone else should be responsible for making them for me, just that I was stuck in a rut and didn’t even know I needed a change.

Now that I have a new outlook and a plan for how to achieve my goals, the POZ has an important role to play.  I’m still figuring out the format but I like the current combination of personal posts, lists and site/product recommendations.  And I will be adding  more regular features and guest posts from some amazing mommy bloggers.

Watch for big things over the coming months!

Today is Sunday.  In my house, Sunday has always meant one thing …. PANCAKES!

Coated in butter, drowned in syrup, melt in your mouth pancakes.  Makes me hungry just thinking about them.

Over the years we have tried some unique ways to make our Sunday tradition even more fun.  I haven’t tried all of these but I thought it was a neat list to share.  And I will consider it my To Do list for the next few months.

1. This guy is a creative genius!  As he says, “Have you ever been faced with this dilemma: I want pancakes, but I also want a cheeseburger?”  Now you have have both.  Check out this amazing pancake burger and lots of other awesome pancake ideas.
2.  This is an extra special treat.  A combination of two of my favourite things; nutella and pancakes.  Mmmmm…
3. These are made in the oven, not on the stove.  Puffy German apple pancakes, don’t they look so elegant and decadent?
4. Another way to combine apples and pancakes, these are a great way to use extra apples in the fall.  Make apple rings and combine them with pancakes.  My mother-in-law introduced me to these and I fell in love with them right away.  My kids eat more of these than any other pancake I have ever made them!
5. This bakes up like a casserole, but with cinnamon and sugar and pancakey goodness.  A simple and unique way to satisfy the whole family. I sometimes make a version of this for dinner when we want something quick and easy.
6. This recipe is called puff the magic pancake.  These cool pancakes puff up, then sink down in the middle to create the perfect space to place your favourite toppings.
7. You can’t go wrong when you combine chocolate, pecans and pancakes. This is a wonderful recipe that will satisfy to your inner chocoholic.
8. This great video explains step by step how to make fun, creative pancakes.  Involve the kids and maybe they’ll make pancakes for you one day.
9. Don’t these look amazing?  Really simple and colourful pancakes that will make a big impact on your kids.  Imagine the looks on their faces if there was a stack of these waiting when they woke up on their birthday!
10. Use this recipe to make alphabet pancakes.  What a great idea!  Make customized pancakes that spell your kids names or just help your kids learn the alphabet.
11.  These pancakes are so much fun.  Decorate your pancakes to like a “granny” or any other character you and your kids can think of!
12.  You can really stretch your creative muscles and decorate pancakes to look like animals.  This one for a cat pancake is great.  I love that it uses different fruits to create the effect.
13. For all those people with little girls; use cookie cutters to make princess themed pancakes, or any other shape you want.
14. A wonderful way to show your love.  These heart shaped pancakes are so sweet.  Not just for breakfast, if you ask me.
15. Watch this video to learn how to make these gorgeous flower pancakes.  Who knew pancakes could be so pretty.?

Yesterday my friend took her daughter to her 4 year checkup.  One of the things she said the doctor stressed was that juice was to only be a treat, and not something kids should have every day. I don’t know about your house, but at mine, stopping the flow of juice would not go over well.  And that’s putting it mildly. Yes I know it is my fault that my kids don’t like water.  I accept full responsibility.  But in my defense I give them only 100% organic fruit juice.  On the continuum of parenting screwups, is it really THAT bad? I’m not convinced it is.  So I decided to do some of my own research and find out what the experts are saying about juice.

From the Healthy Children website (run by the American Association of Pediatricians) …

“For youngsters older than six months, fruit juice offers no nutritional benefits over whole fruit. Whole fruits also provide fiber and other nutrients. Infants should not be given fruit juice at bedtime, nor as a treatment of dehydration or management of diarrhea. For children ages one to six years old, limit fruit juice consumption to 4 to 6 ounces (120–180 ml) each day.”

From the CBS news article “Juice As Bad As Soda, Docs Say”…

“Though healthy in moderation, juice essentially is water and sugar. In fact, a 12-ounce bottle of grape soda has 159 calories. The same amount of unsweetened grape juice packs 228 calories.

In a nation where nearly a third of children are either overweight or at risk of becoming overweight, health officials now say high-calorie beverages have little place in a young child’s diet.“

From a research study summarized on the Science Blog…

“Consumption of 100 percent fruit juice is closely linked to improved nutrient intake and overall diet quality in children and teens, according to new research presented yesterday at the Experimental Biology (EB) 2010 meeting.

According to the findings, children 2-5 years of age who consumed fruit juice had significantly higher intakes of vitamin C, potassium, and magnesium and significantly lower intakes of added sugars compared to non-fruit juice consumers. In addition, higher intake of fruit juice was directly correlated with increased consumption of whole fruits and whole grains.”

I don’t know that this clears things up for me.  But at least having a research study show that I’m not killing my kids slowly with juice eases the mommy guilt a little.

My plan for the summer is to slowly water down my kids juice one glass at a time.  I don’t know if they’ll ever be juice free, but I know it won’t hurt them to drink more water.

Crafts can be more than just fun, they can resuscitate items that are destined for the recycling bin.  I love being able to give new life to common household items.  Here are some great ideas that do just that.

1. This is a great way to add that special touch to all your presents.  You can use colourful magazine pages to create gift bows.  I’m sure flyers, newspapers, colorful junk mail pages or even old wrapping paper would work too.
2. Here’s another way to reuse all the extra paper that seems to accumulate.  These gorgeous coasters are made using a simple weaving technique.  They are so practical and easy to make.
3. I thought this project was so cute.  Organize the clutter on your fridge and reuse old jeans by turning the pockets into magnets.  These would look so great if you have embroidered jeans that your kids have outgrown.
4. Thanks to the internet, I never actually use my phone book.  If you don’t either, I think this is a great idea for your old phone book; turn it into an organizer for pens, pencils and other assorted goodies.
5. This is a quick project that is sure to entertain your kids during mealtimes.  You can convert a favourite picture book into colourful, personalized placemats.
6. I love this project because it is such a beautiful way to store your pictures and it is made from such an unexpected source.  Chip bags, candy/granola wrappers etc can be used to transform a regular binder into an amazing album.  You can find the weaving technique used for this project on this page.  It has always bothered me that some food wrappers are not recyclable.  This is such a great way to reuse them.
7. This is a easy project to make a birdfeeder from a juice carton.  It is fun to make and your kids can decorate it any way they like.  The birds will love it and your kids will love it.
8. Instead of buying one, make your own watering can from a plastic jug.  You can even make more than one and let your kids help water the plants.
9. I love the idea of sitting outside on a summer evening surrounded by these beautiful candle holders.  Reuse tin cans to make these candle holders that can be used inside or outdoors.  They would be a great place to put citronella candles and keep the bugs away.
10. This is a very versatile project to turn big plastic bottles into door hangers.  On the site they recommend using it as an outdoor planter that can be hung on fence posts, but I think it would great on the door knobs of kids’ rooms.
11. Somehow I always need more containers, so I thought this project was wonderful.  Weave newspapers around different forms to create baskets of different sizes and shapes.  This is great use for newspapers and you can recycle the basket when you don’t need it anymore.
12. Plarn – make yarn from plastic bags.  I think this is an amazing way to reuse plastic bags.  You can watch the video here and once you’ve made the yarn it can be used for just about anything, including making crochet bags.  I can’t wait to try this!