I used to read like crazy when I was in school. Everything and anything I could get my hands on. Once I got married and had kids, I kind of lost time to do that. And I missed it! 

About two years ago I was having some doubts about my motherhood, myself, my ability to do the things in life that I wanted to do. Someone suggested that I start listening to books on Audible that would help my mind get into a better place. I started listening when I was cleaning or driving or any time I happened to find a few minutes to myself. I don’t feel like I retain quite as much as when I actually read a book, but it’s better than nothing. 

I listen to books on Audible. Audible is an Amazon company of audio books. I pay for a monthly subscription that gives me a book each month and a discount on any books I buy during the month. There are a couple different subscription options. I currently have the Gold Subscription, which gives me 1 free book each month. You can cancel the subscription and keep the books. If you haven’t tried Audible before, you can use this link and get a free first month with 2 free books. 

One thing I really love about Audible is the fact that if you don’t like a book, even if you’ve read the whole thing, you can return it, no questions asked. You will be refunded your credit or the cost you paid for the book when you do. My Audible subscription has been one of the best ways I’ve spent my money over the last two years. 

During those two years, I’ve read 50 books. Many of them have really changed my life. I wanted to share ten of my favorites that I think are so great for women, but specifically for moms. 

1. You Are A Badass by Jen Sinchero. Disclaimer: As you can probably tell by the title, the language is strong in this book. But if you need a boost of confidence, this is a great one. 
2. Loving What Is by Byron Katie. This one is actually somewhat similar to You Are A Badass, in fact, Jen Sinchero references this book a few times in her book. The language is much better in this one. I do recommend listening to this book over reading it because it has dialogue that is just easier to listen to than read. 
3. I Thought It Was Just Me (But It Isn’t) by Brene Brown. Honestly, ANYTHING by Brene Brown could be on this list, but this one was one of my favorites. It really helped me see that the things I struggle with aren’t unique to me, and that I have the tools I need to improve my life. 
4. How To Raise An Adult by Julie Lythcott-Haims. This book is all about how to stop over parenting your children and let them grow up to be adults that know how to take care of themselves and know how to handle real life issues.  This is probably one of my favorite parenting books.
5. The Secret by Rhonda Byrne. If you need an energy shift, this is your book. It really helped me see things in a different light and have a more positive outlook on life. 
6. Grit by Angela Duckworth. If you have a dream you’re working on achieving, or feel like you give up on everything you ever try, this is the book you want. This book helps you see that success isn’t about talent, but about the ability to stick with things and figure them out, even when they get hard. 
7. The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman. This book changed my marriage and changed the way that I interact with my children. It helped me understand relationship with everyone significant in my life. Even if you’re not in a relationship, I highly recommend this book. 
8. The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo. Most people have heard about this book. If you haven’t read it, you should. Even if you’re not interested in a minimalist life, I still recommend it. This book is about only having things in your life that bring you joy. When I embraced the teachings of this book, my life got much simpler and I learned not to be consumed by “stuff”. 
9. Eat That Frog by Brian Tracy. This is a really quick book about time management. As a mom, I feel like I NEVER have enough time. This book gave me a few little tweaks that I was able to make to my routine that helps me be more efficient. 
10. Parenting Without Power Struggles by Susie Stiffelman. This one is another great parenting book. It helped me find little ways to help my stubborn child. It helped me understand her better and have more patience with her struggles. 

Of the 50 books I listened to in the past 2 years, those are the top ten that I would recommend to anyone, but especially to women, and more especially to moms. 

Do you have any books that you would add to the list? I’d love to hear them! Leave me a comment and let me know what your favorites are. 

The post Ten Books Every Mom Needs To Read (Or Listen To) appeared first on A Mouse In My Kitchen.

We live in a fifth wheel with our three kids, which means space is VERY limited. We have to be very careful about what we bring into our house, because there just isn’t room for junk. When I was searching for Christmas gifts for this year, I thought it would be a good idea to come up with a list for you all, to save you a little time! I hope you find it helpful! 

Tip: Get things that are in sets. Our system is a bag system. Each set of toy is in a bag/box. The kids can only get out one toy at a time, and every toy belongs somewhere. It makes cleaning easier, and it’s easier to organize that way. 

1. Clip on dolls.

You can get these at Costco, or on Amazon. My girls (and my son) love playing with these. And they can actually dress them themselves (See ya later, Barbie!). 

2. Magformers.

All three of my kids (and my husband) love playing with these. We get a new set about once a year to add to what we already have. They stick together, so they’re easy to pick up and they don’t make a huge mess.

3. Legos.

We only have Duplos, and plan on keeping it that way. We have a tub that we keep under our bed. We get them out about once a week for the kids to play with and they play with them for HOURS. I think it’s because they’re not available to them all the time. 

4. Cars. 

Never, ever, underestimate the power of a Hot Wheels car. All three of my kids love driving cars around the trailer. They’re small, and they don’t make a mess. If we had to choose ONE toy, it would be this one. 

5. Play animals.

We have a little tub of plastic farm animals and it gets played with quite a bit. These ones DO make a bit of a mess, but the kids love them so we deal with it. Again, they only get ONE set of toys out of at a time, so that really helps keep the mess down. 

6. Kindle Fire.

This tablet has been so nice to have. I am not a huge fan of screen time, but sometimes mama just needs a break, you know? This tablet is cheap, and my kids LOVE Amazon Freetime. 

7. Small play kitchen.

We don’t have one of these (yet), but I think my kids would love this one, and I wouldn’t mind finding a place for it since it’s so small.  

8. Art supplies.

These are obviously a necessity for growing kids. I just have a small plastic bin full of them and they get put away when not in use.  

9. Puzzles.

You can never have enough puzzles. They don’t take a lot of space, and they keep kids busy for a good amount of time. 

10. Melissa and Doug.

I can’t even pick on thing from this company because they have SO many good things that work in small places.

Are you looking for suggests for Stem based toys? Check out this post!

Thank you for reading & support me & my little blog! Don’t forget to like/comment/share/email to your grandma or whatev. 

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Wanna know a secret to a happy life? I’m not going to say it’s THE secret. But it’s a secret. 

It doesn’t really matter what the circumstances are, I believe you can make your life a happy one.

I mean, here I am at the laundromat again, but I’m smiling. Because I know a secret.

The post You’re in control. appeared first on A Mouse In My Kitchen.

Since we moved into our fifth wheel, our only income has been my online income. (okay, okay, and a loan or two from the bank of mom. Thanks, mom ) I am trying hard to create a career from home, but as anyone who has created a career online knows, it’s tough going. I’ve been working on this blog for a few years, and it’s just finally to the point where I can make money from it consistently. I have a few other sources of income, and I wanted to share them with you. 

1. MLM. I know that these are often given a bad name, but I am a huge believer in their power to create real at home businesses. I personally am a Beachbody coach, and I love it. It’s one of my most consistent money makers, and it is really fulfilling to help people with their health & fitness goals. If you’re interested in learning more about that, feel free to add me on Facebook or email me at corp8292 at gmail dot com.

2. Appen. This company does crowdsourcing projects for other companies and any other project that needs market input or has small, tedious tasks. Sometimes I get put on projects that have steady hours, sometimes I’m doing “per task” projects that are as needed and don’t pay very well. I often do these when I’m watching a TV show or other things like that. 

3. SAT grading  I work part time for ETS grading SAT essays. This wouldn’t be bad if I were able to get more hours. As of right now, the hours are limited. The pay is decent, and although it’s tedious (reading essays from the same prompt for 4 or 8 hours), it’s good work and I kind of enjoy it. 

4. Personal Assistant. Two different times in the last 4 years I have worked as a digital assistant. Once was for a blogger, and I am currently working for an author. I knew both of these people personally, so I can’t give much advice on how to find these kinds of positions, but they ARE out there!  

5. Affiliate Programs. I am an affiliate for Amazon right now. I used to be an affiliate for a bunch of companies, but currently I am only doing Amazon. It’s kind of cool. If you click this link –> http://amzn.to/2gqctJT –> And order anything in the next 24 hours, I get a small commission for it. <<So go ahead.. click it.. You know you want to>>. This doesn’t add up to much most of the time, but it can be a decent amount during Black Friday sales and things like that. 

6. Mturk. This is similar to Appen, but it’s by Amazon. Sometimes I do transcription, sometimes it’s copying text, things like that. This does NOT pay well. At all. But it’s something if I do if I don’t have any other ways to make money.  

7. Text Broker. I’ll admit, I haven’t done this in a few years. But when I did it, I was able to make a few hundred dollars a month writing articles. 

8. Mystery Shopping. There are a couple different companies that do mystery shopping. This doesn’t usually pay very well, but it’s kind of fun and you get a little spending cash. 

The rest of this list are online jobs that I personally haven’t done, but I know people who have. 

9. Rev.com This is a transcription service. I applied for this but was denied. I’m not sure why. But I do know a few people who have gotten on, and are able to make a few hundred dollars a month from it. 

10. Lion’s Bridge This company is similar to Appen. In fact, I don’t think you can work for both of them, which is why I haven’t applied here. 

11. Fulfilled by Amazon. This one is kind of cool, and I plan on pursing it around tax return time. The way this works is you buy things on clearance, send it to Amazon’s holding centers, and when they sell, you get paid for it. Sort of like selling on eBay, but through Amazon. There are all sorts of books and tools that make this easier, but I don’t know all the details yet. I’ll be doing a few posts about this after I get all set up to do it in the spring!  

Making money online is not easy by any means, but there ARE legitimate ways to do so. I heard once that it’s easier to make $100 ten times online than it is to make $1000 one time. So keep that in mind if you’re trying to make a significant income from home! 

The post Eleven Legitimate Ways To Make Money Online appeared first on A Mouse In My Kitchen.

I was driving down to meet my husband to do some shopping after he got off work the other day, and I was listening to Make It Happen by Lara Casey and I had some thoughts.

We aren’t in this life to be perfect. Social media and Pinterest and TV and all that crap make it seem like there is this impossible standard that we need to hold ourselves up to, but that’s not the way to happiness. Chasing perfect will never ever make us happy.

I’m way happier now than I have been in a long time and I can tell you that my house still has piles of laundry all over. I still rarely do Pinterest crafts and finish even fewer. For a long time I felt like I needed to do things like that to be a good woman, a good wife, and a good mom. But that stuff isn’t ME. It doesn’t make me happy. It doesn’t bring peace to my life.

Since coming to that realization, I feel so much more at peace with myself. I do NOT have to be a Pinterest mom. I don’t have to have it all put together. NOBODY does. No one expects me to have everything put together, why should I expect it of myself?

Don’t get me wrong, I still get nervous around people I don’t know and I still avoid phone calls at all cost. I don’t put on makeup most days or do my hair. Seriously, I’m so far from perfect it’s not even funny.

But I feel like I have purpose, and it has nothing to do with Pinterest. I have found joy in being a mother and in helping others find that joy. I have a platform to share my beliefs and support people through trials in their lives. Striving for perfection will never ever ever in a million years lead me to happiness. 

I’m not chasing a perfect body or perfect kids or a clean house. I was created for a purpose, not for perfection, and that mindset is what helps me find happiness each day.

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