Isn't this little guy cute? If you're a regular reader here than you know that my oldest is an October baby - this is the friendly monster cake I made to celebrate his 1st birthday and I think he'd make a fabulous addition to any Halloween parties you may have planned. I know he looks fancy but he was actually very, very straight forward to make. In fact, this was only the third or fourth cake I've ever baked and those that came before were nothing fancy, straight-from-the-box Duncan … [Read more...]
Parenting: The Gifted, the Talented, and the Hard Workers
Image Credit: © Suzette - www.suzette.nu | found here | CC by 2.0 Jessica is with us today discussing, once again, how do we really give our kids the kind of childhood we want for them? I really love what she has to say, it reminds me of a great chapter from one of my favorite books, Nuture Shock: New Thinking About Children. Like nearly every parenting issue, there's a lot of gray area here and not a whole lot of black and white- I'd love to hear your thoughts! Here's Jessica with … [Read more...]
Overnight Steel Cut Oats (and How to Get the Kids to Make Their Own Breakfast)
With that first snap of cool fall weather, all I want to do is cozy up with a warm bowl of oatmeal in the morning. Oatmeal is such a great breakfast option because it helps keep you full until lunch. I also love that oatmeal offers endless flavor combinations, from sweet to savory. My favorite oatmeal company, The Quaker Oats Company, makes the most delicious steel cut oats. Steel cut oats are simply chopped, while the regular rolled oats are steamed, rolled, steamed again and then … [Read more...]
Round Up: Our Most Useful FREE Printables for Your Kids
The nature of blogging is so fast paced - always working to churn out that next post - that every once in a while, I put my head up and realize that there's a lot of great stuff essentially getting buried here. I try to help with menu bars and categories for things like Project Organize Your ENTIRE Life, In the Kitchen, or The Holidays- but the truth is a lot of you are viewing this on your phones and those menu bars are so teeny tiny they're virtually non-existent. So today, I thought I'd … [Read more...]
10 Great Places for Kids to Spend Their Allowance
I've written here already about how back-to-school always feels like a breath of fresh air to me - largely because we get the chance to establish some new routines and it brings a whole new flow to our family life. One of those routines we're currently focusing on are our chores. These include both family jobs AND money jobs. So far, it's going really well. But one of the things that stumped me for a bit, especially when we first started to pay our young children for their "money jobs", … [Read more...]
How to Finally be a Healthy, Energized Family this School Year!
Image Credit: © Suzette at www.suzette.nu | here & here | CC by 2.0 When I first started this little blog of mine, I never thought I’d be posting on health. In fact, when the idea first started to germinate, I thought MPMK would be all about home design. Boy, have times changed! It didn’t take much time being a mother before my priorities started to change – big time. Don’t get me wrong, I still love a beautiful room and a clever decor DIY (especially around the holidays), but these … [Read more...]
How to Set up a Healthy Pack-Yourself Lunch Station for Kids
I'm all about making life easier when possible. As moms we are juggling a million things and making lunches for school is one of those things that seems like it should be an easy task, but ends up being one of the tasks that I avoid until the last minute. So here's what I've discovered. Just like anything else, preparation is key. You may have seen our serve-yourself snack station over the summer. I decided to apply the concept to lunch. If I let the kids have make their own lunches … [Read more...]
2016 Project Organize Your ENTIRE Life Printables NOW Available!
It's nearly April and that can only mean two things. First, it's officially spring cleaning time. Second (and decidedly more fun), Spring Break is coming! Whether the idea of cleaning, sprucing and organizing fills you with glee or with dread - I've got an awesome offering today to help you get it done quickly AND to enjoy all the extra free time with the kids. We're offering an extremely limited time, "Save Your Spring" Bundle on our most popular PDF products. Get $8 off when you buy … [Read more...]
Sending Kids Off to College on a Budget
*This post is sponsored by QVC but all opinions are 100% our own. Check out #QVC for more info. on the QCard. I don't have any children heading off to college yet; my oldest just started kindergarten, so those days are still a ways off for our family. But my husband's youngest brother begins his first year of college in a few weeks and even that is pretty much blowing my mind. I met him when he was nine years old, so it is hard to imagine that he's old enough to head off for university … [Read more...]
Lunch Box Smoothies 101
Have you guys ever packed smoothies in your kids' lunches? I'm so intrigued by this idea - it seems like SUCH a good way to get some much needed veggies into my kiddos' lunches and I know they'd see it as an extra special treat. But I wonder about the mess factor - is this really do-able?! Our food contributor, Natalie, assures me that it is and she's here today sharing everything we need to know, along with her favorite tools and recipes. Frozen smoothies are lunch box staples at my … [Read more...]
Responsibility & Logical Consequences: One Mom’s Conundrum
So technically I'm taking suggestions here. I mean, I think we're doing it mostly right, if level of difficulty is any indication. Because so far, teaching our kids to be responsible little people seems to involve an awful lot of biting my tongue, sitting on my hands so I don't rush to do something the "right" way, and letting them fall flat on their own little faces sometimes. I’m all about modeling good behavior. I say please and thank you to my kiddos, and I expect to hear it back. I … [Read more...]
Green Clean Your Entire House – The Bathroom
Just in time for the back-to-school season and the crazy mad urge to clean and organize EVERYTHING that goes with it (or is that just me), we've got another green cleaning post. This time our contributor, Kaley, is tackling the bathroom with green cleaner recipes for the floors, toilets, drains, counters, mirrors and more plus a detailed order-of-operations about how to go about it all most efficiently. Whoo hoo! The bathroom is one of the hardest working rooms in the house. And also the … [Read more...]
The Best Ideas for Cooking Veggies in a Crockpot (and other ways to get kids to eat healthy)
*I’m a PediaSure SideKicks Partner and am a sponsored blog partner, but all opinions are my own. Please see below for additional disclosure. Did you know August is "Kids' Eat Right Month"? In celebration, I'm pulling together my favorite tips and tricks for helping kids to eat healthy. My #1 tip is to always, always have veggies on hand. A few of my favorite techniques for doing so include: Stocking the fridge with individual portions of cut veggies and hummus or yogurt cups for … [Read more...]
Round Up: Teacher Recommended Back-to-School Hacks
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...]
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