#Braidsagainstbullies

If you have school-aged children, then you know about bullying. It has to stop. Here is a great idea from our little corner of the world that has gone viral. I would encourage you to participate or share. This is the right way to combat it--silently and massively.

Let me know if you join in!

Check out the group on Facebook and be sure to follow on Instagram.

Have a great day!

Super Easy Valentines

With Valentine's Day quickly approaching, I thought I would show you the easy Valentine's we put together for Carson's classroom party. These are great for boys and girls and were super cheap, too!

Crazy & Kool Valentines

Supplies needed:
Crazy Straws (I found these at Wal-Mart for $.97 for 6)
Drink Pouches (at Wal-Mart for $1 for 8)
Free Crazylou Printable
Scissors
Hole Punch

Instructions:
Print out the FREE printable.
Cut out shape.
Hole punch two holes on the printable for straw to go through.
Take the drink pouch and put it in the "crazy" part of the straw.
Slide the printable tag onto the straw.
Give to your favorite Valentine!

These took me less than an hour to put together (with limited help from Carson)! I love that it isn't candy, too. I get worried with the children that have food allergies--at least with this, even if they have a food dye allergy, they can enjoy the straw!

Find me on Facebook!

Have a great day!

Jewelry Craft Ideas for Kids

Hi! How's your Wednesday going? I have a treat for you today! I have a guest post today and I think you will really enjoy what she is sharing with us today! 

 

Much like their mother, my daughters are crafting maniacs. They have their own drawers packed with supplies and get excited at the mere prospect of a visit to our local craft store. They also love to spend time trolling the internet for craft tutorials. Unfortunately, they often happen upon tutorials we have to pass on, simply because they’re not child friendly.  A lot of jewelry tutorials require manual dexterity and fine motor skills far beyond the capabilities of young children. These three tutorials are perfect for kids ages 7-12 and require very little parental help!

Friendship Bracelets

After summers end, newly made friends often head off to different schools. Friendship bracelets are a great way for children to celebrate personal relationships without resorting to Facebook.

My girls’ favorite friendship bracelet is woven with many different colors. A wonderful tutorial on how to create this fabulous bracelet can be found at Modcloth. I really love the variety of colors that can be used so that each bracelet is unique and special. 

Bottle Cap Necklaces

Many of you are probably thinking to yourself, “Great, let’s put trash around our children’s’ necks.” But let me tell you, there are some great bottle cap necklace tutorials around the web that look fantastic. You could always buy some on Etsy, but what’s the fun in that?

This tutorial from Compulsive Craftiness is my favorite. If you don’t have a stash of bottle caps, you can get them here. I would avoid any bottle caps that say Corona or Samuel Adams unless you plan on covering up the brand name. You wouldn’t want people thinking that your child is an alcoholic.

Personal Tip: For attaching the jump rings, I highly recommend Wubbers jewelry pliers. We use them for a lot of different crafts and they’re fabulous because they don’t mar the delicate metals that are used in jewelry making. 

Washer Necklaces

This is one of the most kid-friendly jewelry tutorials that I’ve found. These adorable washer necklaces need very little adult supervision. You can find the tutorial at Small for Big.

This craft uses metal washers, nail polish, string and seed beads with a result that is way too adorable to pass up. The only place little ones may need help is in threading the string through the needle. These necklaces leave so much room for creativity. My daughters love them!

I hope your kids enjoy these fabulous jewelry crafts as much as mine did! Letting children take charge in their own projects and express themselves creatively really promotes a strong sense of self-esteem as well as pride in their work.

Claire Thomas is a DIY fiend who has yet to meet a tutorial she can’t tackle. When she’s not crafting, she and her nana can be found scouring estate sales for the next big Antiques Roadshow find.

What kind of crafty project have you done with your kids lately? Please share--I'm always looking for ideas.

European Vacation - Part 2 Tips & Places to Visit

Preparing for this post allowed me to dream once again about the wonderful vacation we took just one month ago. Ugh--why is it so difficult to get back into the swing of things?

I ended at the third day of our vacation in my last post. You can refresh your memory (or play catch-up) by clicking here. So, picking up where I left off...

Day 4

We wandered through the countryside (like many other days on our trip) and discovered roads not much wider than our car. It was interesting. They don't have ditches over there, so when you are on the edge of the road, you are typically looking at a long line of hedges. Makes you a little nervous because there really is no where to go if you need to make room for a larger vehicle coming the other way! Our destination was Stonehenge. I can tell you that I was not overly excited to go there, but figured since we were staying very close to it, that we probably should go and anyways, it is a popular tourist attraction (for good reason).

Upon arrival, you pay (they offered a family pass) and receive an audio guide to learn about the stones. I was blown away. I didn't realize the history and the mystery behind these rocks. It's amazing to me that they traveled so far with these stones, dug them so deep and into perfect formation but we have no idea why. It was eerie being there for some reason. I couldn't put my finger on it. I was truly impressed by these stones and encourage anyone to visit to see, learn and hear about what they have discovered so far.

We stopped for a late lunch at a tavern with a old thatched roof, but I couldn't find the picture of it to show you! (horrible blogger etiquette!)

Day 5

In the morning, we decided to head into town (Swindon) and do a little shopping. We visited the town center mall and many, many stores. We even made a purchase at their version of the Dollar Store--Poundland. My son bought a cricket set. (Thanks to the cousin we were staying with for introducing us to that boring sport--no offense, but how can you stay involved in a sport where the game can go on for days?)

The rest of the day was dedicated to my mother-in-law. We visited the town where she was born and spent her childhood. (cool fact: when we landed in London on the first day of our trip, it was 50 years ago to the date that she arrived over in the US!) She grew up in a town called Royal Wootton Bassett. 

This was a neat little town. We found her house she lived in and she commented that it was quite run-down. What a shame. The streets in this town were narrow too--very typical in England.

We went over to her long-time friends house for afternoon tea. It was one of the best homemade meals we ate on the trip. (oh, and her chocolate cake was to die for!)

Day 6

Today we visited Windsor Castle (the oldest and largest occupied Castle in the World). It was so hot that day (actually, we were blessed with very warm weather the entire trip!). We arrived and decided to have lunch first (it was close to lunchtime and well, we have kids and wanted to enjoy the tour of the Castle!). We ate at a cute little cafe on a side street (cobblestone, actually) named Limes. Everyone had a quick sandwich and it was relatively cheap! When we arrived at the Castle, we had to wait quite awhile to enter. Long lines are typical at top tourist attractions. Windsor Castle is one of the main residences of the Queen. It just so happened that she was in residence during our visit! (Still shocked we didn't get invited up for tea, though!)

You are not allowed to take pictures inside the residence, but man--it was exquisite. The amount of treasures inside and to know that it is still utilized today. It makes you think about who stepped in those rooms you were in--and how many people have been there, too. Quite amazing. Kids were a little bored visiting the different rooms. This was an audio tour, too, and they did offer a kids version. But, the kids were very good and didn't really bother us to hurry up through the Castle.

We also visited the Queen Mary's Doll House (huge!) which is inside the castle, St. George's Chapel (amazing church) and the Drawings Gallery (which included paintings from Royal Artists--including Prince Charles).

Because the Queen was in residence, we saw the Guards in several different places. We even got our pictures taken next to them! (my son was afraid the guard was going to get him with his sword on the end of his gun)

The best part of this day was that it was on this day that the world welcomed Prince George into the world. We will always remember that we were with the Queen when she got the news about the birth! How cool is that?

Tips

• Take time to have fun. Don't be rushed to get everything in. 
• Follow the lead of your children...sometimes. We knew we wouldn't have enjoyed the Castle if the kids were hungry the entire visit--we ate first!
• Women--carry a comfortable purse. I love my ThirtyOne Shoulder bag. It was comfortable, held everything I needed and didn't weigh me down.
• Watch out for theives. Keep a hold onto all your belongs--all the time.
•  Make time for shopping and enjoying the simple pleasures of the places you are visiting.
• Family vacations are about family, so make sure fit them into your itinerary--for instance--we planned that special day to go to Wooton Bassett. Is it on the "must-see" list for everyone? No, but it was important for our family to visit. So glad we did.

Top Attractions for this portion:

• Stonehenge
• Windsor Castle 
  

Stop by next week to see the our trip to London! What can't wait to share it with you!

 

It's our European Vacation! Places to See & Travel Tips!

We’ve been back to reality now for a few weeks since our awesome family vacation to England and mini-vacation to Paris. It was amazing and something I’m thankful for. Everything about the trip was just perfect. No troubles, the kids got along and we saw pretty everything we intended on seeing! I thought I would give you some insight on a few of the places we visited and tips along the way. This is going to be a multi-part series, just so I don't overwhelm you with all the details and too many pictures.

First things first. This is not a vacation that one can plan last minute and be successful. We planned this for well over and year and we saved up for it for that long too! We knew we wanted to do it the right way and we wanted our children along as well. We stayed two weeks. This was perfect for us to see everything we wanted to see, but still too short of a visit. I did a lot of research beforehand and had the luxury of family members in England to help coordinate some of the activities. (although its totally doable by yourself)

Day 1

Sunrise on the airplane

We arrived at the London Heathrow airport at 6 in the morning. We were hoping that the kids would sleep on the plane (it was an overnight flight), but they didn't. None of us got any good amount of quality sleep. 

But, we knew it was important to keep going as long as we could, trying to stay on the new time schedule (London is 6 hours ahead of our normal time). Once we arrived at our relatives house (major cost saver!!), we quickly unloaded the car, had a snack and left. We didn't stay there long because we didn't want to fall asleep. We visited a local outlet mall and then a local Steam Engine Museum.

I think we had a dinner that night, but can't really remember--I believe I was sleep walking at that point!! We were all in bed by 9pm and slept in until 10 am the next morning!
Whew--up for 32 hours! (kids did amazing, might I add!)

Day 2
After catching up on sleep, we headed to Bath, England. One word. Beautiful. Well, there are many more words to describe this place...historic, amazing, crowded, lovely, brilliant...it is worth fitting into your schedule.
We walked around the streets for a bit before our Afternoon Tea reservation at the Pump Room. There are plenty of souvenir shops, local shops, street performers and tourists!

The Pump Room Afternoon Tea was wonderful. Such a beautiful dining room and located right next to the Roman Baths. Having an English Tea was on my daughters wish list. Although, I'm not sure if this is what she was expecting. We all enjoyed it very much. The little finger sandwhiches, scones with cream and jam (my favorite) and petit fours. I tried Hot Chai Tea for the first time. So good. Hailey tried their Iced Tea which was infused with lots of fruity flavors.

After tea, we toured the Roman Baths. I was amazed. I had no clue that the Romans were such a huge part of the English history (sorry, not really a history buff). This place was quite amazing. So much of what they built thousands of years ago, still stands and still operates. It's quite breath-taking.

You take an audio-guided tour through all the bath houses and learn many different facts about not only the bath houses, but way of life back then. I truly enjoyed this visit and recommend it to anyone visiting that area.

Day 3

We had a nice and relaxing day on Day 3. We visited Bourton On The Water and Bibury Trout Farm. Both Bourton and Bibury are very quaint villages. We visited the Model Village in Bourton on the Water which is a one-ninth scale replica in local stone of Bourton on the Water village. We did a little shopping and had lunch before we headed over to the Trout Farm.

The Trout Farm was a lot of fun. The kids enjoyed feeding the (very hungry) trout. They splashed around trying to get the food. Carson was lucky enough to hand feed a duck. I caught that on video, too!!


Travel Tips, Part One

1. When traveling overseas, book an overnight flight (if possible)
2. If traveling with kids overseas, try to break up the flight with a lay over. We laid over in Boston and it was a great way to get out of the stuffy plane, walk around, stretch and get a snack. I think this was important for our little travelers (ages 11 and 7)
3. If you plan on using electronics while traveling (or on the plane), get a back-up external charging system of some kind. It will save headaches and heartaches if you can easily recharge a dead iPad or gaming device!
4. Once you arrive to your destination, keep going on their time change. Plan activities to keep you busy until its time to go to bed.
5. Plan, plan and plan. Make a list of places you want to visit.
6. Take pictures, lots of pictures.
7. If you travel overseas and you need to drive a car (like we did), we recommend upgrading to a automatic. Most rental car companies provide manual transmission at a discount, but if you are not familiar with driving on the other side of the road OR other side of the car, we highly recommend upgrading to the automatic. Less stressful.
8. Speaking of driving, LOOK RIGHT, then LEFT, then RIGHT again...
9. Be flexible. This is especially important when traveling with kids.
10. Pack snacks, wet wipes and hand sanitizer! Enough said.

I will be putting together a few more posts with tips and itinerary suggestions! I hope you come back to visit!

Back-to-School Time

Ok, so yes, I'm jumping for joy that today is the 1st day back to school. Why? Mainly because I think our kids have had too much "togetherness" this summer. That 2 week vacation really tested the sibling love! But seriously, I think I crave the routine the most. The kids are both excited to start the new school year.

We visited their schools on Monday night. Met their teachers, dropped off their (bags) of school supplies and figured out their new schedules. Ugh, my daughter is now in middle school. I can hardly wait for the drama that will occur this year. (I'm joking!)

When we stopped by my son's classroom (he's in 2nd grade now), his teacher gave each student something to take home with them to have before them come to school on the first day. I thought this was genius (and I knew right from that moment, that I was really going to like this teacher!). This was his gift:

Jitter Juice: Guaranteed to reduce first day butterflies. Kid tested, Teacher approved. How cute!!

If you follow me on Instagram, you are sure to see the First Day of School pics! (if you aren't following me yet, click here and then click FOLLOW!)

Here are some ideas to make your First Day of School special for your family!

Start the day out right with these:
Melt in Your Mouth Blueberry Pancakes

Pack them a lunch that includes these:
DIY Uncrustables

Let them know you are thinking about them during the school day with these:
Lunchbox Notes

Greet them at the door or bus stop with these:
Mint Chocolate Chip Brownies

End the day with a kid friendly dinner:
Pizza Muffins








 



Happy Wednesday! If your kids aren't back to school yet, when is their first day?

House Party Super Soaker Party with Nerf & Cheetos

Over the weekend, I had the awesome pleasure of hosting a House Party with Nerf's Super Soakers and Natural Cheetos Puffs. What a fun time! The kids played and munched all afternoon long! Here are a few pictures from the party:

After playing and getting soaked, the kids took a break and snacked on Natual Cheetos Puffs, hot dogs, fruit and lemonade.

Even the adults loved the All Natural Cheetos!

House Party gave us printables for a variety of awards to pass out, too!



Thank you to:

The Super Soakers were awesome! They were easy to use and fired the water really far. Lots of fun!

The Simply Natural Cheetos were a huge hit with everyone. Parents liked them because of the ingredient list and the lack of orange fingers! Kids liked them because they were good and "puffy"! Of the twelve bags they sent us, we had one left.

The party was a success and I think the 50 people that attended would agree--these awesome products will bought in the future (thanks to the coupons they provided us, too!)

If you want the opportunity to host your very own House Party, simply visit their website, sign-up and apply! I can't wait for the next opportunity to host another House Party! We had such a blast at this party that my son requested this happen every summer! I think we just might do that!