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New to Our Shelves: Less than Traditional Kid Books

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A few months ago a publishing company contacted me and asked if I would take a look at a few of their newest books.  As soon as I saw that one was written by Herve Tullet, I jumped at the chance.  In case you're not familiar with Tullet, he's the creative genius behind the massively engaging, and uber popular, Press Here. (This interactive book is one of my kids favorites - if you don't have it, I'd highly recommend looking into it.)   With Doodle Cook, Tullet once again serves up an … [Read more...]

Everything You Need to Know to Start Montessori-ing at Home

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Last fall I was absolutely delighted when the lovely Kylie of How We Montessori agreed to write a four part series here on how to get started with Montessori principals at home.  We called the series Make Like a Montessori Mama and it was a huge success.   With each post Kylie provided detailed instructions on five new at-home activities, each revolving around a theme (food, animals, plants and shapes).  It was such a fabulous resource that I felt compelled to link up to the entire series … [Read more...]

The Weekend Look Book

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I've mentioned being away working on the site redesign (I've got something else super secret in the works too - shhh!).  What I may not have mentioned is that I'm doing so while vacationing at a family lake house.   This is the view from my office.  I am getting some work done but it's usually not too long until I'm back out there with the kids.  All that to say - no Weekend Look Book this weekend.  Don't fret, though, I've got lots of great new finds on Pinterest (my Getting Organized, … [Read more...]

Our Favorite Ways to Make Memories Outside

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I'm having so much fun rounding up our best posts for you to peruse while I'm working away on the site's redesign.  Today we're covering our all time favorite outdoor activities.  Take a look at the list and find a few items to put on your summer bucket list before it's too late.   1. Get Creative with Sidewalk Chalk - Grab some cheap sidewalk chalk, your camera phone, and ideas from this post and you'll have at least an afternoon's worth of playtime.  You'll also have some super cute … [Read more...]

Boredom Buster

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I love activities that are cheap, easy, and entertaining for more than just a minute. This is one of my favorite "go to" activities to do with bored kids. All you need is a handful of completely random objects and/or toys from around the house and a bag. The objects in the bag can be used in SO many different ways.  Lay them all out for your kids to look at and then take one away when they aren't looking. Have them try and remember what you took away.  Dump out … [Read more...]

The Many Benefits of Family Camping

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I love this picture.  At first glance, it looks like C is pouting a bit.  But further inspection reveals he's actually softly smiling to himself.  Content just to be surrounded by nature, doing nothing more than breathing in the mountain air.   The family and I have been doing more than our fair share of camping lately and this photo reflects exactly why I've fallen in love with our weekends away.  The great outdoors has exactly the same effect on me as it does on my … [Read more...]

Book Club: Week Two

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If you're new to MPMK's book club, we're meeting every other Tuesday to discuss a chapter from Buddhism for Mother's of Young Children - Becoming a Mindful Parent.  You can join us at any time, get your copy here and catch up with our chapter 1 discussion here.  We'd love to have you.   The take home message of this chapter is without a doubt that happiness comes from within (aka inner peace) and cannot be achieved through external means.  To that end, the author encourages us to stop … [Read more...]

The Weekend Look Book

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Happy weekend everyone.  I'm still working feverishly on the site's re-design as well as something top-secret for Project Organize Your ENTIRE Life (shhh!) and doing the Weekend Look Book a little differently this week.   I was feeling guilty that I haven't had the chance to take photos yet for the final post in our Natural Play Spaces series, so I decided to do a mini look book of some outdoor ideas the kids would love. The first one I spotted on our contributor Allison's site.  It's a … [Read more...]

Healthy Snack: Roasted Chickpeas

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Chickpeas are such a great way to sneak fiber into your diet (don't miss our 10 easy lunch ideas using chickpeas too!)... When it comes to snacks are you a salty person or sweet?  (I'm both - why choose, right?)  Either way, Natalie's got something for you today.   In her continued quest to live sugar-light, she's had to get creative with her snacks.  Today she's got a total of four variations, some salty and some sweet, of her new favorite: roasted chickpeas.  The … [Read more...]

How to Build a Re-mixable Wardrobe

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I am unbelievably excited about today's guest post.  Recently I stumbled upon Audrey's blog and, I'm telling you, she's gonna be the one to drag me out of my jeans + cute top rut.  Not only do I love her easy, accesible style but her blog, and this guest post, is absolutely filled with tangible ways to build the wardrobe you've always wanted.     Audrey has a completely cracked the code on how to build an affordable, fashionable, and re-mixable wardrobe (see above for proof).   Read on … [Read more...]

How to Really Love a Child

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Kaley is back today with a post that fits so nicely with our recent book club discussion on becoming a more mindful parent.  The sentiment behind this poem is such a great reminder of the parent I'm striving to be...   How do you love a child?  We read books on how to feed your child, how to discipline them, how to talk to them, and how to get them to sleep.  But doesn't loving a child just come naturally?  Do we really need direction when it comes to loving our children? We all love … [Read more...]

How to Travel with Kids

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Before we dive in today, I wanted to give you a quick update on the site's redesign. We are tenatively shooting for a launch in 4 weeks. That has me both incredibly excited and more than a bit nervous about all the work to be done. So I'll be stepping back a bit for the next 4 weeks. Don't worry though, between contributors, guest posts, and a few roundups - I've got you covered with tons of fresh stuff while I'm away. Now, back to the topic at hand... Many of you with kids probably remember … [Read more...]

Book Club: Week One

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Today's the day we start our read along of Buddhism for Mother's of Young Children - Becoming a Mindful Parent.  I'm so excited to see what you guys thought of the first chapter.  Initially we were going to cover the first two chapters but... I ended up having too much to say about chapter one (surprise, surprise!).  Also, MPMK contributor Kim has generously agreed to chime in with her thoughts as well.  So let's jump in! Chapter 1 - Where Am I? "Our presence is one of the … [Read more...]