Parenting Archives - Wannabe Balanced Mom

October 24, 2016 · in Activities For Kids· crafts· Fashion· homeschooling· Life of a Wannabe· Mom Stuff· motherhood· Parenting

Fall Fun~See Kai Run

This time of year is my absolute favorite. So beautiful outside and the temperature is perfect! Not too hot and not too cold. So this is the time I like to get the kids out as much as possible. Today I’m going to share all my favorite activities to do in the fall with the kiddo’s.

Local Attractions

I get so excited about all the fun fall fashion and sometimes go a little crazy buying new clothes and shoes for me and the kids. I’m loving these adorable See Kai Run shoes. They are super stylish AND made for running and playing which is important with all the things we like to do this time of year. I love taking advantage of the local seasonal attractions like pumpkin patches, apple orchards, and if you’re in Utah then I’m sure you know about the witches at Gardner Village and all the fun things to do at Cornbelly’s Corn Maze.

Owen’s beanie is from www.rocknoxx.com, Brooklyn’s shirt is from Prickly Pear Rags, and her bow is from Bow Sweet.

My outfit details:

Shirt from Fridayapparel.com

Purse from 11ththread.com

Pants from Rubberbandstretch.com

Make Fun Food

Thanks so Pinterest I have a whole list of ideas here for you. By the way, anyone going to the Pinners Conference?

This is one of my favoite things to do. Taking ordinary food and making it fun and different. Last week we made these cute candy corn fruit parfaits using pineapple, mandarine oranges and topped it with my favorite vegan coconut whip cream.

BONES, using pretzels, marshmellows and white chocolate. (Their little outfits are from Paradise Kids Boutique, my tassel bracelet is from The Uban Hare, and Brooklyn’s bow is from Valley Gal Designs.)

Graveyard cake! My oldest daugher Lily’s birthday is in October, so we have a lot of fun on her birthday coming up with new cake and treat ideas.

Jack O’ Lantern grilled cheese sandwiches.

Mummy hot dogs…

Brain jello… we found this jello mold at the dollar store one year and the kids have loved using it every year.

Caramel apples of course!!!

Pumpkin spice protein pancakes using my favorite meal replacement shake.

Witches fingers, these were fun to make…

Arts & Crafts

We love painting over here, one fun way to make Halloween painting a little unique and super cheap is to paint hard boiled eggs.

Finger painting is always fun too…

We made these cute little witch broom candy bags, they were a hit at Lily’s bday party.

You can get creative with your pumpkins.

Face painting is always fun!!!

August 18, 2016 · in Activities For Kids· Mom Stuff· motherhood· Parenting· writing a song

Getting Kids to Practice Music

If I could go back, I would have been more serious about learning the piano and violin. For the most part we had a piano in our home growing up and my mom is a beautiful piano player. I would love to have a piano but we just have not made the plunge yet AND I don’t really know where I’d put a piano. PLUS, if we choose piano then that means we’d have to get a piano in our St. George home too. So since I really love the guitar and Lily seemed to be intrigued with it as well, we decided to start with the guitar. I was doing really good for a while, I practiced every day for about a year then I had Owen and things took a slight turn. I realized that I just don’t have time to do EVERYTHING I want to do right now. So for now I’m living vicariously through Lily and doing my best to keep her motivated to practice.

Here are my top 3 tips to getting your kids to practice their music

Bribe

Yes, I said it. Bribery is such an awesome concept don’t you think? You get what you want, they get what they want. It’s a beatiful thing. So I’ve learned that bribery goes a long way. You have to figure out what they really value though. Lily is not really motivated by money, but Oliver is. Lily is motivated by play time with friends. So I use that to my advantage.

Tools & Resources

I recently learned about this incredible guitar playing tool called the Fret Deck. It was designed by my friend Justin to help guitar players master the entire fret board in every single key so they feel more comfortable playing the guitar.

I also love to use YouTube to help inspire her. I show her young guitar players singing popular songs to the guitar. This has definitely been a huge motivation for her.

Be Involved

Now this one is really hard for me because it’s difficult to find the time when you have 3 other children to tend to. So I haven’t been too good with this yet, but it’s my goal once school starts. We’re going to figure out a game plan and a routine to make this happen.

March 23, 2011 · in Life of a Wannabe· Parenting· Random Fun Posts

Conversations With a 5 Year Old

Do you ever have those days where you feel like you’re on a debate team? Except you’re not really on a team, you’re on a desolate island left to fend for yourself with a vicious 5 year old as your opponent.

5 year old DAUGHTER might I add.

Lately everything I say to my daughter turns into a two hour argument which in the end leaves me throwing fits and saying things like:

“Uh huh”

“No I’m not”

“Ya huh… I think I know what I’m talking about… I AM a mom ya know”

“I’m telling daddy”

“SEEAAAAANNNNN, Lily’s not listening to me”

Once I run out of all my ingenious rebuttals, I tastefully complete the dispute by sticking out my tongue.

Then she say’s things like:

“MOM!!! You have to be nice to your childrenS or Santa won’t bring you ANY toys”

“If you don’t let me watch a movie then I’m not EVER going to brush my teeth again!!!”

Then Sean say’s:

“GIRLS! Stop fighting right now or you’re both going to time out!!!”

*sigh*

I think I DO need a time out.

Okay, now you HAVE to watch this video. I’m serious! No no, I’m REALLY serious!!! Watch it okay.

July 7, 2010 · in Mom Stuff· Parenting

GETTING YOUR KIDS TO HELP CLEAN UP

Don’t you feel like THIS is the kind of mess you deal with on a daily basis? It looks like a tornado hit. I clean up the house every night before I go to bed. The next morning, I wake up, get breakfast for the kids, make the beds, do a load of laundry, unload the dishwasher, and get dressed. By the time I’ve done that, THIS is what my living room looks like. It gets a little frustrating when I feel like all I’m doing each day is picking up toys. I’m really trying to focus on getting my kids to help out a little more. It’s important that we TEACH them to pick up after themselves. Not only does it make our lives a lot easier, but it prepares them for real life. I recently read Parenting With Love And Logic (Updated and Expanded Edition). I learned so many great things from that book including some advice on getting kids to pick up.

Here is a little example I got from the book.

PARENT: “Hey, honey, there’s a lot of your stuff laying around the house today. It’s kind of getting in the way. Do you want to pick it up, or would you rather I picked it up?”

CHILD: “You pick it up.”

PARENT: “Well, the advantage of your picking it up is that you’ll get to see it again. If I pick up, I’ll keep the stuff. So you might want to rethink your decision on that. But you don’t have to rush. I’ll know what you want. If by lunchtime I still see your stuff out there, I’ll know you decided to have me pick it up. If I see that it’s gone, then I’ll know that you decided to pick it up for yourself.”

I’ve learned that it takes a lot of patience, but I’m trying to be consistent.

Here is a cute video of Oliver cleaning. It is soooo funny! He just started doing this one day, and I’ve noticed he does it a lot now. He’s making me proud 🙂

June 16, 2010 · in Health· Isagenix· Making Dinners· Parenting

Getting Kids to Eat Heathy

Before I move on to my blog post, just wanted to mention a couple things.

Today is the LAST day to enter my giveaway (2 free nights in the Newpark Hotel in Park City Utah).
I was given the Star Blog Award and was interviewed on the amazing Blog Stylist website. I’m so happy to share this website with you! For all you other bloggers out there, you will just LOVE all the tips and information you’ll find on here about blogging. Bree shares all kinds of blog secrets, inspiration and blogger success stories. Go check it out and see my interview HERE.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Last night I proudly watched my daughter eat a spinach salad (fresh from our garden), and some orange ruffy fish. You may think I’m bragging a bit, and well… I AM 🙂
To be serious, I’m trying just as much as all you other mothers out there. We all know that getting kids to eat healthy can be like trying to squeeze your butt into a pair of SPANX. Anything BUTT easy 🙂 haha, gosh I’m funny.

My Favorite Breakfast

Today I wanted to share with you a little about why I love the Isagenix shakes so much, and as you can see my kids love them too. We all know what it feels like as a mother to see our kids eating and LIKING something healthy. I try to get my kids to drink half a serving size of one of these each day, and I add this too it as well.

BE A LITTLE SNEAKY
I’ve also been trying to sneak in this Flaxseed anywhere I can, yogurt, mac & cheese, salad ect.

Although flaxseed contains all sorts of healthy components, it owes its healthy reputation primarily to three ingredients:

   * Omega-3 essential fatty acids, “good” fats that have been shown to have heart-healthy effects. Each tablespoon of ground flaxseed contains about 1.8 grams of plant omega-3s.
   * Lignans, which have both plant estrogen and antioxidant qualities. Flaxseed contains 75- 800 times more lignans than other plant foods
   * Fiber. Flaxseed contains both the soluble and insoluble types.

Sometimes I’ll even add spinach to the shakes, and amazingly my kids don’t even know the difference when you add a banana along with it. The flavor of the banana completely overrides the taste of the spinach.

CONSISTENCY IS THE KEY
I’ve read somewhere that the key to getting kids to eat healthy is to try, try, and try again. Kids will usually turn their noses up to most anything new, unless it’s dessert or candy of some sort. So with a little bribery and consistency, I’ve been able to get Lily to eat more than just mac & cheese and chicken nuggets.
When ever I make something new she’s never had before, I tell her, all she has to do is take ONE bite. If she doesn’t like it, she doesn’t have to eat it. I will continue to make her try it each time I make it. She hated fish at first, but now she eats it without any fuss. For us, every Tuesday is fish day. We all know how healthy fish is, so I try to make it part of our weekly menu. I still can’t get Oliver to eat it, but I continue to try 🙂

A LITTLE BRIBERY GOES A LONG WAY
It never hurts to bribe your child with treats 🙂 The ONLY way I can get Lily to eat all her dinner is to offer a really yummy treat for finishing it. Works every time!

7 Reasons Why ISAGENIX IsaLean® Tops Other Meal Replacement Shakes

Just what is it that makes the IsaLean® Shakes superior to other meal replacement drinks? The no-compromise, quality ingredients! We’re bombarded every day by product advertisements for drinks that are filled with mediocre and sometimes suspicious ingredients. Companies might say the products help people lose weight quickly, but they’re lacking in nutrition and often unsafe and unreliable for long-term weight loss.

IsaLean Shakes are different. Isagenix uses only high-quality ingredients to create the perfect balance of protein, carbs and fats designed to boost metabolism and weight loss while preserving muscle and promoting health.

I’ve got the lowdown on why the nutrient-dense shakes top the competition and have helped hundreds of thousands of people to shed unwanted pounds and achieve optimum health. Join us in our million-blender vision and ask everybody you know to start the day off with the blender and an IsaLean® Shake, not the frying pan. They’ll boost their health, feel better and lose weight!

7 Reasons Why IsaLean® Shakes Beat Out the Competition

1. Low, Low Sugar. Our shakes have far less sugar than other meal replacement drinks. Try half the sugar than you’ll find in Slim-Fast Original Shakes.

2. Fill ‘Er Up. Our shakes have seven grams of dietary fiber to help you feel fuller, keep blood sugar stable and support heart and colon health. Other shakes like Myoplex® Original have half the fiber, which could leave you with a half-empty tank and scrounging for snacks later.

3. Charge Your Batteries. Our shakes are packed with 16 vitamins and minerals, which means you won’t run out of steam halfway through the day. IsaLean® Shakes have more vitamins and minerals including vitamins A, C, D, E, B6 and B12 than what you’ll find in Herbalife® ShapeWorks® Shakes.

4. Complex & Complete. Our shakes are engineered with the right balance of proteins, carbohydrates and fat, which boost your metabolism and help you lose weight.

5. Break It Down. Our shakes have the digestive enzymes many people lack in order to facilitate proper digestion and absorption of nutrients. This process helps to break down the carbs, protein and fat for maximum results.

6. Lose the Pounds, Not the Nutrition. Our shakes give you optimal nutrition, not just rapid weight loss. Unlike other companies, we use the highest quality ingredients, which produce the highest quality results.

7. Pure as Gold.Our shakes include the highest quality of whey protein, dairy farmed in New Zealand because of its purity and fabulous taste. It’s also antibiotic and steroid-free.

* How IsaLean® Shakes Stack Up Against Other Brands:

* Herbalife® ShapeWorks® Shakes — Isagenix has 3-times the protein and more vitamins and minerals including vitamins A, C, D, E, B6 and B12.

* Slim-Fast Optima® Shakes (ready to drink) — Isagenix has twice the protein and less fat and sugar.

* Slim-Fast Optima® Shakes (powders) —Isagenix has 10x more protein and more dietary fiber.

* Slim-Fast Original Shakes — Isagenix has twice the protein, less sodium and carbohydrates, half the sugar and more dietary fiber.

* GNC Lean Shake™ — Isagenix has nearly 3x the protein, less sodium and carbohydrates.

* Myoplex® Original — Isagenix has less calories, cholesterol and sodium and twice the dietary fiber.

* Myoplex® Lite and Deluxe — Isagenix has half the sodium and more dietary fiber.

December 6, 2009 · in Christmas· Life of a Wannabe· List's and Schedules· Parenting

Follow up for the week

I’m pretty proud of the way the week turned out. Monday night we went on the Polar Express.

Tuesday I was sick, not fun, but actually not too bad because it only lasted a day. Then Wednesday made a ginger bread house with Lily 🙂 I love those kits you get from Costco, makes this activity more enjoyable (for me) because everything you need is there. Fun, and simple.

Sean got Lily her very own pink Christmas tree to decorate. She was really excited. I thought she would be thrilled with the idea of putting it in her bedroom, but nope. She wanted to place it right next to the “mama” tree.

And here we are in the process of making the cinnamon ornaments. This was fun, and also very simple. All we needed was apple sauce and cinnamon, cookie cutters, then bake for a couple hours, add ribbon, and you’re done.

And I’ve had a chance to really dig into this book, and I’m lovin it. There’s a lot of things I didn’t know. I’ve been highlighting some stuff and plan to share what I’m getting out of it.

Fall Fun~See Kai Run

Local Attractions

Make Fun Food

Pumpkin spice protein pancakes using my favorite meal replacement shake.

Witches fingers, these were fun to make…

Arts & Crafts

Getting Kids to Practice Music

Conversations With a 5 Year Old

GETTING YOUR KIDS TO HELP CLEAN UP

Getting Kids to Eat Heathy

Follow up for the week

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