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Cinnamon Chip Oatmeal Cookies for a Cozy Winter Day

November 20 by Janssen

Cinnamon Chip Christmas Cookies- This is my favorite twist on the classic oatmeal and raisin cookie and our family's very favorite Christmas treat!

*This post is sponsored by The Quaker Oats Company, but all opinions are 100% my own. Who doesn't love a good holiday cookie? Fun to make with the kids, share with the neighbors and, of course, to eat! Plus they make the house smell heavenly. As part of our official role as a member of The Oat Authority, we’re once again teaming up with The Quaker Oats Company to offer you lots of simple and yummy ways to use their classic oats. Today is without a doubt one of my favorites. Here’s our … [Read more...]

Filed Under: In the Kitchen, Janssen, Seasonal Fun Tagged With: Christmas cookie recipe, cinnamon chip cookie recipe, holiday cookie recipe, holiday dessert, oat cookie recipe, sponsored, The Quaker Oats Company

POYEL: Mudroom/Family Command Center Reveal

November 13 by Janssen

We're back today with the big reveal of our latest Project Organize Your ENTIRE Life makeover- Janssen's mudroom/family command center. You may remember from our previous post, that Janssen had a bit of a fail the first time she attempted to get this room organized. Today she's back showing us how a little support from our latest sponsor, DYMO, helped her right the wrongs in this space. I am so smitten with the "Hooray!" idea - total genius! I seriously couldn't believe what a huge … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Janssen, Organizing, Project Organize Your ENTIRE Life Tagged With: sponsored

All-Time Favorite Kid Books (Picks for Every Age)

November 12 by Janssen

Best Kid Books: All-time favorite picks from a children's librarian... This list has everything from best board books and 1st chapter books to best books for middle schoolers, high schoolers, and best books for families to read together. Fantastic resource!

There are lots of signs that the holidays are around the corner: the radio is blaring Christmas tunes non-stop, every store is filled up with holiday treats, decorations, and gifts, and my inbox is filled with requests about what book to buy their child or niece or grandson as a gift. So many of us want to buy books for the children in our lives - we want them to love books, share our favorite titles from our childhood, and give them something that won't break or wear out in a few … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Janssen, The Book Nook Tagged With: best board books, best books for elementary aged kids, best books for highschoolers, best chapter books, best family books, best first read-alone books, best kids books, best picture books

POYEL: Creating an Organized & Family-Friendly Mudroom

September 28 by Janssen

Project Organize Your ENTIRE Life: Our Family Mudroom FAIL, and How We're Fixing It - Such a good read!

About a month into the new school year seems like pretty much the ideal time to tackle a new project for our Project Organize Your ENTIRE Life series. This week we're teaming up with our new sponsor, DYMO, to put their LabelManager 160 to work whipping up a stream-lined mudroom that serves the needs of an entire family. Here's our contributor Janssen with the details... Do you have a room in your house that has so much potential but just somehow misses the mark and ends up frustrating you … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Janssen, Organizing, Project Organize Your ENTIRE Life Tagged With: DYMO, family command center, family mudroom design, How to get organized, label maker, mudroom design, POYEL, Project Organize Your ENTIRE Life

Sending Kids Off to College on a Budget

September 3 by Janssen

Great ideas for putting together a budget -friendly college gift pack and freshman would love to receive. #spon

*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...]

Filed Under: Janssen, Simple Ideas, The grown ups (that's you!) Tagged With: college gift basket, college packing on a budget, qvc QCard

Trying out Gymnastics for Young Kids: A Morning at The Little Gym

August 18 by Janssen

Gymnastics is one of our favorite indoor social activities for both girls and boys - here's our complete review of The Little Gym.

Finding just the right activity to sign up your little one to attend, can be nothing less than maddening. I really value classes that allow my kids to be active, gain confidence, and grow their social skills. That said, I also like to spend a lot of our time on unstructured play and usually limit activities to just one per season. Which means, I am VERY choosy about which classes we take. Gymnastics is far and away one of my favorites. There's just something so amazing about watching S … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Janssen, Parenting Tagged With: gymnastics for kids, indoor activities for kids, social activities for kids, The Little Gym

8 Energy-Boosting Tips for Moms (plus Veggie Popsicles!)

June 25 by Janssen

8 Energy Boosting Tips for Moms #spon - #6, YES!!!

*I’m a PediaSure SideKicks Partner and am a sponsored blog partner, but all opinions are my own. Please see below for additional disclosure. We've talked several times on the blog before about ways for moms to get more energy - there just never seems to be enough, does there?! - but I always like to get new perspective on the subject. Today, our contributor Janssen (a mom of three, including a baby) is here sharing what works best for her. And, I have to say, it's a really solid list. I … [Read more...]

Filed Under: In the Kitchen, Janssen, The grown ups (that's you!) Tagged With: energy smoothie recipe, energy tips for moms, fruit and veggie smoothies, how to have more energy, Pediasure Sidekicks, veggie popsicles

Family Audiobooks: The Perfect Antidote to a Long Car Ride

June 23 by Steph (MPMK Founder)

Family-friendly audiobooks for long car rides - these have made our summer traveling so much more enjoyable!

Image Credit: © Tim Roth| youth lagoon + open road | text added | CC by 2.0 'Tis the season of the roadtrip! Do you make one each year with your family? We try to head to my in-laws lake house in Montana every summer... It's a 7 to 8 hour drive with the littles but the serenity is oh-so-worth it once we're there. Traveling is the one time I lift my somewhat strict screen time rules and let the kids have at it. It's a strategy that works for us for the most part, but I do have to say that I … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Janssen, The Book Nook Tagged With: audiobooks for families, best audiobooks for families, best audiobooks for kids, books on tape, traveling with kids

Give the Gift of Reading: How to make a ‘Series Starter’ Kit for Kids

December 7 by Janssen

I love this gift idea for encouraging reading SO much - I also adore the idea of being the one to introduce some of my favorite kids to some of my favorite authors!

Got a little reader on your gift list this year? Our resident children's librarian, Janssen, here today with one of our favorite gift ideas ever - the series starter. Here are all the details... Whether you're looking for a book to give to a voracious reader or a struggling and reluctant reader, series are always a good idea. For an avid reader, a series gives them not just one book to devour, but a whole set. While for the reluctant reader, entering a series means they can continue reading … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Janssen, The Book Nook, Uncategorized Tagged With: book gifts for kids, book nook, children's book gifts, children's books, children's reading gifts, gifts for readers, MPMK gift guides, series starter book gift

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