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Round Up: Teacher Recommended Back-to-School Hacks

August 19 by Kristin

Back-to-school organization ideas from an elementary school teacher - LOVE all of these ideas, especially the backpack station and easy lunch organization!

This time of year I find I am usually equal parts excited and anxious for what lays ahead. So many new opportunities, friends, sports, clubs, etc. - so many new schedules to balance (especially now that I have a full day student, a part-time preschooler, and a baby). You may have noticed, in fact, that I'm already in preparation overdrive.  Well, I'm not done yet! Today our contributor Kristin, a former first grade teacher, is here sharing her all-time favorite back-to-school hacks. You … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Kristin, Organizing, Project Organize Your ENTIRE Life Tagged With: back to school organization, back-to-school hacks, getting organized for back to school, How to get organized, organizational tips for kids, POYEL, school organization

Tips from a Teacher on Dealing with Back-to-School Anxiety

July 20 by Kristin

How to Deal with Back-to-School Anxiety - Love these great tips from a teacher on dealing with first day of school worries... I'd never thought to do #5, so smart!

*I’m a PediaSure SideKicks Partner and am a sponsored blog partner, but all opinions are my own. Please see below for additional disclosure. Can you believe we're talking First Day of School already?!!? It's so funny to find out that parents kind of feel the same way about it as kids do (I never realized when I was a kid) - not wanting the summer to end but also a little excited about the new schedule and changing of the seasons. I also never realized as a kid how stressful the first day … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Kristin, Parenting Tagged With: back-to-school anxiety, first day of school, first day of school anxiety, healthy lunch ideas, how to have a great first day of school, how to pack a school lunch, school lunches, tips for the first day of school

How to Have a Successful Family Night for EVERYONE

July 13 by Kristin

Tips for a Successful Family Game Night (or not game night) - My kiddos were being such poor losers during family game night, it was becoming no fun. These are some great tips that really helped us turn it around!

Do you guys do family night? I read in one of my favorite parenting books that it was an important thing to establish early on. You know, promotes communication, sibling and parent/child bonding, will make your kiddos confide in you more when they're older, yadda, yadda. So, we established family game night... And it was awful. There was SO MUCH whining and pouting, and lots of the general mayhem and misery that occurs when a preschooler looses an all-important game of Chutes & … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Kristin, Parenting Tagged With: family fun night, family night, family night for kids, how to create a family night, how to have family night with young kids, parenting, tips for family game night

Happy Family Habits #15: The Right Way to Hug your Kids

June 17 by Kristin

Did you know there's a "best way" to hug your child for maximum happiness?

One of the things I have loved, loved, LOVED about being momma to baby M are the pre-nap snuggles.  My third baby is the only one who truly loves to snuggle with me. Even as infants, S and C would wiggle in my arms as I rocked and sang to them before nap. They weren't upset, they just wanted to look around - at the room, at the fan, even at me. They were never fully relaxed enough to snuggle up as I had envisioned they would. Eventually I came to terms with it, figuring that's just how … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Happy Family Habits, Kristin Tagged With: emotional health, happy family habits, Hopelink, how to hug your children more, raising healthy kids

Nutritious Kid Snacks: Strawberry Banana Coconut Energy Bites

May 28 by Kristin

Strawberry Banana Coconut Energy Bites - great healthy snack for kids, there's even some sweet potato hidden in there too. #sponsored

*I'm a PediaSure SideKicks Partner and am a sponsored blog partner, but all opinions are my own. Please see below for additional disclosure. Are you struggling to get your kids to eat enough fruits and vegetables? You're not alone! 93 percent of kids don’t eat enough vegetables and 60 percent don’t eat enough fruit. At our house it's currently the veggies that are the problem. I try and try but to no avail, it's beyond frustrating and I worry about my kids' nutrition. Which is why I was … [Read more...]

Filed Under: In the Kitchen, Kristin Tagged With: banana strawberry coconut energy bites, easy to make breakfast, energy bites, energy snacks, energy snacks for kids, getting kids to eat vegetables, on the go vegetables, pediasure sidekicks smoothies, recipes for kids, smoothie recipes, vegetables smoothies

My Favorite Mother’s Day Gift Idea

April 29 by Kristin

Three delicious new drinks to brighten your day that you can make at home! I love the idea of gifting these recipes along with a new Keurig 2.0 for Mother's Day!

One of my number one priorities as a mom is to do my best to stay in the moment and enjoy my three young kids as much as I can. As they say, though, “The days are long but the years are short”. Which, in my case, means that’s sometimes that’s easier said than done. That is exactly why I truly love my Keurig (like I’d be kind of lost without it) and why I think it would make such a wonderful Mother’s Day gift for anyone who doesn’t have one this year. I seriously don’t think I know a mom … [Read more...]

Filed Under: In the Kitchen, Kristin Tagged With: best coffee recipes, best Mother's Day gifts, candied ginger tea recipe, coffee ice cube recipe, DIY latte, DIY Mother's Day gift, homemade Keurig recipes, iced coffee recipe, Keurig 2.0 brewing system, keurig for mother's day, keurig iced coffee recipe

The Best DSLR Camera & Equipment for Getting Great Photos Every Time

January 6 by Kristin

Love this list - exactly what you're need if you're looking to finally take better pictures this year by teaching yourself to use a DSLR camera.

Today we're switching gears away from parenting resolutions towards photography and memory keeping. If you're anything like me, taking better, more meaningful photos of the family (and then actually doing something with those photos) is an ongoing goal. I'm still working on it at my house but I will say that I made some serious progress once I finally committed to purchasing my first (and so far only) DSLR camera 4 years ago. It was a scary move - a big purchase for someone who had absolutely … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Kristin, Photography & Memory Keeping Tagged With: Beginner DSLR camera accessories, best DSLR camera, Best DSLR camera for beginners, best DSLR camera for moms, best DSLR lens, how to use a canon rebel camera, how to use a DSLR camera

Trader Joe’s Copycat Recipe: Candy Cane Whoopie Pies

December 2 by Kristin

Inspired by Trader Joe's Candy Cane Joe-Joe cookies - this are always a HUGE hit every year.

Every year Trader Joe's gets their holiday products in stock.  They fly off the shelves and quickly as they arrived.  Peppermint is king around the holidays and we love everything from the candy cane tea to the candy cane 'joe-joes'  (Trader Joe's version of an oreo.) We decided to make our own version of the candy cane joe-joe in the form of a whoopie pie. Whoopie pies are basically cakey little cookies with frosting to hold them together.  Like a soft oreo!  Whoopie pies have been around … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Holiday, In the Kitchen, Kristin, Seasonal Fun Tagged With: candy cane dessert, candy cane recipes, candy cane whoopie pies, copycat candy cane joe joes, holiday dessert, holiday recipe, holiday recipes, peppermint dessert, trader joes whoopie pie

Photography & Memory Keeping: How to use TiltShift on Your Camera Phone

November 3 by Kristin

How to take cool pics of people, places and more using the TiltShift generator - this is my new favorite thing!

Kristin, one of our professional photog contributor's here, is back today with another super helpful iPhone camera tutorial. I've always wondered how to use those fancy tiltshift apps with my iPhone but have been too intimidated/busy to really explore them. I'm super excited to have Kristin here to add to our Photography and Memory Keeping category by de-mystifying it all and show us exactly what we need to know to jump in and start using the feature today. Have you ever noticed that when … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Kristin, Photography & Memory Keeping Tagged With: camera apps, camera phone tutorial, how to take better photos on your phone, iphone camera tutorial, iphone tutorial, tilt shift app, titlshift tutorial

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