Fermata Friday: January 29, 2016

Welcome to this week's installment of my weekly linky party, Fermata Fridays! This is a chance for music education bloggers to share blog posts with readers and bloggers alike, so we can all mingle and learn from each other. Readers, you are going to love all of the awesome blog posts that are out there- I hope you discover some new blogs to follow and get some new inspiration for your teaching! Bloggers, make sure you read the directions carefully before linking up to make sure we keep the party fun for everyone. Thanks! :)

Here are the rules for the linky party:

1. Add the linky image to your blog post, blog sidebar, linky party roundup, or other similar location on your blog and link it back to the party. Copy and paste the code for this button, or use the image above and link to the label "Fermata Fridays".

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://caldwellorganizedchaos.blogspot.com/search/label/Fermata%20Fridays"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD5AShYQiAk-NC2PM5EMpGrK31c3bfaUO7qbi6cCVXVIW-ySfO3xfYbJOj0WAbRcl11hVrCCWLIiqFjqs2cV8Yu8Zw-HEdtId-jZRpwv-W6p9VwBWQZvreaxjOfVBwlw-YdvMr_BbR3M0/s1600/fermata+friday+button.jpg" /></a></div><br />

2. Add up to two blog post links to the linky. The posts can be old or new (but no posts that have already been linked up to Fermata Fridays in the past), on any topic related to music teaching, but must not be primarily featuring a product. It's fine to have a link to a relevant product within a post, but that should not be the primary focus of the post. I reserve the right to delete a link that is too product-focused. If you're not sure, just ask! :)

3. Leave a thoughtful comment on at least two other links, including the one right before yours. Add #fermatafridays to your comment so bloggers know where you found them!

4. Pin at least one post to one of your Pinterest boards.

5. Make sure you are following me on Pinterest. I will be pinning every link to the Fermata Fridays board each week.

6. Make sure you are following me on Facebook and check back next Friday- I will be featuring one of the links from the previous week's linky on my Facebook page each Friday!

The linky will be open every Friday until 4:00am EST Saturday morning.

An InLinkz Link-up

Teacher Tuesday: teaching students how to blow on recorder

As a long-time recorder player myself, I love teaching recorders to my elementary students each year. I started my 3rd graders on recorder a couple of weeks ago, so today I want to share with you my simple steps for teaching students to blow correctly on their instrument. Getting them to blow correctly saves all of us many a headache long-term, so I consider it a critical part of my job!

1. Always start with good posture

One of the common mistakes I've seen is blowing softly but with no breath support. Demanding good posture from the beginning has cut down on most of those for me! I use a simple hand sign cue to have students sit up in their chairs any time they sing or play a wind instrument, so I use that even to have them all sitting up even when I first introduce them to how to blow on the instrument (read more about my hand signals in this post). 

2. Say, then whisper, the number "TWO"

Once they are all sitting up correctly, I have them first say the number "two" out loud. Then I tell them to whisper it. Easy!

3. Hold out the whispered "two" longer, then softer

Now it's time to turn the number two into supported, controlled, and tongued breathing. I tell them to whisper the number "two" again but hold it out longer (I usually just do 4 counts- I don't want them to get in the habit of breathing until they run out of air). Then I tell them to do it again but gently. I talk to them about how the recorder is a beautiful instrument, not an obnoxious one, so if you blow too harshly it won't let you make a nice sound. The kids seem to respond better to the word "gentle" than "soft"- somehow more of them continue to use a supported breath when I say "gentle" than when I say "soft". I actually go around the room and hold my hand in front of their face to make sure they are blowing softly, and I have them check themselves with their own hand as well.

4. Blow into the recorder with a low G fingering

The first time I have them blow into the instrument, I start them on a G. It's easy to teach the fingering, and it's easy to get the correct note without being too easy- they still have to control their breath to get the lower note. At this point I also make sure they aren't taking too much or too little of the mouthpiece into their mouth, and also check that nobody is biting the mouthpiece.

And that's that! How do you teach students to blow into their recorders correctly? Share your ideas in the comments!

Mommy Monday: preschoolers in the kitchen

So last week my 4-year-old's made dinner together (including planning the menu) on Monday, then took turns setting and clearing the table the rest of the week. The girls have been helping with getting out and putting away their dishes and even food prep for a couple of years now, but it was a big change for me to put them completely in charge of those responsibilities. I never imagined they could do it at such a young age, but so far we are all quite enjoying it, and it doesn't hurt that the girls are learning some important skills and values in the process! Here are my tips for giving your preschoolers more responsibility and independence in the kitchen.

Menu planning: give them categories, but let them pick

The first meal my girls settled on? Hard boiled eggs, biscuits (from a can), broccoli, and apple slices. Definitely not the kind of meal I would choose, but certainly not very unhealthy either. I found it effective for me to tell the girls that when you are making dinner, you are supposed to choose a fruit, a vegetable, a carb, and a protein (I explained what the last two categories were by giving them examples), and then letting them each pick the item for two categories. Breaking it down that way not only made it easier for them to come up with a full meal plan, but it also ensured that we were getting a relatively balanced meal. And although I will admit to grimacing a bit when they made their selections, I stopped myself from saying anything about what would taste good together or making any other suggestions. I think they felt a greater sense of ownership and responsibility from having come up with the meal plan all by themselves.

Cooking: set ground rules and then step away

It's hard for me to not step in when the kids are doing something in a messy or difficult way when I could easily show them how to do it "better", but if my goal is to give them more independence and responsibility, I need to let them mess up sometimes. They'll learn a lot faster by doing things and figuring it out on their own anyway! I told the girls in advance that I would do all of the cutting myself and I would help them turn on the gas ranges, but they would be on their own for the rest. I stayed in the kitchen and answered any questions they asked, but did not offer any unsolicited advice or assistance. You know what? They did great!

Dishes: make them accessible and replaceable

I have plastic dishes from IKEA in a low cabinet where the girls can reach them. No matter what kind of dishes you are using, there are two keys to getting kids to set out and clean up dishes independently: putting them where they can reach them, and being prepared for the possibility that they will be dropped. I've actually started letting the girls use the "grown up" dishes as well, but they are not super expensive ones, nor do they have sentimental value, so I don't have to be too stressed out about one of them breaking (or at least that's what I keep telling myself). Don't make them feel badly for dropping dishes if you're asking 4-year-old's to help. You want this to be fun, not stressful! If all of your dishes are too difficult to part with, pick up some cheap plastic ones to use until the kids are older.

Job distribution: share responsibilities between children and adults

One of the best things about giving young children more responsibility around the house is developing a sense of being an important, contributing member of the family. When I decided to start having the girls take more ownership in cooking and cleaning in the kitchen, I put together a quick chore chart that included their jobs and mine. It's a win-win really: they can see how we are sharing responsibility rather than being forced to do stuff while I sit around eating bon-bon's, and it serves as a cleaning schedule of sorts for me as well to keep me on track!

Have you set your kids loose in the kitchen yet? Let me know if you decide to try- I'd love to hear what works and what doesn't work for you!

Fermata Friday: January 22, 2016

Welcome to this week's installment of my weekly linky party, Fermata Fridays! This is a chance for music education bloggers to share blog posts with readers and bloggers alike, so we can all mingle and learn from each other. Readers, you are going to love all of the awesome blog posts that are out there- I hope you discover some new blogs to follow and get some new inspiration for your teaching! Bloggers, make sure you read the directions carefully before linking up to make sure we keep the party fun for everyone. Thanks! :)

Here are the rules for the linky party:

1. Add the linky image to your blog post, blog sidebar, linky party roundup, or other similar location on your blog and link it back to the party. Copy and paste the code for this button, or use the image above and link to the label "Fermata Fridays".

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://caldwellorganizedchaos.blogspot.com/search/label/Fermata%20Fridays"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD5AShYQiAk-NC2PM5EMpGrK31c3bfaUO7qbi6cCVXVIW-ySfO3xfYbJOj0WAbRcl11hVrCCWLIiqFjqs2cV8Yu8Zw-HEdtId-jZRpwv-W6p9VwBWQZvreaxjOfVBwlw-YdvMr_BbR3M0/s1600/fermata+friday+button.jpg" /></a></div><br />

2. Add up to two blog post links to the linky. The posts can be old or new (but no posts that have already been linked up to Fermata Fridays in the past), on any topic related to music teaching, but must not be primarily featuring a product. It's fine to have a link to a relevant product within a post, but that should not be the primary focus of the post. I reserve the right to delete a link that is too product-focused. If you're not sure, just ask! :)

3. Leave a thoughtful comment on at least two other links, including the one right before yours. Add #fermatafridays to your comment so bloggers know where you found them!

4. Pin at least one post to one of your Pinterest boards.

5. Make sure you are following me on Pinterest. I will be pinning every link to the Fermata Fridays board each week.

6. Make sure you are following me on Facebook and check back next Friday- I will be featuring one of the links from the previous week's linky on my Facebook page each Friday!

The linky will be open every Friday until 4:00am EST Saturday morning.

An InLinkz Link-up

Teacher Tuesday: YouTube channels for elementary music

I find myself showing short videos from YouTube more and more often lately, especially with my upper elementary students. Sometimes there is just no better way to explain a concept, and the students really connect with these well-made, up-to-date videos. So today I thought I would share a few of the YouTube channels that I find myself returning to over and over again. And no, none of them are specifically geared towards children or music education, but they offer excellent teaching tools that students think are cool!

1. Pentatonix

OK, if you haven't heard of Pentatonix by now, where have you been?!? But seriously, they are an amazing tool for the music room because of the variety of music they have performed. I love their version of The Sugar Plum Fairy, which I used in a lesson on arrangements recently, and their original music is great too. I have used them to discuss voice types (soprano/alto/tenor/bass), harmony, pitched vs. unpitched (with the beatboxing), and more. This video is a must-see though:

2. Walk Off the Earth

Walk Off the Earth is great for a lot of the same reasons as Pentatonix- I have used their videos to talk about voice types/parts, harmony, and more, but I love to use them as an example of making arrangements of songs because they often use classroom instruments in their videos, and they do so in such creative ways! They also tend to be "clean" so you can be pretty confident that you won't have to edit anything to show their videos to your kids. And let's not forget the perfect video for showing the different parts of the guitar (depending on age you may want to just show the instrumental)! But here's a great example of their arrangements with classroom instruments (their version of Cheerleader is pretty awesome too):

3. The Gregory Brothers

The Gregory Brothers are my secret ingredient for getting students to understand major and minor. They have tons of videos where they have taken popular songs and changed the tonality, but this "sampler" video will give you a good idea of what they can do:

There are plenty more wonderful resources out there on YouTube, but those are some of my favorites. What are your favorite YouTube channels for elementary music lessons? Share yours in the comments below!

Mommy Monday: closet organization for preschoolers

As some of you will remember, I moved from a small apartment into a larger home over Thanksgiving. This means, of course, that I get to go back to the drawing board to re-organize everything for our new space! It is both thrilling and exhausting. One of my top priorities has been my 4-year-old daughters' bedroom- I want the girls to feel settled as quickly as possible. Although it is far from done, I made some major changes to their closet organization recently that I want to share with you today. (*update: check out how I made the closet even more functional, and a whole lot more attractive, in this latest post*)

In my old apartment, I used a small hallway closet for the girls' clothes and put everything in bins with a low hanging rod so they could reach everything and keep everything organized on their own. I shared that closet setup in a previous blog post- click on the picture to read more about it. For small spaces, I still think that is a good option, especially for younger children.

When we first moved in, I just stuck those same bins in their new closet, along with the dress-up clothes that has previously been in another closet:

There were a few problems with this setup. 1. It looked ugly, which is a problem since I had already removed the accordion-style wooden doors in front of the closet to avoid pinched fingers. 2. Their clothes take up more space now that they are bigger, and it wasn't all fitting nicely into the bins they had been using. 3. The hanging rod was way too high, and the little rod I had used in their old closet was way too short to use in their new closet.

Enter the trofast organizers! IKEA has always been a go-to, and I had been eying the trofast organizers for a while. They are built so that, besides storing things in bins, kids can climb up them like stairs! After pondering various solutions for their hanging clothes, I realized that this was my chance to finally get some and use them well. They were a perfect fit!

The girls love it. They can easily reach all of their clothes, and they very quickly figured out where everything goes and have kept everything organized on their own with no problems. I certainly wouldn't want them climbing up and down every day, but for the occasional dress it is safe and easy. And it looks so much nicer now!

In case you are interested, here is how we organized each of the bins for their current clothes:

The great thing about these organizers is that they can be used for so many things, if I ever decide to stop using them in the closet, I know we will easily find other uses for them.

How do you organize your preschoolers' closet? Have any of you used the trofast organizers? Leave a comment!

Fermata Friday: January 15, 2016

Happy New Year and welcome to this week's installment of my weekly linky party, Fermata Fridays! This is a chance for music education bloggers to share blog posts with readers and bloggers alike, so we can all mingle and learn from each other. Readers, you are going to love all of the awesome blog posts that are out there- I hope you discover some new blogs to follow and get some new inspiration for your teaching! Bloggers, make sure you read the directions carefully before linking up to make sure we keep the party fun for everyone. Thanks! :)

Here are the rules for the linky party:

1. Add the linky image to your blog post, blog sidebar, linky party roundup, or other similar location on your blog and link it back to the party. Copy and paste the code for this button, or use the image above and link to the label "Fermata Fridays".

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://caldwellorganizedchaos.blogspot.com/search/label/Fermata%20Fridays"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD5AShYQiAk-NC2PM5EMpGrK31c3bfaUO7qbi6cCVXVIW-ySfO3xfYbJOj0WAbRcl11hVrCCWLIiqFjqs2cV8Yu8Zw-HEdtId-jZRpwv-W6p9VwBWQZvreaxjOfVBwlw-YdvMr_BbR3M0/s1600/fermata+friday+button.jpg" /></a></div><br />

2. Add up to two blog post links to the linky. The posts can be old or new (but no posts that have already been linked up to Fermata Fridays in the past), on any topic related to music teaching, but must not be primarily featuring a product. It's fine to have a link to a relevant product within a post, but that should not be the primary focus of the post. I reserve the right to delete a link that is too product-focused. If you're not sure, just ask! :)

3. Leave a thoughtful comment on at least two other links, including the one right before yours. Add #fermatafridays to your comment so bloggers know where you found them!

4. Pin at least one post to one of your Pinterest boards.

5. Make sure you are following me on Pinterest. I will be pinning every link to the Fermata Fridays board each week.

6. Make sure you are following me on Facebook and check back next Friday- I will be featuring one of the links from the previous week's linky on my Facebook page each Friday!

The linky will be open every Friday until 4:00am EST Saturday morning.

An InLinkz Link-up

Teacher Tuesday: teaching high and low pitch

I'm focusing on high and low pitches with kindergarten this week, so today I thought I would share some of my favorite ways to explore and understand high and low sounds with young students. If you missed it, make sure you check out my earlier post on using the book "Mortimer" in music class- that is one of my favorite ways to reinforce and assess my students' understanding of high and low, and we will be leading into that book very soon with my kindergarten classes!

1. There's Someone Standing on a Big High Hill

This song is great for all kinds of concept practice- instrument playing, solfege, rhythm, pitch matching... First we all sing the song together, then I do something (sing, play an instrument, clap a rhythm, dance etc) for 4 beats and students copy. Of course eventually I have students lead while everyone copies as well. But this the melodic contour of the song is also perfect for teaching high and low:

Last week I had students review instrument playing technique by having them echo different patterns on instruments. This week we will be thinking about the high and low notes in the song by moving up and down with the melody- first showing the melodic contour with our fingers (drawing it in the air), and then with our whole bodies (crouching down for low and stretching up tall for high). The students always notice on their own that the melody makes the shape of a "big high hill"!

2. Mr. Brown and Mr. Black

I found this story on Beth's Notes last year, although I can't seem to find the direct link anymore (if you are not familiar with this site, run over there now! It is a treasure trove!). It is a fun way to practice high and low and also ties in nicely with the "Someone Standing" song because it is about another hill.

The first time I tell the story, I split the class in half and have one side act out Mr. Brown and the other side act out Mr. Black with motions. They pretend to walk up and down the hill by getting shorter and taller while walking in place. The second time I have them sing notes going up and down while drawing the shape with their finger in the air. The third time we do the story, I have them gliss on the xylophones and glockenspiels. This is the first time I introduce barred instruments in kindergarten, and they love it! It is a great way to get them to transfer their understanding of high and low to pitched instruments, and it leads nicely into the Mortimer book as well.

What are your favorite lesson ideas for teaching high and low? I'd love to hear them in the comments!

Mommy Monday: top gifts for 4 year olds

With a full-blown Christmas season and birthday for my two daughters just behind me, I am now officially an expert in the best gifts to give 4-year-old's. So here are my suggestions for great gifts to buy for 4-year-old's (or any preschool-age child, really). I'm going to list some over-arching categories to give you some more general ideas, and then I have included links to some of the specific items that my girls got (and loved) this year below if you want some more specific suggestions. If you have more ideas, please share them in the comments below!

1. Crafty things

Most children this age are into arts and crafts- don't think this is just for girls. Coloring books, bead sets, collage kits, even kits for making their own puzzles and play houses have been huge hits in this house. The great thing about crafty gifts is you can go with a pre-made kit designed for a specific project, or you can just head to the dollar store and pick up some pens, paper, stickers, and anything else you like and give the kids free reign- there are benefits to both and I guarantee the kids will be equally thrilled with either option.

2. Building things

It doesn't get much more quintessential than building blocks. Wood blocks, lego's, and magnetic blocks have all been popular with my preschoolers, and they even combine different blocks to come up with some legitimately awesome creations!

3. Costumes and pretend play accessories

Pretend play is a big part of learning and fun at this age. My girls were thrilled to get some tutu's from their ballerina aunt, and some jewelry, purses, and nail polish from other friends and family. Pretending to be different kinds of people is fun, but pretending to be like the adults in their lives is by far the most popular choice! A set of school teacher items was another popular gift.

4. Dolls

Dolls can be tricky- there are some really great ones out there (check out my favorites below) but there are some not-so-great ones too. The biggest consideration with dolls, and any other pretend play toys, is what kind of people they encourage children to pretend to be, and what kinds of people, places, things, and ideas those toys will likely expose them to. Done right, though, dolls are fantastic. My girls love their new dolls and insist on putting them to bed before they go to sleep, and getting them ready before they themselves start getting ready for school in the morning (so I guess that's actually a pro and a con...).

5. Umbrellas

I know this probably seems out-of-place in this list, but I'm not gonna lie, I got my girls umbrellas this Christmas and it is one of their favorite gifts! If you think about it, having their own umbrella that they can use on their own is kindof a big deal! This is the perfect age to get them their own umbrella- just be sure to get one that is age and size appropriate :)

6. Clothes and books

I would be remiss if I didn't mention these- this year the girls especially loved their knee high socks and their leapreader books, but you can never go wrong with books or clothes (as long as you know their size)!

Want more specific recommendations? Here are some of the items my girls received and loved this year! Click on the picture to read more about each item.

Plan With Me Sundays: January 2016

I thought the new year would be a great time to share an update on my planner, and this time Meghan and Robyn are back with their linky to share all things planner-related! Go check out the rest of the linked up posts below and add your own if you have a post to share- anything related to planners is welcome!

About a week ago I posted a flip-through of my weekly and monthly planner pages so far this school year. It was fun to look back on how much my planner pages have evolved in the last 5 months!

Tip: if you like seeing planner videos, make sure you subscribe to my YouTube channel. You can choose to get notified of new videos through email or on your YouTube sidebar :)

At the end of the video I shared the beginnings of the weekly page for the first full week of January. Here's the completed page (I was trying to incorporate a New Year's element with the black and gold, as well as incorporate my girls' 4th birthday on Wednesday with the cupcakes and hearts (they had a cupcake-themed birthday party the weekend before)):

I hope you are inspired to get organized for 2016! If you want to know more about the planner I use to organize home and school in one place, check out this video tour of my planner, or my blog post on my planner setup (with links to everything I use to print, bind, and setup the planner). You can also see all of the lesson planning formats available for my "Entire Life Planners" in this post.

Ready for even more organization inspiration? Check out the links below! Happy New Year, and Happy Planning :)

An InLinkz Link-up

Fermata Friday: January 8, 2016

Happy New Year and welcome to this week's installment of my weekly linky party, Fermata Fridays! This is a chance for music education bloggers to share blog posts with readers and bloggers alike, so we can all mingle and learn from each other. Readers, you are going to love all of the awesome blog posts that are out there- I hope you discover some new blogs to follow and get some new inspiration for your teaching! Bloggers, make sure you read the directions carefully before linking up to make sure we keep the party fun for everyone. Thanks! :)

Here are the rules for the linky party:

1. Add the linky image to your blog post, blog sidebar, linky party roundup, or other similar location on your blog and link it back to the party. Copy and paste the code for this button, or use the image above and link to the label "Fermata Fridays".

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://caldwellorganizedchaos.blogspot.com/search/label/Fermata%20Fridays"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD5AShYQiAk-NC2PM5EMpGrK31c3bfaUO7qbi6cCVXVIW-ySfO3xfYbJOj0WAbRcl11hVrCCWLIiqFjqs2cV8Yu8Zw-HEdtId-jZRpwv-W6p9VwBWQZvreaxjOfVBwlw-YdvMr_BbR3M0/s1600/fermata+friday+button.jpg" /></a></div><br />

2. Add up to two blog post links to the linky. The posts can be old or new (but no posts that have already been linked up to Fermata Fridays in the past), on any topic related to music teaching, but must not be primarily featuring a product. It's fine to have a link to a relevant product within a post, but that should not be the primary focus of the post. I reserve the right to delete a link that is too product-focused. If you're not sure, just ask! :)

3. Leave a thoughtful comment on at least two other links, including the one right before yours. Add #fermatafridays to your comment so bloggers know where you found them!

4. Pin at least one post to one of your Pinterest boards.

5. Make sure you are following me on Pinterest. I will be pinning every link to the Fermata Fridays board each week.

6. Make sure you are following me on Facebook and check back next Friday- I will be featuring one of the links from the previous week's linky on my Facebook page each Friday!

The linky will be open every Friday until 4:00am EST Saturday morning.

An InLinkz Link-up

Teacher Tuesday: top blog post roundup 2015

Hands up if you, like me, started back to school yesterday...

As we launch full-speed into the new year, I thought it would be helpful to stop and look back for a moment on 2015. Today I'm sharing my favorite music teacher blog posts from last year- 5 of my own and 5 from some of my other favorite blogs (click on the pictures to read each post). I hope you'll join me in taking a deep breath and getting energized with some awesome ideas and inspiration!

1. Teaching Letter Names of Notes

2. Hand Signals for Quick Transitions

3. Drum Circle Lesson Ideas

4. From National Standards to Specific Lessons

5. Rhythm Monster Magnets for Music Composition

6. 10 Ways to Use Balls in Music Class (via Sing-Play-Creatively)

7. Advice for a Struggling New Teacher (via Music With Mrs. Tanenblatt)

8. Top Five Procedures in Elementary Music (via The Yellow Brick Road)

9. Interactive Bulletin Boards and Instrument Family Pyramids (via Musical Gems)

10. Tons of Halloween and Fall Music Lesson Ideas (via O for Tuna Orff)

Did you find a new blog to follow? A great idea you missed before? Have your own favorite posts from 2015 to share? Leave a comment! :)

Mommy Monday: top blog post roundup 2015

Happy New Year! As we launch into 2016, I thought I'd take a moment to look back on my favorite Mommy blog posts from 2015. I've picked out some of my own, and some from other blogs I like to read. I hope you find some inspiration and new ideas to start your year off right!

Click on the image to go to each post:

1. Lunchbox Menu Ideas

Lunchboxes were a big topic for me this past fall since my daughters started preschool. In this post I shared my ideas for creating healthy lunches for kids without too much thought each morning.

2. Helping Children Through a Move

Moving was another big topic for me recently, since I bought a house over Thanksgiving! Having moved a lot as a child myself, this post was a very meaningful one for me to write. 

3. Snow Day Activities for Toddlers and Preschoolers

This will be a good post for me to reference in the next few months, I'm sure! Unlike this year, the last few winters in Connecticut have been rough. Let me tell you, a wealth of experience, trial, and error went into this list of things to do when you're stuck inside! :)

4. Three Ways IKEA Trones Can Be Your Home Organization Hero

I know the title sounds like an infomercial but I swear 1) it isn't and 2) these things really are so awesome that they make me sound like a walking advertisement. I used these little "shoe cabinets" in my kids' bedroom, the bathroom, and even the kitchen!

5. Dear Newly Single Mom

This post was hard to write, but I'm so glad I did. If you know anyone going through this experience, I hope you will show them this post.

6. Organized Coffee Cabinet

This post by Jen from IHeartOrganizing is just one example of the many gasp-worthy organizing and decorating projects she seems to whip out of her back pocket on a regular basis. And being the coffee lover that I am, this cabinet is definitely a life goal!

7.  The Importance of Messing Up: Grit

This post spoke to both my parent and teacher sides- Sadia's discussion of letting children fail in order to learn, and helping them to problem-solve, is spot-on!

That's it for now. Did you find a new favorite blog? Got some fresh inspiration for the year? Have your own favorite Mommy blog posts to share? Let me know in the comments below!