You ever have one of those days when you work ALL day, you seriously don’t sit down, but you actually get nothing accomplished?  Nothing finished? I know you have, mama-friends!

That is one aspect of motherhood that continues to bug me: the fact that nothing ever gets really finished, because as soon as you do get one little thing finished, one little corner of the house cleaned or most of your to-do list marked off, a child or a husband or an animal comes along to destroy it. Just the other morning, Jason walked across my freshly cleaned floors in his work boots to tell me that PeeWee had peed on those same boots the night before.  Really, Honey?

Over the past few days, I have been trying to think of simple things that will just make life easier for us mama’s.  I have been cleaning out and organizing, because I know that is the first step (plus I just really love to clean out and get rid of stuff we’re not using-Jason says I have a problem, like the opposite of a hoarder).  I’ve been looking at my Organizing Board on Pinterest and testing out ideas, and I’ve also done (or re-done) some things I have been thinking of doing for awhile.

So after a few weeks of working and testing things out, I have this list of 5 Things to Make Mama’s life easier.  These are things that are quick and easy and I just like.

I hope they are a help to you, too!

1-I wasn’t really intending to include recipes in this post, but when I made these with the kids the other day, I knew I had to include the recipe.  These peanut butter cookies are SO easy to make, and have only a few ingredients that you are sure to have around the house.

All you do is mix together:

1 cup white sugar

1 cup peanut butter

1 egg

1/4 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract

The mixture will be really crumbly.  Roll the dough into balls, then smash them down with a fork.  Cook on 350 for 10 minutes.  They will seem like they’re not done, but when you take them out they will harden and be really crispy and kind of melt in your mouth.  This recipe makes about 18 cookies, depending on the size you make them.  It could be easily doubled or tripled, though, if you needed more. So good, I mean it!

These would be a snap to make if you have last-minute guests coming over, or if your kid tells you the night before a party or fund-raiser at school, or if you just need something to do to help pass a boring afternoon.  Or, if you just feel the urge for some cookies and milk one night!

If you needed to make them extra-fancy, you could put some frosting in the middle of 2 of these cookies and make a really impressive cookie-sandwich.

2.  We have been dealing with a lot of sickness in my home lately, and frankly, I am just sick of it (pun intended).  I have been on the kids (and Jason) about washing their hands, and this soap really helped me with the kids:

It’s Sesame Street Hand Soap, and it smells like cookies!  The kids love it, and they love washing their hands with it.  Someone gave this to us, but I have seen it at Wal-Mart since then.

3.  This is an idea that I read somewhere years ago, and it has really contained our shoe-mess!

I put a basket in our laundry room, and shoes go right in there on our way in the house.  Keeps us from wearing dirty shoes all over the place (except for my wonderful husband who enjoys trekking all over the place with pee-soaked boots) and also contains the shoe-pile nicely.

4.  Mama bought us this tabletop paper roll holder at Ikea last year, and it is so handy.  Any time the kids want to draw or color, or I need something to cover the counter so we won’t make a mess, I just pull it out and pull off some paper.

It stays on the fridge for easy access.

5.  This is for any mama with a boy in the house (well, we could count our husbands :)).

These are a new discovery of mine, and they are awesome!  They are toilet targets, to give the boys in the house a little something to aim for, and maybe cut down on the smell of urine coming from your bathrooms.  Aren’t they cute, too?  They are from Good Golly Graphics, and you could win a set of your own toilet targets by entering in the giveaway below!

I would love to hear of any ideas that you have to make any mama’s life a little easier!

Enter to win a set of toilet targets by clicking here:  a Rafflecopter giveaway

The drawing will be held on August 26th at midnight.  Good luck!