Anytime I need a quick indoor activity on cold days in December, I scour the web for kids Christmas coloring pages. It’s a wholesome and nearly free Christmas-themed activity for young children during the holiday season. Sometimes I use holiday coloring pages as the basis for a Christmas lesson. Other times I just use them to distract my kids during the cranky hours of the day! LOL Cute Christmas Coloring Pages for Kids Below you will find links to a variety of Christmas coloring pages for kids. I've used some in the past and plan to use others this year. I've included Keep Reading
Sample Weekly Grocery Store List – Healthy Food Ideas for a Family While the Mom Loses Weight
Gather some healthy food ideas for your family! Over the past 10 months of overhauling my family’s diet, I’ve come up with a fairly standard weekly healthy grocery shopping list that I use to keep our fridge and pantry stocked with healthy staples. I have to keep us stocked up with great food options for two reasons. 1) I want us to eat better. This is a real lifestyle change for me and for them. 2) If we run out of food options, then we tend to go out to eat, which spells disaster for my weight loss efforts! Dieting and losing weight while simultaneously taking care of a family is Keep Reading
Free Printable Fall Leaf Templates – Maple Leaves Patterns & Oak Leaf Stencils
Ever since my oldest could color, I would try to find printable coloring pages for her that matched the season we were in. That meant, in September, October, and November, I was constantly on the hunt for fall leaf patterns. We would use them as simple coloring pages, as templates for craft projects, and even as pumpkin carving stencils. Free Fall Leaf Stencils – Printable Templates for Autumn Months As a resource for myself and others in the future, I’ve compiled a list of links to free printable fall leaf patterns. Below you will find links to my fall favorites, Keep Reading
Car Packing Checklist – What to Pack When Traveling with Infants
Every time I start packing for an out of town trip, I make the same enormous car packing list. The list was plenty long enough when it was just me and my husband. As soon as we started having kids, our trip packing list ballooned outta control! My husband thinks it should take two minutes to pack for a trip. Yes, that’s correct, if you’re a man and only packing for yourself…..All us women know that BABIES = GEAR. I need supplies, people! If I’m going to stay sane on my trip, I feel the need to bring everything the babies might need, just in case. Standard Travel Packing List for Car Keep Reading
How to Plan an Awesome Playdate – Hosting Tips & Theme Ideas
A lot of moms shy away from hosting playdates because they feel pressure to go all out. You don't have to go all out to host a successful playdate. You certainly don't have to have a perfect home or provide tons of snacks for everyone to have a good time. Other moms just want a chance to socialize while their kids have fun. It beats sitting at home and handling the kids all on your own, right?! Anywhere that’s kid-friendly and safe is fair game. If you're not comfortable hosting in your own home, indoor and outdoor playdates in public places are great options. Successful Playdate Keep Reading
70 Playdate Ideas for Little Kids
Anyone who knows me, knows that I LOVE fun playdate ideas. They are the perfect excuse to let the kids entertain each other while the moms socialize. Even if I have to do a little work to plan or host, it's worth the sanity break it gives me! Hosting Playdates That Rock - Assign a Theme & Roll With It! Here are some fun playdate themes I find work especially well for toddlers and little kids ages 2 through 5. Use your best judgment as to what is most appropriate for your little ones. READ MORE: How to Host an Awesome Playdate When you have more than one child, sometimes you have to Keep Reading
Weekly Workout Calendar for Losing Weight FAST! (not for the faint of heart)
As I'm nearing 50 lbs lost to date, more and more people have been inquiring about my workout routines and meal plan, so first I'd like to share my current workout calendar. It's the plan that's helped me lose the past 10 lbs. Working Out and Dieting vs. Just Dieting As I mentioned in my previous post about Losing 40 Lbs, I spend a good bit of time each weekend planning out the next week's workouts. Weight Watchers is the overall method I use to control my eating (I'll get more into the specifics of what I actually eat on a daily basis in another post), but exercise is the way that I get Keep Reading
Big Announcement: I Lost 40 lbs!!!
Interested in losing baby weight? As a mom of three, I have been working hard to shed those post-pregnancy pounds so I can get back in shape! Losing Baby Weight You see, for 5 months now, I've been going headstrong in a weight loss challenge. It's a challenge I told myself I'd do after we were done having kids. While I was in the midst of having kids, I didn't really keep up with my fitness because I knew my body would be wrecked each time I got pregnant. I kept telling myself, "I'll get in shape once we're done having kids." Well after having baby #3 in 2012, I came to a Keep Reading
Spring Playdate Ideas for 2- to 5-Year-Olds
I love the this time of year. Even though it's still winter, I can already envision all of the outdoor fun my kids will be having as the weather warms up this spring. In our area of the south, we can start going outside to play consistently from March on. I'm already brainstorming ways we can host playdates or get together with friends at other locations. Spring Playdate Ideas for 2- to 5-Year-Olds My kids are currently 5, 2, and 9 months old, so I like to come up with playdate ideas that will be fun for all three. As a last resort, I will just rotate which age is the focus of the Keep Reading
FREE KIDS ACTIVITIES – 8+ NO COST THINGS TO DO WITH YOUR CHILDREN
As a stay-at-home-mom, it can get a little nerve wracking to be at home every day with little adult interaction. But every time we leave the house, we inevitably spend money on something - sometimes it's lunch at Chick-Fil-A because nap time crept up on me while we ran errands, and I don't feel like braving a cranky lunch hour at home. Other times I spend money on admission to jump zones or indoor play areas. Sometimes I want (or have to..when I'm trying to spend less) think of ways to have fun without spending money. Below are the first 8 ideas of free (or almost free) ways to have fun Keep Reading
What Would You Do If Someone Broke Into Your Kids’ Bedroom?
I have always wondered how I would react if someone broke into my house when my husband was away on business. Well, tonight I found out. This week, I'm staying with my in-laws while my husband travels. Every evening, I get the kids down to bed and log on to the computer to grade papers and check email. My mother-in-law and father-in-law usually retire to bed around 10:30, and I'm usually awake long after everyone in the house is asleep. Around 11:30 p.m. tonight, as I was working on the computer and the kids were sound asleep, I heard a noise coming from what seemed like the Keep Reading
What Do Babies Dream About?
Instead of a serious post, I thought I'd post something super cute this Thursday evening! This is what I imagine babies dream about. :=) Keep Reading
List of Playdate Ideas
As a stay-at-home-mom of three, I'm constantly trying to come up with play date ideas. Our days go by really fast when we have a scheduled activity, even if it's just a simple play date at our house. Not long ago, I wrote about 10 Themed Playdate Ideas for Toddlers & Preschoolers. We love hosting & attending themed playdates. But sometimes I don't have the time (or energy!) to be that planny, so I also like to mix in regular get-togethers that don't require planning or advance prep. Anything fun that gets the kids together and gives the moms time to chat is good in my Keep Reading
