Get organized with Clever Container

I have been super tired this week due to an unexpected ER trip with our 4-year old, that threw my whole week off.  I was supposed to host a Clever Container party last Saturday at my house, but after being up all night in the emergency room, I decided to reschedule it for tonight.  If you have never heard of this company, I want to let you know that you are missing out.

Clever Container is a direct sales company that is fairly new to the game.  They offer products that help you organize your home, garage, car, and office.  I love that their products are reasonably priced and multi-functional.  Some of my favorite items are:

• Shelf Help: This is available in two different sizes and two different colors.  It helps utilize space under an existing shelf.  We use one to hold our bread products in the pantry.  It is great to prevent it from getting squished without having to take up an entire area to store it.  I also use one in my linen closet to keep my Norwex cloths separate from my other linens, making it easy to grab a cleaning cloth when I need one.  

• Clever Shopper: This is available in several patterns and colors.  These reusable shopping bags can hold a tremendous amount of groceries.  I love that they can stretch across the shopping cart, allowing you to load them up as you shop.  

• Hang-Tough Headrest: These come in a set of two.  These are great for holding bags on the back of your seat.  These could be garbage bags, handbags, shopping bags, or bags of activities or snacks for your child.  We also have one over our rear-view mirror to hold our sunglasses.

If you are interested in ordering any of these products, or seeing what other great products they offer, you can visit my consultant's (Gretchen Fatouros) website.  If you do order in the next few days, please choose Danielle's party before checking out.  If you order afterwards, that's ok, too.  You will love their products. Thanks so much!

Help requested

I am still trying to figure out exactly which direction I want to go with The Happy Wife.  I am considering sharing my monthly goals with you at the start of the month, with a follow up on them the next month; recipes that I am making, modifying, and creating; activities we are working on, including crafts and some homeschool things.  In addition, I may return to reviewing books and products, but I am not sure when that will happen yet.  Is there anything you want to see or don't want to see?  I am also planning to share a weekly post about things I have come across on the web, such as giveaways and blog posts; a monthly collection of things I find online that fit within the theme I have chosen for that month,; and an occasional Pinterest post of collections I put together.  I want this to be both a place where I can write about the things that bring me joy, but I also want to share information that you want to read.  Thank you for all the support you have given me over the years.

Returning

Wow!!!  I knew I had been away from this blog for a while, but I did not realize it has been just over 2 years since I have posted anything.  My life has been crazy as I have been raising my family.  We are still homeschooling our 6 amazing children and they are keeping us busier than ever.  On a health/family note, I experienced a miscarriage in October 2015 and another one this past November.  They were both difficult experiences in their own ways and equally differed from the one I had back in March of 2000.  Just like every pregnancy and every child is different, I have learned the same is true with every miscarriage.  One thing that did happen as a result of the October 2015 miscarriage, is that it propelled me to pursue my certification to become a doula and drove me to Stillbirthday and their doula program.  I am excited to share that I finished the program shortly after learning I was pregnant again this fall and received my certification just after experiencing the miscarriage.   The program means I am trained as a Birth and Bereavement Doula, which means I am certified to assist the family in uncomplicated/"regular" births, as well as births where there is a known complication and/or expected loss or NICU stay.  I am also certified to provide support during miscarriages and still births, no matter at what point in the pregnancy they occur.  I am looking forward to being able to work with moms and families as they face the blessings a baby brings and the trials that will be unique to each situation.

As for my living children, my oldest celebrated her quinceañera this past February and is getting ready to take her written test to get her driver's permit this February.  Her sister will celebrate her quinceañera this July and my third daughter just turned 10.  My boys will be turning 3, 5 and 9 in a few months.The past 2 years have introduced music lessons to our lives as well, as my oldest two started with piano lessons, but had to stop when their teacher moved back to Canada :(  The three girls, and my oldest son, are now participating in a fabulous program called ROC Music.  They are learning to play the cello (Chloe), violin (Cameron and Yasmin) and the viola (Janelle).  Cameron is currently debating if he will continue with the violin next year or if he will move up to the bass, if he is able to.  

I am so excited to be returning to blogging and have lots of ideas that I am still working on getting together.  You have always been so supportive and I ask that you hang in here with me as I redesign and refocus on my blog.