Beach Gift Tote

My sister and her family moved from San Francisco to the mid west this year. No longer are they living in a cool coastal climate. It's hot and humid out here! So we came up with a fun little gift basket to give our cousins when we went to visit them on our way out to California.

The Dollar store had these fun totes. Perfect for the pool. So we loaded it with bubbles, crazy straws, drink mixes, sponges (for getting wet and throwing), a beach ball, and freezer pops.

Then we stopped by Old Navy and picked up some of their fun flip flops for all 4 of the kids.

We hope they enjoy their new home, new climate, and new way of life! The midwest is amazing!

VISIT FLORIDA!

This post brought to you by VISIT FLORIDA. All opinions are 100% mine.

When Derrick and I were first married, we spent a lot of time down in Florida. He was going to a school for the Coast Guard and I would fly down and visit him every few weeks when I had time off of work. He was in Tampa which was in close proximity to many places! We spent time on the beach, and a lot of time near Orlando. Pirate Dinner Shows, Medieval Dinner Shows, Theme Parks, Amusement Parks, it was a one-stop state for entertainment and relaxation. We really enjoyed our time there.

Summers in Florida are a great time to visit. And there is SO much to do and see. Besides the entertainment and parks you have the sea life as well. Dolphins, manatees, a tropical feel right here without leaving the United States!

Does a vacation in florida sound like something you would like to do? Then check out the Florida’s Three for Free Giveaway from VISIT FLORIDA! It runs through June 30, and participants may enter daily. I did! Simply visit the Florida’s Three for Free Giveaway site and browse the vacation packages that they are showcasing. Pick 3 of your favorites and submit them! One winner will win the 3 vacation packages  that they chose! Nine additional winners will win one of the following packages: Swim with the Manatees, Tennis Lovers Gourmet Getaway, Natural Florida, Family Adventure, Space Cowboy, Trainer for a Day, The Breakers Luxury Dream Vacation, Ultimate Spa-Cation, Classic Family Beach Week,  Step Into the Past, Florida Keys FIshing, or Tee Time for Two. See the site for details on each package!

Here are the vacation packages that I chose. I was drawn in by the ones that seemed centered around family activities and since These 3 looked AMAZING!

Family Adventure! (Sponsored by VisitCentralFlorida.org)

Central Florida is fun for the whole family! This trip for four includes two days at LEGOLAND and LEGOLAND Water Park, Florida's newest family theme park with more than 50 rides, shows and attractions. Experience the new WingWalkAir at Fantasy of Flight, a 600-foot zip line and three-level ropes course complete with 33 midair challenges. Then, explore the secret gardens at Bok Tower Gardens, a national historic landmark. Relax after your many adventures with four nights at the Holiday Inn Winter Haven

Natural Florida! (Sponsored by Anna Maria Island LongboatKey.com)

Get to know Anna Maria Island, Longboat Key and Bradenton on two wheels and four legs! You and a guest will stay at the Tortuga Inn Beach Resort for three nights and explore the area on bicycle and Segway, then learn to swim with the horses and horse surf. On a trip to Anna Maria Island, Longboat Key and Bradenton, we'll help you relax, renew and rediscover.

Classic Family Beach Week! (Sponsored by TradeWinds)

Sink your toes deep into the sugary white sand of St. Pete Beach for the family beach vacation of a lifetime. Enjoy the warm Florida sun and inviting waters of the Gulf of Mexico during your week at TradeWinds Island Resorts. You and three guests will unwind in our spacious rooms, watch the sunset from a beachside hammock or relax in one of seven pools. Quite simply, the days are yours to do with as you like.

Don't these sound FUN?! Entering is easy and there is nothing to lose! Also be sure to check out VISIT FLORIDA on Facebook for more details.

 

YP= Yellow Pages

So I am still new to this whole "smart phone" thing. So everytime I find a new app that makes life easier I am as excited like kid on Christmas morning! And I have an awesome one to share with you today!

The YP app (Yellow Pages) doesn't just give you listings of restaurants, businesses, etc. They help you locate them with links to directions as well as the contact info, a menu (if one is available), and customer reviews! Along with a menu option, you can search for specific dishes.

My kids hadn't ever been to a buffet before so I did a quick search near our hotel in Champaign, Illinois and saw that there was a Hometown Buffet just 1/4 of a mile away. Not my choice for fine dining, but with 4 children and remembering how much I liked buffets as a kid, we decided to make a stop. I was actually pretty impressed with this specific restaurant. I don't think I've been to a Hometown Buffet in probably 12 or so years.  It was clean, the staff was very helpful and friendly, and they had a nice selection of choices. Dallin said that "I really like buffets! This is SO GOOD!" as he sampled all of the foods that he picked out himself. Kaylee's plate consisted of a jello jiggler, shredded carrots and cheese, applesauce, tortilla chips, and an icee for a drink. She wanted to serve EVERYTHING HERSELF. I just stood next to her for damage control. It really is a great place for kids to go to and feel independent. Making their own combos and trying new foods.

It's a one-stop app for all of our dining out needs. And we have a lot of them while on the road!

When trying a new restaurant, I always find reviews to be helpful. I even wrote up some of my own reviews to my favorite restaurants. Just a quick write up of what we love about each one.

Our favorite restaurant is Genji's in Columbus, Ohio. They've even inspired me to find a couple of recipes to make at home to try to compare with theirs! You can read my review on Genji's here!

The other day we needed to also find an auto parts store to fix our left blinker. Kind of a big deal with trying to merge onto freeways! So we searched the YP app and found the closest auto parts store in a snap. I also love the gas station price feature. Just hit the gas pump icon and it will show you the gas station with the lowest price/gallon! Awesome.

Thank you to YP for being a sponsor. Check out the latest YP app or YP.com to find food nearby fast! YP is your local companion for making decisions on everything from where to eat to where to find cheap gas. This post is in conjunction with my relationship with the Clever Girls Collective, and all opinions expressed here are my own. #YPcrave

Crafting with Cousins!

Greetings from Missouri!! We are having a BLAST here at my sister's home and visiting with cousins. LOOOOONG days, late nights, and early morning of non-stop  playing! Someone drove by and asked my sister if she ran a preschool/daycare because they were looking for a place for their child. Nope, we just have a lot of kids and a lot of fun!

 Hanging out in the back yard, playing together, going to the lake. We dont want it to ever end. The kids get along so great!

 

We have even managed to get a bit of crafting done together!

We had a great time discovering different ways to play with wind! The kids made these fun wind cars and wind socks and then took them to the back yard to try them out! With 2 crafty mamas and 7 super creative kids, they turned out great and we had so much fun!

We used a Kiwi Crate for the supplies and it provided everything we needed for our morning of crafting!

Each kit has a theme. This one was about "Wind". The box was full of supplies, challenges, ways to explore with your new creation. We loved them and give it 18 thumbs up :)

It's so great to be able to enjoy these warm summer days together.

Learning, exploring, growing, and building relationships too.

 We'll miss our cousins in Missouri!

Kiwi Crate would like to offer Gluesticks readers 25% off  your  first Kiwi Crate (a $19.95 value), for a limited time only. Just use the code: CLEVER25

This post is sponsored by Kiwi Crate. I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective, and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

Homemade Strawberry Ice Cream {3 Ingredients}

Homemade ice cream doesn't get any easier than this!

2 c. diced strawberries ( you can also pulse them in a blender)

2/3 c. sugar

2 c. whole milk

Whisk sugar and milk together in a bowl. Add strawberries and chill in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours. Pour into ice cream machine and follow manufacturer's instructions.

Since this is made with milk vs. heavy cream it will be a nice soft serve ice cream when it comes out of the machine. To have ice cream that is a bit more set up, freeze for 1 hour before serving.

It is absolutely delicious and so refreshing!

If you don't have an ice cream machine, check out these ways to make ice cream without one!

How to make ice cream without a machine

The Food Lab: Real Ice Cream Without an Ice Cream Machine

Buffalo Chicken Wraps

I LOVE buffalo chicken! Wings, pizza, you name it. My favorite buffalo flavoring is Texas Pete's wing sauce. Usually when you make wings you combine hot sauce with butter. Not with Texas Pete's. With this, you simple toss your chicken in the sauce. Done. The flavor is awesome. Not too spicy, but enough kid to be buffalo sauce. I used some inspiration from Skinnytaste and came up with a dinner that we really enjoyed. And the chicken was just as flavorful and juicy the next day for lunch!

Buffalo Chicken Wraps

4 chicken breast halves

2 T. chicken base (I use Tone's brand. Bouillon cubes work too)

1/2 c. diced onion

2 garlic cloves

3/4 c. buffalo wing sauce

shredded carrots

lettuce

tortillas/wraps

dipping sauce

Cover chicken with water in a medium sauce pan. Add chicken base or bouillon and dissolve. Bring to a boil and add onions and garlic. Reduce heat to medium and simmer about 30-40 minutes.

Remove chicken and shred. Toss with wing sauce.

On a warmed tortilla, add chicken, lettuce, carrots and any additional topping you'd like.

Serve with your favorite dipping sauce

Traveling Toothbrush/Paste Caddy

Does your guest bathroom ever look like this?

 

Ours does pretty much 99% of the time! It is just not in my children's control to put toothpaste on their toothbrush without squirting it out onto the counter, to rinse the sink after spitting, or to clean off their toothbrush all the way before setting it in the toothbrush holder caked with sticky paste. We've even tried only letting 1 child in the bathroom at a time so that we could see who the culprit was....it was all of them to some extent, but our 3 year old is the worst. Ahh, oh well. It isn't hard to quickly wipe the mess down, but it is annoying to do it every day so we have the kids help with it, and that usually means that the toothpaste is smeared with wipes all over the counters. Gotta love it.

With traveling a lot this summer I thought I would create something to contain the sticky mess. I have traveling toothbrush holders for them (the plastic ones), but they end up a nasty mess with them too. So I used one of the old hand towels from their bathroom that had a stain on it (their bathroom is a monster theme!) and gave it a new life.

Now when they are finished brushing their little teeth while traveling, they can put their mess in this towel, roll it up, and then I'll just wash it every couple of days when we stop to do laundry! No sticky Ziploc bags with toothpaste tubes, no plastic traveling cases caked with toothpaste. Everything is contained and completely washable.

This took about 10 minutes start to finish. I simple folded up the bottom of the towel and stitched the sides. Then I decided how many sections I wanted and stitched straight lines from the top to the bottom, creating 6 sections.

To hide the mess, fold the top to the bottom, then roll up! I could have used Velcro or ribbon too, but I chose to just use a piece of elastic that I stitched together to create a band to wrap the entire thing with.

Done!

We'll see how it works!

2012 SUMMER KIDs LINK PARTY!

It's here! The 2012 Summer Link Party! It will be open through September 1st.

Feel free to link up as many activities as you would like. Recipes, games, crafts, ANYTHING kids related!

Have a WONDERFUL summer! We're hitting the road in exactly 7 days for our big move to California!

I will have a short cut button on the side of the blog (smaller version of the one above) so that you can come back and access the party whenever you'd like.

Hello Kitty Sandwiches

So I've really been having fun trying to makes lunchtime fun. Especially when friends come over. It doesn't take long to make the sandwiches. The tedious part is searching the cupboards for things to use and the clean-up. So I might as well make them when lots of kids can enjoy them...if I'm going to put the effort into it anyways!

The boys have been enjoying time at Cub Scout Day camp with Derrick this week. Kaylee is always the one left behind and doesn't have as many play dates. So we decided to do a very last minute invite to a couple of friends for lunch and see if anyone could come! Two were available to play and she was so excited.

So I thought for 3 little girls, a Hello Kitty lunch would be fun. The sandwiches look like pretty little cats, not so much Hello Kitty. At first I couldn't figure out why, but I think I should have put the whiskers closer to the edges of the sandwich and not in the center....But the girls loved them and shouted "It's Hello Kitty!!!" when they saw their plates. So I'll call it a success!

I made the sandwiches, then used a knife to cut out the bread around the ears. Kitchen scissors worked well to cut out the round head. Then I used mini M&Ms for the eyes, nose, and flower center,  and a slice of apple (peel facing out) for the flower.

The whiskers are black icing from a tube that I had, but pretzels would have been fun too or maybe some fruit leather strips.

A little cup of grapes and another of spring shaped marshmallows and they were set!

Kaylee set up a little tea party and the girl shad a wonderful afternoon playing together!

You can my attempt at Angry Bird Sandwiches here.

Conquering the Pool {Everyday Victories!}

Thank you to P&G and Kroger stores for celebrating “Team Mom’s Everyday Victories”! Please visit the P&G's event page to play games, win money off your next Kroger trip and more fun!

I am not "Just a Mom". I am a coach, a teacher, a friend, the most qualified person during the day to tie shoes, a chauffeur, a nurse, an alarm clock, a chef, a seamstress, and a wife. I. LOVE. MY. JOB. Sometimes I sit back and think, "Can this really be happening? Here I am walking through the zoo with my 4 children, on a beautiful sunny day, enjoying the chatter between them....this is my JOB?". Then I quickly feel bad for my husband who is cooped up at work, but is happy that we are able to do that. What a blessing that it worked out this way for our family. In our situation, this is the best possible thing for us.

You don't have to be a stay-at-home-mom to celebrate everyday victories. We all have those and love seeing our children progress!

Last summer we ventured into the big milestone of SWIMMING LESSONS! Fun right? I was 7 months pregnant, and signed both of the boys up. The week swim lessons started, it dropped from being in the 80s to the 60s. And swim lessons were cancelled the second day due to a huge thunderstorm. The boys were terrified. There was screaming involved the first several lessons. Girl screaming, kicking and holding on for dear life to the wall of the pool. FAIL. And here I was trying to entertain a 2 year old on the sidelines as well. What the heck was I thinking in signing them up? What a waste of 2 weeks and driving 20 minutes to get there and sitting out in the sun...for what?

I was beginning to get discouraged and so were the boys. We decided to start staying after swim lessons and hang out during open swim. Not easy with 3 kids and a huge belly that wasn't fitting into a swimsuit anymore, but I thought it might help them if they could go at their own pace vs. trying to keep up with the class. We went to the pool all the time last summer. And we all know what a hassle it is with all of the gear, etc. So it was a sacrifice on my part (partly because I don't like swimming either! ;)

Then it happened. Dallin dunked his head under and held it as long as he could. It was fun! He LOVED it! He enjoyed challenging himself. Then he dunked it and let his feet up and floated a bit. He was hooked. Aaron joined in and by the next time we went to open swim, they were bobbing all around under the water. Not jumping in from the wall yet, but just enjoying being under the water. The next week, they went on the tube slides! The water was deeper in that area. They didn't care if they swallowed water and gagged. They were learning to SWIM!

They did it! We did it! By the end of the summer they couldn't wait to go and try their new skills out. We went to Niagara Falls over spring break and I think that was one of the biggest highlights. Swimming at the hotel. They aren't proficient yet, but they conquered the hardest part. Just going under the water!

Yay, for everyday victories! The confidence this experience built in them was amazing. I was so happy for them!

****

Hurry in to Kroger and Kroger Banner Stores for P&G’s big sale event, June 10–23!

At Kroger and its banner stores, more than 30 of your favorite P&G brands are at HOT sale prices through June 23, including Tide, Charmin, Cascade, Pampers, Crest and Olay. Look for tags with special prices throughout the household needs and health and beauty aisles, and be on the lookout for even bigger offers – like getting serious dollars off when you buy a bundle of products.

Before hitting the store, visit P&G’s event page on Kroger.com: http://bit.ly/KG6dw5

You can play games like basketball, track and gymnastics to win money off your next Kroger trip, download digital coupons, print a shopping list, and learn more about P&G products!

And as part of this event, consider trying one of these fab products from P&G:
Vicks Nature Fusion, Charmin Basic, Downy Unstopables, and Swiffer Duster Extenders!

I was selected for participation in this campaign as a member of Clever Girls Collective.

The Benefits of 100% Florida Orange Juice {part 2}

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Florida Orange Juice for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Choices, choices, choices. Every day we make choices. Some easier than others. Here is one that is an easy one. We try to stick with 100% juices, water, and milk as the staple drinks in our refrigerator for the kids as well as myself.

But not all 100% juices are the same. Did you know that one 8‐ounce serving of 100 percent orange juice is a good source of potassium and folate and an excellent source of vitamin C?

Or that one serving of 100 percent orange juice is more nutrient dense than many commonly-consumed 100 percent fruit juices?

I didn't know this and was happy to hear this. I love orange juice. It feels filling and energizes me. It is refreshing and I LOVE citrus drinks, so 100% Florida Orange Juice is an obvious choice for breakfast.

While we are talking about healthy tips, here are some awesome tips from Kathleen Zelman, MPH, RD. Even though summer means vacationing and travel, let's not take a vacation from good food choices!

Jumpstart your morning with a nutritious meal that includes protein, fruit and energizing nutrient-dense carbs.
o Think you don’t have time for a complete breakfast? Blend your favorite fruit with 100 percent Florida orange juice and low-fat yogurt for a convenient, on-the-go smoothie.
o Want to jazz up your weekend breakfast? Substitute 100 percent Florida orange juice for water in your pancake batter to give your meal a zesty, new taste.

· When looking for a snack, think outside the box before trying to satisfy your cravings from roadside convenience stores or airport kiosks.
o Plan ahead and take a cooler with portable, smart snacks that fit your on-the-go lifestyle like nuts, hummus with veggies, granola bars and 8-ounce cartons of 100 percent orange juice that will help give you the energy and nutrients you need to get through your travel day.

· Outdoor grilling and dining is a great way for your family and friends to enjoy the warmer weather.
o Protein is a vital part of your daily diet, as it provides nutrients and may help satisfy hunger longer than most fats or carbohydrates.
o Choose leaner cuts of beef, pork, and poultry to grill and pair your protein with other nutrient-rich foods, such as high-fiber fruit, vegetables, whole grains and healthy fats. Add 100 percent Florida orange juice to marinades for poultry and pork for a refreshing citrus zing and pour a glass of 100 percent orange juice to accompany your meal.
 

Keep up with 100% Florida Orange Juice on Facebook and Florida Orange Juice on Pinterest!

Road Trip Binder for Kids

So the countdown is on until the day of our big move and we are preparing every day. Today I cleaned out the cupboards and freezer and washed all of my dry foods containers. Also went through and got rid of a ton of plastic food containers that didn't have lids. Now onto the next item of business....

But one thing that we don't have to worry about anymore is keeping the kids busy on our trip. It's crazy how road trips have changed from when I was a kid! Holy cow! My parents never went out of state, we usually just stuck within a 1-2 hour radius from our house and I still remember being BORED to tears!

Our kids are spoiled, but they've also been across so much more territory than I ever did as a child. We've driven from California to Alaska. From Alaska to Ohio and from Ohio to Utah (twice) on top of trips to Niagara Falls, Pennsylvania, etc. So I guess a bit of extra effort is required since we drag our kids all over the country! With a portable DVD player, books on tape, a new DS (ugh...yes, we caved and finally let our children get one to share on the trip), toys, new chapter books, and these new travel binders that I made, I think they will have fun!

The boys' binders are identical. Kaylee's is a scaled down version with lots of coloring pages and stickers instead of educational worksheets.

Each binder has a map of the US that they can check out and follow along. The front of each binder has our trip mapped out for them as well. They can follow along with little post-it flags.

The first several pages are road-trip games. Links to any printable I show can be found at the bottom of the post. Yay for free printables! What a time saver! The first is a state licence plate game. Both of our cars have Alaska plates so they can check those off....or should we make them find other cars with Alaska plates? Probably!

Next is an I-Spy game. I put post-it tabs and flags inside the binders to use as markers for games like bingo and to mark what they found.

A slug bug game (although I think we'll just look for cars in these colors too) and an Alphabet game. Those two are games we always played as kids, while traveling, and I play them with my kids now. I never thought of putting them on a printable to mark off though. Genius!

Another version of the I-Spy game with things to find.

I have a section for them to keep their ticket stubs and brochures from the attractions that we visit.

Also a place for them to keep their bonus travel tickets. The kids can earn tickets by catching Derrick or I saying the "Word of the Day". For example, if the word of the day is "Car", anytime we say it, and they catch it, they earn a travel ticket. Tickets are worth money and can be used to buy souvenirs along the way!

There is also an itinerary packet for each day of the trip in its own page protector. It tells them where we will end up each day, has a list of things to look for, tells them what the word of the day is, and includes a joke as well. The jokes are all different so they can share them with each other.

Each packet also includes a journal page for them to write or draw on.

There is also a math worksheet to do daily.

And a fun worksheet, like this hidden picture page. I found these books at Joann's awhile ago and the kids love them. There are word search, hidden pictures, mazes, educational worksheets that correlate with their grade level, etc.

I know that we could just give them snacks and a ton of movies and they would be happy (we've done it before and we will still do that this time too), but we would also like to create memories, and have them and interact with each other. So hopefully these games will help with that!

Since Derrick and I are driving in separate vehicles and I will be the one primarily driving with the children, we can use all of the fun interactive, and boredom buster ideas we can get!

3500 miles and 18 Days on the road, then another 3 weeks of hotel living before our house is finished......BRING IT. ;)

Links to Printables

License Plate Game

Slug Bug, I-Spy, Alphabet Game

Travel Bingo

Printable Jokes here , here and here.

Playing along with the LeapFrog Summer Camp {Update!}

Thank you to LeapFrog for sponsoring my post about Leapfrog Summer Camp. To sign up for LeapFrog Summer Camp, please click here. #CleverLFCamp #spon

We've been playing along with the Leap Frog Summer Camp! Have you? We had a great time last week with the "Out and About" activities from Week 1! The US has so many wonderful things to offer and the summertime is a great time to explore them! Aaron colored a landscape map of the US which was great since we are going to be driving across country. Interesting for him to see where we were going to be visiting. Desert, Mountains, etc.

We also invited friends to join us for one of the extra credit activities...a neighborhood scavenger hunt! It was a beautiful day in the high 70s (don't ask me why Kaylee chose to wear snow boots!) and we had a great time exploring our neighborhood. The kids weren't able to find everything on the list, but the did find a piece of sidewalk chalk. One of the kids had the idea of drawing the items they weren't able to find and marking them off that way. SO...there are random drawings on the sidewalk down the street of a school bus and a lady bug :) They used their imaginations and that's really what it's all about!

Here is a complete list of the weekly themes that are happening this week and through July. If you haven't started, it isn't too late!

Week 2: June 11-17	Caring for Animals — This week of LeapFrog activities is designed to inspire new experiences with animals and to consider themes of responsibility and compassion.
Week 3: June 18-24	Puzzle Time — Play with puzzles while building logic & reasoning skills.
Week 4: June 25-July 1	Art & Music — Children's creativity blossoms when they have the time and freedom to experiment with a range of media. This week's activities include handmade instruments, crafts, and a home art gallery.
Week 5: July 2-8	Writing That's Real — Kids who don’t easily “take” to reading can often be coaxed through nonfiction. This week you’ll explore high-interest nonfiction topics and investigative writing.
Week 6: July 9-15	Storytelling — This week, children will express themselves creatively through storytelling, music, art, drama and pretend play.
Week 7: July 16-22	Natural Science — This week, we’ll encourage you and your child to observe, ask questions, and draw conclusions as you explore and investigate the world around you.
Week 8: July 23-29	Friendship Week — Get ready for school and International Friendship Day by exploring the theme of friendship.

This post is sponsored by LeapFrog. I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective, and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own