A reader sent me this and I just had to share. It's an old-school discipline method that those of us in our 30s probably remember from elementary school. The good old handwriting punishment! This little girl complained about "not getting anything for Easter" when she did, in fact, receive a small basket of items in addition to a nice morning at church and time with family and friends. Hence, the punishment - to write "I will be thankful for what I have" THIRTY TIMES! I love it. :) In our current age of entitlement, bigger, better, faster...our kids need to be reminded of what really Keep Reading
25 Easy Ways to Exercise at Home
Learn many easy ways to exercise at home to stay active and fit! When you're a new mom, your kid(s) consume your life. But at some point, you have to regain a little bit of yourself back. For me, that came when my youngest of three was 7 months old. I hit a tipping point where I knew I needed to regain control of my health, and I made a resolution to lose 50 lbs. It wasn't easy, especially when one or more kids was sick and I couldn't make it to the gym to complete my workouts, sometimes for days on end (because we all know once one kid gets it, you're looking at several sicknesses all in Keep Reading
5 Ways Mom Can Pamper Themselves
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Best Western. All opinions are 100% mine. Sometimes as moms we go, go, go for others (work, kids, husband, etc) and don’t give a thought to our own needs. Moms are used to putting themselves last, if they even put themselves on the agenda at all! It’s about time we reclaimed our identities (and sanity) with a little me-time. 5 Ways for Moms to Pamper Themselves I came up with 5 ways you can pamper yourself on a daily or weekly basis that don’t really take more than an hour or two each. Perfect for when you can steal a few minutes or Keep Reading
Cute & Modern Baby Announcements & Invitations
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Basic Invite. All opinions are 100% my own. As you know, I love sharing cute things I find online. In particular, I’m a sucker for all things baby. My youngest just grew out of the baby stage, so I find myself constantly looking at the baby outfits at Target, reviewing my friends’ baby registries while reminiscing, and thinking about what it would be like to have a fourth. While we aren’t quite ready for that, I am having fun helping a couple friends plan the arrivals of their little ones. Today I have the pleasure of reviewing a Keep Reading
Free Printable Big Hero 6 Coloring Pages
Are your kids as crazy about the Disney movie Big Hero 6 as mine are? If so, then you will love this collection of printables. I couldn't find the official Disney Big Hero 6 coloring pages, so these are mostly realistic artistic interpretations of the movie's characters like Hiro, Baymax, Fred, Gogo, Honey Lemon, and Wasabi. Free Big Hero 6 Printable Coloring Pages Big Hero 6 Coloring Sheets - Classy Mommy offers a nice collection that includes all the main characters. The only character that seems to be missing is the movie's villian, Dr. Callaghan. Baymax Coloring Pages & Keep Reading
Inspirational Quote from The Velveteen Rabbit ~ {FREE PRINTABLE} “Everything That is Real Was Imagined First”
Today I'm excited to share with you a new favorite thing of mine - free printable art based on an inspirational quote I saw written above an imagination play area at a children's museum. It immediately struck me as one of those most inspirational quotes I have ever heard as it relates to childhood. Something we all tend to lose to some degree as we age is the ability to dream big. To imagine things coming true that don't exist except in our heads. A child has no problem doing this; it's us adults who limit our knowledge of the world to what we already know instead of to what could Keep Reading
800+ Free Pumpkin Carving Stencils!
Pumpkin carving is probably the thing I look most forward to each fall. I always get excited when I see the first Halloween decorations in the stores, and I know autumn festivities are upon us when I see gorgeous pumpkins at the farmer's market. We usually carve one pumpkin for each person in the family. Since my kids are still little, we usually stay away from scary faces and find some Disney characters, animals, Halloween words, or fall patterns to cut out. I've put together this handy list of over 800 free pumpkin stencils, and I am positive you will find some cool templates Keep Reading
Halloween Playdate Ideas for Toddlers & Preschoolers
I'm always trying to think of fun playdate ideas for my little ones. Theres nothing better than a nice themed playdate. With October approaching, what better theme to plan than Halloween? Here are some cool ideas to consider. I'm thinking about doing the first two myself. Hope you get some inspiration from this list! Halloween Playdate Ideas for Toddlers & Preschoolers Pumpkin Painting Playdate - Have little ones you'd rather not allow around sharp pumpkin carving tools? This is a great alternative. I like to provide one tiny pumpkin per child along with some paint, brushes, Keep Reading
Free Printable Maple Leaf Patterns – Large, Medium & Small Templates
Last year when I published a roundup of my favorite fall leaf templates, I got several requests for maple leaf outlines. It's taken me a while, but they're finally here! Free Printable Maple Leaf Stencils I decided to make templates of various sizes. You never know when you'll need a large outline for a craft, a medium pattern to use as a stencil, or a small stencil for a bulletin board border! My goal is to provide something for everyone. You can download each of the files below in PDF format...they print on a full size sheet of paper. If for some reason you can't open PDFs, you can Keep Reading
Cute & Colorful To-Do List Templates
I don’t know how this happens, but every once in a while (especially when my husband is traveling), my to-do list spirals out of control. I write down my list of things to do each week on my calendar on the day I expect to be able to get it done..... Inevitably, I try to pack way too much into each day and end up “carrying over” tons of to-dos from one week to the next, barely able to hold down the mountain of undone to-dos by completing a couple outstanding tasks each day. I can’t be the only one, right?!! Enter: Keeping Track of Everything on a To Do List! Well Keep Reading
Holly Leaf Templates – Free Printable Patterns to Cut Out
Today I have something new for you. It's my very own set of printable holly leaf templates! I have needed printable holly leave patterns for a couple different Christmas projects (wreath and stencil patterns). Instead of just grabbing a stencil from another website like I always do, I decided to make my own. Free Printable Templates of Holly Leaves I'd like to offer these patterns for free to anyone else who may need them for holiday projects. To save on ink, I recommend printing a single copy on heavyweight paper and using that one printout as a template to cut out lots Keep Reading
Blank Snowman Templates
My kids always ask me for very specific crafts to do. Today, my youngest girl surprised me by saying she needed a “blank snowman template” and her stamp markers, not the dot markers that work like stamps. LOL I found a couple of cute snowman templates online that were, in fact, blank! As always, I’m sharing my finds with you guys so any mom on the hunt for the very same thing in the future will have a nice little resource already compiled. Printable Blank Snowman Templates for Kids to Use Activity Village (one of my favorite kids activity sites) actually had a perfect large Keep Reading
Win Cash This Month – $750 Let It Snow Giveaway
The month of December always brings mixed emotions to my household. On one hand, we are all excited about Christmas and celebrating the birth of our Christ. On the other hand, the holiday season can be kind of stressful with all the to-dos on our list, especially all the Christmas gifts I have to buy, wrap, and mail on time! I always make it to December wishing I had been better about saving money for Christmas gifts throughout the year. We try to limit our holiday spending, but we tend to go over budget every year. This year I'm vowing to do better! We're using a cash envelope system for Keep Reading
Free Printable To-Do Lists – Cute & Colorful Templates
Last night I was in Target shopping for Christmas gifts and a birthday present for one of my daughter’s friends. I somehow found myself in the stationery section yet again, looking at the cute to-do lists. I found one I really liked – it was one of those notebooks with different sticky note to-do lists. Seemed perfect for my type of planning…writing things down on random scraps of paper or sticky notes and putting them somewhere I’d be sure to look the next day. LOL Does this sound like you? I’m hoping I’m not the only one who uses this haphazard method of remembering my Keep Reading
Free Winter Stencils – Printable Snowflake Patterns, Snowman Templates & More
Even before the first day of winter, my thoughts turn to winter-themed craft projects. We spend more time inside as a family when it’s cold, but my kids still want fun activities to do. I try to find seasonal coloring pages or crafts when we don’t have any other plans. Last year, my kids begged for me to take them somewhere where they could see snow (we don't get much in NC). So I thought snowflake and snowman projects would be in order this year...if we don't get to see the actual thing, at least we can use our imaginations! Free Winter Stencils – Printable Keep Reading
