June 30, 2017 · in Activities For Kids· Summer Fun

4th of July Fun ~ 3 Simple Ideas

Summer is one of my favorite times of year. With Fathers Day, the 4th of July, Sean’s birthday, and our Anniversary. So many things to celebrate. If you know me then you know that I LOVE to get all festive when it comes to holidays. Check out our Pioneer Day Fun.

I wanted to share 3 simple things you can do with the kids to make this holiday a little more special. Also be sure to check out our YouTube video of the fun make over and dance party we had this year.

Healthy Patriotic Strawberries and or Jello

I’m sure you’ve seen this idea all over Pinterest, but of course I had to create my own healthy spin to it. We used Driscolls Strawberries, and instead of white frosting, I’ve used my favorite home made coconut whip cream. Only 3 ingredients, coconut cream, vanilla stevia, and cinnamon. First dip in the whip cream, then dip in some blue sprinkles.

Here’s another healthy treat. Yes, it’s HEALTHY jello. See my recipe HERE. Again, topped with coconut whip cream and some sprinkles.

Face Painting

Kids always love a little face paint. And look how easy this was! I just happened to have a white eyeliner pencil and it was perfect. This year I’m going to get a little more creative. I think I’ll buy some face paint and look up a few YouTube video tutorials.

Red White & Blue Manicures

Now I’m no nail artist, but you can get pretty creative with a simple nail art kit. Be sure to check out my YouTube channel for more Summer Fun Ideas.

June 18, 2017 · in Activities For Kids· Life of a Wannabe

Fathers Day Ideas

Every year we’ve tried to make Fathers Day extra special for Sean and the kids. Here is a compilation of some of the things we’ve done in the past to celebrate a favorite guy!

One year we set up a surprise camp out for Sean to sleep outside with the kids. We decorated the tent all cute and had a basket full of snacks and stuff to roast marshmallows. The kids thought this was the coolest thing EVER!

We made it pretty fancy too, this tent had mattresses, a heater, AND a TV to watch a movie, haha. Definitely not roughing it, that’s for sure.

Be sure to check out our latest YouTube video with highlights of the campout as well as some of the other things we did this year for Fathers Day.

June 9, 2017 · in Activities For Kids· balance· List's and Schedules· routines

Family Summer Fun: FREE Printable

Summer can be so fun yet so daunting for us moms. We get excited to finally let go of the busy schedule and relax a bit, but our kids don’t seem to know how to relax. They wanna go go go, and we just wanna take it easy and rest. They expect us to entertain them all summer long. I try to encourage my kids to be creative and come up with their own ideas for family summer fun, but that doesn’t keep them from constantly whining about being bored.

As part of my goal to be more hands free this summer, I came up with a good game plan…

P.S. I got to talk about my ideas on TV!!! Check it out HERE!!!

Allow me to show you a little something I put together with the help of my wonderful friend Glady at Heart Take The Wheel. It’s a FREE PRINTABLE you can use as a guideline for your family summer fun. When creating things like this I’m always keeping BALANCE in mind. I want my kids to have a nice well rounded summer so I cover it all, from doing chores, to exercising, and spending a little time on school work each day. Be sure to catch my YouTube videos to see all the fun in action (I’ve attached my most recent one below). Also if you want to see more pics of my school room transformation then check out THIS POST.

I’ve been trying to make time to do one or 2 pages a day in their school workbooks and some reading. We really like the Brain Quest Workbooks and flash cards. I love how they are curriculum-based, but infused with a spirit of fun.

Monday

Make It Healthy ~ Create a healthy kid friendly meal plan and spend some time doing meal prep for the week. Try my healthy homemade jello recipe or, a delicious kefir smoothie. My kids LOVE this one. Also another favorite is apple donuts made out of just apples, cream cheese, SweetLeaf Liquid Stevia Sweetener, and sprinkles of course. All you need is an Apple Corer.

Move Your Body ~ Search YouTube for kid workout videos or yoga, have a dance party, or get out of the house and ride bikes, go on a walk, or jump on the trampoline.
Movie Night ~ Make movie night fun and different. Set up a projector screen outside or make some movie tickets and set up a popcorn and candy stand.

Tuesday

Tidy Up ~ Get the kids involved in de-cluttering, organizing, folding laundry, and deep cleaning the house.
Time to Read ~ Have some family reading time. Get some new books at the library, set up a healthy snack tray, snuggle up and read books together.
Take a Trip ~ Take advantage of your local kid friendly amenities. Splash pads, pools, parks, theme parks, hikes, lakes, museums, ect. Our favorite place to visit is Thanksgiving Point because of all the different options. Dinosaur Museum, Farm Country, Museum of Natural Curiosity, and the beautiful Gardens.

Wednesday

Write About It ~ Spend some time journaling with your kids. Give them writing prompts if needed.
Workbook ~ Get some educational summer work books like Brain Quest Workbooks, for the kids. I like to have them do at least one or 2 pages a day, but one day a week spend a little more time working in it.

Wet n Wild ~ Have a water balloon fight, squirt gun games, sprinklers under the trampoline, water parks, pools, splash pads, ect.

Thursday

Think Thoughtful ~ Do a random act of kindness with the kids, Pinterest has lots of ideas.
Thankful Writing Time ~ Have the kids write out everything they’re grateful for and some positive affirmations.
Thrifty Creative Craft ~ Create something using only items in your house. Old toys, empty milk carton, paper towel role, scraps of fabric, an old t-shirt, card board box, etc.

Friday

Fresh Fun Pinterest Activity ~ Find a new summer fun idea on Pinterest and do it!
Family Fitness ~ Do something active as a family. Go on a hike, family bike ride, play soccer, play freeze tag, roller blading, ect.

What about you? What do you do for your family summer fun? I’d love to hear it in the comments!

<<<GET YOUR FREE PRINTABLE>>>

May 26, 2017 · in Activities For Kids· Life of a Wannabe

Amazing San Diego Vacation ~ Traveling With Small Children

If you’re planning a family vacation soon then this post might be helpful. I’ll share exactly what we did on our recent trip to San Diego as a family of 6. Sean and I have never really gone on a vacation without the kids, so traveling with small children has become the norm for us. We usually do one big family trip a year and I’ve learned a few things over the years. I think the hardest part about traveling with small children is GETTING THERE. A few years ago we took all the kids to Hawaii and I was really nervous about the long flight with 3 kids and a 9 month old. So I spent a lot of time on Pinterest and came up with a plan to keep the kids happy and entertained.

I created 5 different boxes or bags for each child and placed them all in their own back packs. Every hour of the flight they all got to open a new box or bag I prepared. Each one of them had 3 activities, and a snack or treat. I included a little piece of paper in each with an inspirational thought for the hour, and the list of things to do with the items in the bag. Here’s an example.

This hour for Lily was to play checkers with Olly, play math war with Sean, then tell Brooklyn the story of Goldilocks And The Three Bears using the finger puppets provided.

My kids loved this so much and it made my mama heart proud to see that it actually WORKED! Everyone was happy, nobody complained about how long it was taking to get there and it was just an all around great trip.

I put together something similar for our 6 hour drive to California. Except I included my older two in the preparation. I took them both to the store with me to buy a few new little toys and things for the kids. I gave Lily the responsibility to do Brooklyn’s bag and Oliver was in charge of Owen’s. This not only helped me a lot, but it also gave Oliver and Lily a sense of excitement and pride when watching the younger two unveil the bags in the car ride. Traveling with small children gets easier when you have older kids!

For your older kids it’s always a good idea to get them a new audio book to listen to and to download some new music or movie on their phones, IPads or tablets.

I would also highly recommend getting yourself a nice car storage organizer to help keep the car tidy. It’s always a good idea to have a place to put all your snacks, drinks, garbage, and extras. I’ve also learned to come equipped with Dramamine Motion Sickness Relief for Kids . I have a few kids that get car sick real quick, so it’s always good to have this on hand.

One other little piece of advice that might be somewhat controversial as I’m not sure how others might feel about this, but I brought some natural Melatonin Chewables for kids. Owen, my 3 year old absolutely REFUSES to nap even though he desperately needs them at times. So on the car ride around nap time, I slipped him a little melatonin candy to ensure a peaceful ride. There were a couple other times during the trip that I had to give it to him because he was absolutely losing his mind and needed SLEEP. He’s out within 20 minutes. Life saver I tell yah.

I also created a FREE Vacation Printable for traveling with small children as a helpful guide throughout the planning process. Designed by Heart Take The Wheel.

My favorite bags are these Jujube Bags. Not only are they SUPER Cute, but they have so many different pockets and compartments in there to help keep all the different items organized and separated.

Our first stop was Anaheim CA. We had to do Disneyland one day of course. So we found a place to stay near Disney so that we could come back for naps if we needed to. And we DID need those naps. Brooklyn and Owen quickly burned out so it was nice to take them back so we could go back and stay late for the parade. Be sure to watch our highlight video I uploaded to our YouTube Channel, and subscribe if you wanna be notified when I post more videos.

This was Owen’s first time at Disney and the highlight for him was getting to hug Mickey Mouse, see video.

After 2 nights in a hotel and one day at Disney, we made our way over to San Diego. Sean wanted to surprise me with a beach house as my mothers day gift so he did all the planning and even blind folded me a few minutes before we arrived. He did a Facebook live of the whole thing, I added a couple clips of it to the YouTube video.

I was absolutely blown away by the place. It was more than I ever expected. Such an amazing place right on the water, and the entire back wall opened up to the beach. The owner of the place said that even Lady Gaga and Beyonce’s family had stayed in this place. Needless to say I felt pretty spoiled.

P.S. If you are wondering where I got my swimsuits, bags, clothes, ect. Check out my Instagram feed. I usually ALWAYS tag the brand I’m wearing.

We spent one day at Sea World and the rest of the time was spent hanging out on the beach, paddle boarding, boogie boarding, bike rides, collecting shells, building sand castles, catching crabs and having much needed family quality time. One thing I love about traveling with small children is that my kids are forced to hang out with each other, haha. No friends, just good ol’ fashion family bonding. Brooklyn was loving every minute she got with Lily. It was her dream come true to get to share a room with Lily and have her undivided attention the entire time. She followed her around like a little puppy. It was the cutest thing EVER!

It’s not ALL sunshine and seashells. We did have some hard days. This was one of those days that called for some Melatonin for sure. This little guy needed a nap.

Our day at Sea World was absolutely perfect. It was perfect weather and a small crowd. Something I ALWAYS appreciate when I’m traveling with small children. Big crowds can really increase the anxiety levels right?

One thing I would HIGHLY recommend you do at Sea World would be the Dine w/ Orca’s experience. This was an all you can eat buffet right next to the Orca’s tank. While we ate we got to hear from the trainers and watch how they interact with the Orcas. Pretty incredible experience, not to mention the food was delicious. Watch our YouTube video to see what it’s like.

One thing I always like to do is get some family pics taken. This trip we had Krissel Photography capture our pics. She does such amazing work.

Get you FREE Printable HERE!!!

March 3, 2017 · in Activities For Kids

7 Fun St Patricks Day Activities For Kids

We’ve done a lot of different St Patricks day activities for kids over the years so I decided to combine them all in one post and share the different ideas for you to pick and choose from. Check out our 2018 St. Patricks day fun on YouTube.

Delicious Irish Dinner with festive treats

It was fun to first create a St. Patricks Day Pinterest board to fuel the creativity. Then we went to the nearest dollar store to find all the cute seasonal stuff they had available. I’ll create a shopping list for you right here. Just take a screen shot and you’re ready to go!

What you’ll need:

Check out this recipe and list of ingredients you’ll need for the Corned Beef Stew
Fruit plate: Strawberries, raspberries, cuties, pineapple, green grapes or cucumbers, blueberries, purple grapes,
Pistachio Jell-O instant pudding mix
1 20 oz can crushed pineapple
miniature marshmallows
Pistacio nuts
Cool Whip
Large Marshmallows
White Candy melts
green food coloring
cookies
black gel frosting
Spinach

Making pistachio jello is pretty simple. I don’t even measure really. Just follow the instructions on the pudding box, add the drained can of pineapple, a handful of marshmallows, a couple scoops of cool whip and sprinkle in some pistachio nuts. It’s pretty simple, definitely NOT healthy, but oh so yummy!

The leprechaun hats are pretty self explanatory but if you need instructions then you can find the actual pin in my St. Patricks Day Pinterest board. First spray the pan with oil or use wax paper to prevent sticking. Follow the melting instructions on the Candy Melts bag, add some green food coloring. Dip the cookie in the melted green chocolate, dip the marshmallow in the green chocolate, stick the two together and you’re practically done.

And here I just made your typical green smoothie. Banana, spinach and any other fruit of choice.

Color your pet!

This is one of our favorite things to do this time of year. We color Dresden green for St. Patty’s day and pink for Easter. The kids go crazy over it. All we do is first give her a bath, then put on some rubber gloves and pour green food coloring all over her. Massage it in really good, then rinse with water. This will last for about a week.

Sensory Play

This is so much fun for the kids… for the moms, not so much. Can be pretty messy but it’s all worth it right.

What you’ll need:

Dollar store St. Patricks day items, what ever you can find will work just fine.
Scoopers
White rice
Vinegar
Food coloring

Measure 1 Cup of Rice into a container.
Add 1 Teaspoon of Vinegar.
Add as much food coloring as desired (deeper color= more food coloring)
Cover and SHAKE container real good.
Check to see if it’s coated well.
Allow time to dry. Takes a few hours, stir it up every once in a while to help it dry faster.

Festive St Patrick Day Breakfast

You will never find sugar cereal at our house, but we do however make exceptions for holidays. Lucky Charms are the perfect breakfast for St. Patricks day. I’ve even used green food coloring for the milk but my kids refuse to drink it, haha. Guess green milk is not very appealing.

Green Bath

I basically just collected all the green toys I could find and threw in the dollar store items I got. Gave them some paint brushes and mixed up some shaving cream and food coloring for them to go to town with.

Shamrock Maths

This was a super simple St Patrick Day activity to make myself. I found the foam shamrocks at the dollar store and I painted these large popsicle sticks but I’m pretty sure you can find them already colored on Amazon. Then I just wrote down math problems on each popsicle stick and had the gold coins, again from the dollar store, to use for counting.

Then of course he needed some Lucky Charms to snack on cause it for sure helps him think better, and eating only the marshmallows is all part of it, right?

Make a Leprechaun Trap

This one is fun to do because they come up with something new every year. I love to see them getting creative and really trying to catch that little guy.

Lenny the Leprechaun has to pee too ya know.

February 3, 2017 · in Activities For Kids· Life of a Wannabe· Making Dinners· Mom Stuff

2 Family Valentines Day Ideas Your Kids Will L.O.V.E

Isn’t this such a great time of year to celebrate LOVE in all forms? Love for our spouse, love for our family and love for ourselfes. If you’re struggling with low confidence then check out my 14 Days of Loving Yourself post I created last year.

I really try to make holidays special for my kids. It’s doesn’t always happen every year and for every holiday, but I do my best. Most years we’ve done some kind of activity as a family for Valentines Day. So I thought I’d create this post to highlight some of the things we’ve done over the years to help give you some ideas for your family.

Family Dinner

Decorating the table and making fun “heart” themed dinners seem to be quite the hit in our house. The kids think it’s so much fun to create as many different heart shaped foods as possible! A couple years ago we even made it restarant style and had menus and everything. It was a lot of fun for the kids to act as servers by taking orders and serving up the meals themselves. Keep in mind I’m sharing old pics as well as some new. My old pictures aren’t the best quality. I’ve come a long way with my photography skills, haha.

Not the best quality picture but this was before I knew a thing or two about photography.

You can use heart shaped cookie cutters or even kitchen scissors to cut food into hearts.

We made some yummy healthy jello in this heart shaped pan, topped with vegan coconut whip cream and fruit! This is my favorite!

We made these fun frozen yogurt hearts out of home made strawberry Kefir. So they are low in sugar and full of probiotics. All you need is some nice Easy Flex Heart 24-Cavity Silicone Molds.

14 Days of Love Lessons

Festive dinners and foods are fun but mostly I want to teach my children the importance of LOVE. So with the inspiration of one of my friends, I set aside a little time each night in February leading up to Valentines to have lessons on love. I found these cute heart shaped containers at the dollor store and inside I’ve placed a piece of paper with a small list of things we will do and talk about.

I love taking advantage of all the wonderful resources on YouTube. We’ve kind of made it a tradition now with each holiday we look up YouTube videos. Here’s a list below of some ideas you can include in your daily lesson and activity.

~Make Class Valentines and boxes together as a family

~Make special drinks you can call “Cupids Brew” In this drink below we put a little sherbet ice cream in Marinelli’s

~Play games: Toss candy hearts into cups

~Watch our own home videos

~Make fruit plates

~Play I love you game: have each person say what they love about each member of the family.

~Look through family photo albums and share favorite memories.

~Decorate heart shaped cupcakes or cookies.

YouTube Videos

~Love One Another

~Love Thy Neighbor

~Families Can Be Together Forever

~What Matters Most

~Bullying- Stop It

~Moments That Matter Most

~My Brother Hyrum

~Continue in Patience

Scriptures on Love

John 13:34-35

1 John 4:11

Mosiah 4:14-15

Moses 5:2

Matt. 16:19

D&C 110:13-14,16

D&C 132:15-21

4 Nephi 1:15

3 Nephi 11:22,29

Proverbs 15:1

Proverbs 17:17

Moroni 8:26

Honestly friends, these are the 2 best family valentines day activities our children love doing. What about you? What have you planned for your family valentines day? I’d love to hear about it!